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Jessica is the Head of Commercial for Irish Rugby, and with this she is responsible for the sponsorship relationships & other revenue streams. She and her team are the day-to-day link between all sponsors & the team, this involves navigating busy schedules & delivering for both the organisation & the partners.
With the success of Irish Rugby across the board and the Rugby World Cup work load, she is a very busy lady indeed.
Last December Jessica received the accolade as one of the top 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport 2022-
How does your normal day begin?
5:45am wake up, 6am gym or run, 7am get toddler up, 8am breakfast, 9am work! I find getting a workout done in the morning means a more productive day all round & I don’t have to worry about factoring it in later in the day. I’m office based for the most part & really enjoy the structure being in the office gives to my day.
Tell us about your biggest daily challenges.
Trying to fit it all in! Since Covid, it feels like everything is busier, I am adjusting to a whole new family life with a toddler in tow, which is amazing, but hard to juggle my passion of exercise & work with toddler life.
What do you love most about the work that you do?
I love working in sport. I’ve been lucky to have had two roles in the sporting world & my experience of working in sport has been that you’re working with self-motivated people. Our executive team, players & coaches across the board are an incredibly self-motivated group, everyone is responsible for driving their own results. For me that drive is tangible, work rarely feels like an uphill battle.
Two days are never the same, managing a portfolio of 20 partners, with terms ranging from 3 – 5 years means that we are always collaborating with our partners, in a job that used to be quite seasonal, we are now pretty much ‘always on’. When the team is winning, our sponsors are winning too, but we need to work hard on ensuring that our partnerships prevail regardless of team performance at any given time.
The excitement when a team is doing well is a great part of my job, winning a Grand Slam or having both men’s & women’s 7s teams qualified for the 2024 Olympics, (featuring past pupil Harry McNulty) makes for an exciting outlook within Irish Rugby.
The growth & ambition of the organisation is very motivating & we are always looking at where the new opportunities lie – whether that’s within the digital space or how we can greater grow the women’s game in terms of participation & the number of partners investing in it.
How do you switch off and relax?
Exercise followed by a family brunch in 3Fe.
Favourite destination in Ireland to plan a few days away and why?
It’s a tight one between Kerry & Donegal – they’re almost like carbon copies of each other, both have great cycling & beautiful landscapes. Donegal probably pips Kerry at the post as my husband’s family live on the beautiful Inishowen peninsula.
Favourite Holiday Destination Worldwide?
This is really tough – I love a New Year ski trip, or a sunny, hilly, cycling destination – I’m open to suggestions!
Business Motto of Motivation?
“No thank you, I can’t afford to panic.” – Ryan Holiday.
It’s not totally business-related, it reaches much broader, but I try to apply it to all areas of my life.
Most memorable thing about Rockwell?
Playing hockey, running around the lake & making the great friends I still have today. We were really well looked after while there, with a special shout out to Hughie who always went above & beyond.
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Thanks for connecting with us Jessica!!!
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