The Straight Up Podcast

Part 2 of our career series. In this episode we reflect back on where we were in our lives and in our thinking when we were graduates, fresh out of university and ready to attack the working world, sort of. We highlight and discuss four pieces of advice, that given the gift of hindsight, we deem would have been very useful to us during that stage of our lives. The items we discuss include passion and how we can feel pressure to be passionate and/or enthused by the roles in the early stages of our career; being proactive and seeking out opportunities and adopting a mindset that lends itself to viewing things not far what they are, but indeed for what they could be. It is an exciting, yet complex time in our lives and it was very enjoyable reflecting back. We hope are reflections resonate with some of your thoughts and experiences in this stage of your life!

The first episode under the theme of Career! We have identified a number of key themes that we feel represent the best way we can connect with our audience and this is Episode 1 where we share our own personal insights and reflections on how to take command of your career. We do not reinvent the wheel or overelaborate on specific career guidance. Instead, we highlight key principles that target the foundations of your career and indeed life. We aim to highlight how changing your perspective to viewing your career in the context of your whole life and not in an exclusive or separate manner. This allows you to identify how 'you' can progress and get better in life, and therefore how your career can help with this or even serve as a platform. We hope you enjoy!

Tyrone senior footballer and former Afl footballer Conor Mc Kenna joins us on the show this week! We jump straight into life back in Ireland, following his arrival in August. He spent the last 6 years in Melbourne, playing with Essendon in the Afl. Mc Kenna caught the eye of scouts in 2013, when he lit up the All-Ireland minor championship, playing with Tyrone, eventually receiving offers from 5 Australian clubs. Electing for Essendon, he arrived down under in late 2014 and began the pursuit of a professional sports career. And it didn't take him long to make his presence felt, scoring a goal with his first kick on debut, in early 2015. From his second season on, he played consistently at half-back and was recognised as a force throughout the league. Admittedly, he battled homesickness throughout his time in Australia, and ultimately decided in early 2020 that he would be bound for Ireland before the end of the year. He rejoined the Tyrone panel as soon as he touched down and was a key performer for them, though they were disappointed their season was cut short by Donegal. Mc Kenna reflects on all of this and more in the episode and opens up candidly about life outside of sport and the sort of free-spirited mentality that no doubt helps him perform the way he does. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode we welcome on Down senior footballer Caolan Mooney. Having starred for the Down minors as a 16 year old in 2009, he caught the eye of Afl scouts. He went on to justify this interest with two incredible years at St Colmans, Newry winning back to back Mac Rory and Hogan Cup medals, playing a starring role. At 18, he joined Collingwood and traded his sport and life for a new one of each down under. Caolan had mixed fortunes in Australia and believes that his overall performance should have equated to more than the 6 appearances he did make for the club. He terminated his contract and headed for home at the end of the 2014 season. He admits that he was not focussed on sport for two years following his return and this came to a head when he reached a low point in 2016. He returned to the Down panel in 2017 refreshed and reinvigorated and has been a key performer for them since. This has not been a smooth sail for sure and in the episode we are lucky to hear real and genuine reflections from a person who has enjoyed the highs and lows of elite sport and indeed those beyond the playing field!

Tyrone GAA Senior Footballer, Conor Meyler joins us on the show and we gain the perspective of a player who is competing at the top table within GAA circles, both individually and on a team level. We discuss Tyrone's period of transition following their change of management and Conor reflects on this as well as the opportunities afforded to him by the previous management, under Mickey Harte. The primary focus of the episode is Conor's evolution from a player at underage level who was not a regular starter for some of his club and school teams, and did not even make the Tyrone minor panel of 2012, to then being called into the Tyrone Senior panel in 2015 and holding down a starting place for the majority of the time since. He opens up on his mindset during those days of disappointment and explains how this fuelled him on his quest. 'Winning Tine' for Conor happened between 2014 and 2017, as he won the Tyrone Championship with his club, Omagh (2014), the All-Ireland U21 Championship with Tyrone (2015), the Ulster Senior Championship with Tyrone (2016) and then the Sigerson Cup with St Mary's (2017), captaining the team. These victories and how the differed in feeling and emotion are also highlighted. Enjoy the episode!

We had the pleasure of welcoming Aoife Lennon onto the show this week. A girl with an unrivalled sporting career that has saw her represent her county, Armagh in Gaelic football, and Northern Ireland ladies soccer team. She also captained Newry City ladies to three straight promotions and a Irish Premier League title. What is more is that she led this Newry City team to the Champions League. Although Aoife has enjoyed huge individual and team success on the sports field, she has had to ensure some obstacles that many would struggle to cope with. Namely, the death of her father at the age of 13, and, being diagnosed with Anorexia while in New Zealand travelling. Aoife shares her insights and reflections on the ups and downs she has enjoyed and endured and we thank her immensely for her genuineness and humility in doing so.

Battling with a gambling addiction for the best part of a decade would be enough to overwhelm the strongest of person. Eoin Fields, our guest for this weeks episode overcame his battle and is now well on in his recovery and his story and enthusiasm is infectious! Genuine, humble and down to earth, Eoin's personality comes across no end in the discussion we have. We get the background on his addiction, get a sense of his day-to-day thoughts and emotions during the worst of it but most importantly he opens up on what was driving him as he began the process of turning his life around. Enjoy the episode!

For this episode, we are joined by Chris Kerr, who formerly represented county Antrim, lining out in goal over 100 times. At 34 he is still lining out for St Galls and does not seem to have lost any appetite for the game! On the field, Chris has enjoyed more success than 99% of all club players ever will, with 8 Antrim Senior Championship medals, an Ulster Club medal in 2010, and an All-Ireland Club medal in 2010. However, off the field, Chris had to deal with the death of his father in 2013, a time where he really struggled in life. He does not hold back in describing his thought processes and emotions during this phase of his life, and for this we thank and admire him. Chris came through this ordeal ultimately by reaching out and telling someone (the GPA in his case) about how he was feeling. Since then, Chris has spoken in the European Parliament on behalf of the GPA on mental health awareness and now uses his Head Health Matters platform on social media to continue to raise awareness in the area. It was a great chat and you will love the episode!

This episode marks 6 months of The Straight Up Podcast. How quickly the time has elapsed! In the episode we reflect on our own journeys over the last 6 months and our collective journey. Importantly however, we look ahead as we enter the final quarter of 2020, a year we will not forget. We offer our thoughts on how to make the most out of the final portion of the year.

What a vibrant and progressive man we had the pleasure of speaking with in this weeks episode, and what a joy he must be for the primary school children he teaches in Doha, where he is currently based. He embodies positivty and optimism, the core principles behind his You Never Arrive at LIfe platform, that he uses to project his personality and message to people of all ages. This episode highlights some of the battles Miceal has faced in his life, namely the death of his school and club-mate at the age of 15 and his battle with hair loss during university. More importantly though, we delve into how he was able to come through these battles and ultimately grow from them. The pleasure was ours Miceal and we will speak soon!

Insightful, articulate and just plain interesting! This is how we would describe our guest for this weeks episode... and we would be doing him an injustice. This episode was one of our favourites to date, due to the thought-provoking questions posed and scenarios considered. Although Garath operates as a Hypnotherapist in a sporting capacity, his principles and knowledge are completely applicable to life in general, no matter the area. The chat we had left us both reflecting deeply, which is never a bad thing. We hope you enjoy!

Humble, honest and upfront. Conor White is all of these and our conversation with him was so refreshing and relevant and one that alot of our audience can indeed relate to. A GAA star and natural leader from an early age, Conor found himself basing his decisions and his life around this and struggled at times to see the bigger picture. We have all been here in one sense or another. We discuss his battles with injury throughout his playing time and the likely reality that he may never play again. Lifting the Senior Championship as captain of his club, Armagh Harps in 2017 is highlighted as a landmark day in his career and life. Life after football and what this may look like is another area Conor opens up about. It was a pleasure Conor.

Academic and sporting achievement have been the norm for Shea from a young age and we aim to uncover the principles that underline this. Discipline and focus, what they mean to Shea and how he is able to maximize his output form the basis of the episode. We touch on his experience with Armagh GAA and how he has harnessed this in life since. We pose the question asking does he see himself playing for Armagh in the future.

Based on an article written by Oisín, this weeks episode focuses on the application of a sporting metaphor to life in general. Perspective comprises our view of the world around us and our position in it so this is an area that underlines the actions we take each and every day. It is a milestone episode as we both elude to and there is a warm and casual tone throughout as we all get a sense that things are changing slowly for the better. We hope you enjoy!

In this week's episode we catch up with Oisín's former university colleague, Kieran Joyce, now the Co-founder of Noggin Sport, a Clothing brand donating all of its profits to mental health charities across the UK and Ireland. We get the inside track on what predated the decision to set up Noggin Sport, where Kieran pursued a rugby career with both Ulster and Connaught. We all open up on some of the battles and struggles faced during our time at university and reflect on the pressures we felt at such a turbulent time in the life of a young person. We hit some topical and light-hearted tones while doing so, of course!

Matty opens up on his experiences, positive and negative, that he had whilst pursuing a professional football career, with Aberdeen FC between the ages of 16 and 18. He highlights how the exposure he received as a young athlete paved the way for the pursuit of excellence in all that he did, whether it be his university degree, or the founding and management of his online coaching business, Inside Strength. He also reveals the meaning and purpose that underline his actions.

Join us as we converse with Alex Parr, Founder & Owner of Millenial Management on his fitness, business and personal journey's, highlighing the key takeways for us all. The key themes emerging from our discussion included the power in taking action and importantly seeing the possibilities that may not be obvious or apparent at the time.

In this episode, we examine the journey Eoghan has been on to date. At 21 years old, he has gained a vast amount of experience and exposure and as is made clear throughout, this has been key to his development not only professionally, but indeed on a personal level also. Beyond this we reflect on the topics of the day and make plans for when things return to normal.

Join us as we get the inside track on Conleth Mc Alinden, the person and the entrepreneur, discussing what makes him tick on a day-to-day basis, his business so far and advice for everyone on perspective and action.

For this episode we take a step back and review some of the developments and trends we are seeing emerge in the landscape of COVID-19.

Join us as we highlight and analyse 5 things we can all do as we navigate through the current climate.

In a complex and distracting world, seeking clarity and simplicity can be difficult for all of us.

We introduce ourselves, provide the background on how we came to this point and lay the foundations for what we hope the future holds.