2017 started like no other, working away busy busy getting ready for another hopeful season. I was working in the Ashe hotel and I enjoyed it but felt a change in the mix. I started working for a company I had previously and there was a travel included in that wasn’t going to work, I’d made a big mistake. Mentally I was not tough enough for the distance and to be fair I bit off more then I could chew. All of a sudden I found myself in business with Noel, Paul and things were about to take a different spin.
We opened Croí in May and to this day “Touch wood” is doing well. The huge change for me in 2017 was my own personal growth. I got a glimpse of what it must be like to be part of something that was far bigger then I. We started a sort of crusade with Tralee Culinary Gangsters, now we were putting money in the mouth. Because we’d met all the local producers previous to this, we felt very passionate about our people, our county and our town. I watched local business people and listened to how they operate which was huge. I’d only ever worked for people and now that I was my own boss with Noel and Paul, the shoes stayed the same but the feet changed. If you read my stuff you’ll know I do do things out of love. The big change foe me in 2017 was my personal growth. Looking at things in a different way. It used to be for others but now it’s for me, my love for Croí is huge and I’ll defend it to the hilt but that’s not the point. The point is about the feeling inside, the respect I have now for some of my previous employers is different. I saw in them what I now see in me. A love and drive and passion that “this will work”. I have met 2 of the best guys anyone would have the pleasure of meeting. Noel and Paul are my solids. Working together and owning a business is different, this is my money now and ain’t no body goin mess with that but my passion is still people.
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