Dr Lollie Mancey, Programme Director, Educational Provocateur, and Radio Show Presenter
Dr Lollie Mancey is an entrepreneurial specialist and lecturer in UCD's Innovation Academy. She also lectures in gender and development and equality studies in UCD's Department of Social Justice. She is the Director of three businesses (and growing), making her a serial entrepreneur. With a PhD in Organisational Learning and an academic background in Anthropology, she brings a unique perspective to innovation and entrepreneurship. She is the winner of the inaugural Trinity University Dermot McAleese Teaching Award and was also Dublin Story slam champion in competitive storytelling. She is a vibrant keynote speaker who advocates for progressive education, equality and diversity in business and has a wealth of experience in the entrepreneurial sector.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Instagram - I love the visual image.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
Progressive education, innovation and entrepreneurship.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
We challenge, nurture and cultivate change makers.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Be You - everyone else is taken.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
People are sharing and owning their stories. People that create change for the benefit of others. I Am inspired by authenticity and strength from adversity. I'm inspired by the ordinary being seen through curious eyes and transformed. Life moves me forward - we have no choice but to look to the future whilst enjoying the present.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
My daughter. My resistance and bounce back. I was the first to go to University in my family. I've never stopped wanting to connect more and use what I know to help others on their paths. I'm a champion of entrepreneurs.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
In-person.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Kindness, sensitivity, insight, ability to connect to people.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
That it would all be OK - even when it wasn't.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Cindy Gallop for her vision and unstoppable drive-in sex tech. Suzi Jarvis for dreaming up the UCD Innovation Academy. Ivan Illich for writing Deschooling Society in 1971. Ruth Bader Ginsberg for her work inequality.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
In my spare time, I'm trying to surf - I'm determined to make it happen.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you been managed it?
Positive - in that our training went online. Negative in that I've missed people.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
Most people I meet leave me with some lasting impression to take away.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Find a course where you can meet like-minded people and upskill.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Lack of mentorship or support - we all need our tribe.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life." - Mary Oliver.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Any that aren't greenwashing, those that are authentic, those that give back.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success is contentment - building something from nothing, an idea to a working business is like alchemy, that excites me, but you will fail, it is only a learning experience, not a destination, so enjoy the rollercoaster and take time to appreciate it with those you care about.