Maria Morgan, CEO of Esker Fields Skincare
I am married to Terry and have 3 sons. We live on the family dairy farm in Co. Louth, Ireland. Initially, I worked in Adult Education for a period of 20 years, where I managed the Adult Learning Service for adults who had literacy, numeracy and/or language difficulties growing the service from 22 learners in 1999 to over 2,500 learners when I left in 2018.
A number of events were to change the direction of my life the first was I became very ill with work-related stress and was unable to work for a period of 11 months. My journey to wellness brought me into contact with the whole area of Holistic Health, as conventional medicine couldn't help me at that time.
The second event was the sudden death of my beloved brother David at the age of 51. This had a major impact on me, and I made the decision then that I was never going to put off something I really wanted to do because I didn't know how much time I had on this earth.
Shortly afterwards, I started my Aromatherapy, Bio Energy and Reiki Master training. Finally, in 2018 I took a leap of faith, left my permanent and pensionable job, and started my own business, initially giving holistic treatments.
I started making the products for myself and giving them as gifts to family and friends. After receiving such a positive impact and completing the mandatory cosmetic testing, I started selling my products at my first Christmas market in December 2018.
To my surprise, I completely sold out, and I discovered I had the ability to sell. In 2020 just before the Covid 19 pandemic started, I made the decision to concentrate on just the products, and during the first lockdown, I rebranded and repackaged the products under the new name and Esker Fields was born.
What do you like about your current role?
As Esker Fields is still very much a start-up company, my role, like any solo entrepreneur, is varied, and I am involved in all aspects of the business.
I enjoy the varied nature of my role I love the fact that no two days are ever the same. I have discovered I am a good problem solver, have a natural instinct for business, and have learned to trust my instincts.
What are your favourite books?
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I love how he talks about the importance of having a goal. He goes on to say you first have to coax & nurture your goal in order to keep it alive, but then it takes on a life of its own, becoming a burning desire. That is exactly how I feel about my vision for my company.
Who do you most admire and why?
In terms of business, I really admire Jo Malone and Jamie Kerns Lima.
Although I have never met either of these ladies, I have read their autobiographies. I admire their passion, commitment, work ethic and their resilience to overcome any obstacles to build globally recognised businesses.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
My father told me when I was a young woman starting out, "Remember Maria, you are the master of your own destiny and captain of your own ship, so you should have some destination in mind."
As a result, I always have a goal or a vision of what I want to achieve in my mind I might not always have written it down, but it was always at the forefront of my mind.
What motivates or inspires you?
I love people, helping people, and seeing people growing in confidence & self-esteem.
I saw this first in my work in Adult Education, and now I see it when people use my products - how they become more calm & relaxed. There is no better feeling in the world than knowing you are making a difference to another person, even in a small way.
What would you like to highlight and share with our audience?
Remember, people do business with people, so it is so important to always be your true authentic self. I always try to go that extra mile if it is including a handwritten note and/or little gift with every order to show my appreciation.