Niamh Cooper, Publisher, eThentique Ltd.
Niamh Cooper is a writer, publisher, and, more importantly, a Mum. She grew up in a small German village near a small town, made semi-famous by a certain model called Heidi and a company that makes paper. The latter might have been the reason why Niamh has an inherent love for words, or maybe it is because she was raised bilingually (English and German) by an Irish mother and an American father. From the tender age of twelve, when she wasn't passing secret notes to her best friend in Latin class, she was known to give language lessons to classmates, neighbours, and, occasionally, her English teacher. After studying English and French at UCC in Cork, Niamh spent several years in the corporate world, working in Training, Quality and Communications management, predominantly in companies starting with A, such as AT&T and AOL. Microsoft was an outlier, but she probably loved working there the most.
As an aside, Niamh also briefly worked in another well-known company beginning with A but decided her love of words was greater than her love of rocket science. Niamh has been immersed in the world of publishing since 2008, and when she's not writing, baking German apple cakes, and trying to tame her dogs, she can be found creating books and digital programmes in educational publishing companies such as Folens and, formerly, yes, another company beginning with A, Authentik, a campus company of Trinity College, Dublin.
Niamh is the author of many short stories, flash fiction and poetry, one of which was aired on the New York City-based show ''Ireland Calls''. She reached the Top Ten in the Listowel Writers'Writers' Week inaugural Flash Fiction competition and performed her flash fiction piece ''Thirteen'' in front of an eerily quiet audience. Niamh has also written a Leaving Certificate book for Folens. Through her own company, eThentique Ltd., Niamh published the full-colour hardback coffee table edition ''Lights on the Horizon'' in 2020, a charity book of poetry, prose and photography, in aid of frontline workers, written by authors in Ireland and Northern Ireland. You can find out the story behind the book and how to order it on Lights on The Horizon. All proceeds go to frontline workers.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Niamh likes Facebook and Instagram and uses them mainly to promote the charity book ''Lights on the Horizon'' (check out the Facebook and Instagram pages). Niamh believes that Facebook is great for telling a bit of a story, and she likes to post snippets of the story behind the book to explain why a bunch of over twenty creatives got together during lockdown to support our hard-working healthcare workers.
Instagram is perfect for more of a visual link and creating posts through marketing tools such as Canva. Both Facebook and Instagram have resulted in unexpected missives, from a fake Matt Damon to a real Jeremy Irons.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
Growing up surrounded by languages created a brief identity crisis at the age of around thirteen, but a multilingual background has mainly been a hugely rewarding experience for Niamh. From a very young age, Niamh would be amused by the nuances of language and always enjoyed playing with words. To quote a meme she recently found on the internet (source sadly unknown), ''Die in hell'' can mean completely different things in different languages, whether it's banishing someone to the underworld or expressing a preference to buy lighter-coloured shoes.
Niamh's publishing area of expertise is educational publishing and Modern Foreign Languages (MFL). Niamh has also commissioned titles in other subjects at the post-primary level, including in her nemesis: Maths. Despite what Mathematicians will have you believe, nothing in life is linear, and so, Niamh has really had two careers, which she feels are closely interlinked, the common denominator being education.
Education is deeply engrained in her family, too: her parents, now retired, were both teachers, her grandfather was a principal in a national school, her brother is an editor, and her sister, a psychiatrist, teaches people how to apply techniques to manage stress, anxiety and stage-fright. Not one to flinch from technology, Niamh has embraced the opportunity digital learning can bring, and from teaching herself marketing tools to promote eThentique'seThentique's charity book to learning audio and video editing software, and website creation tools.
Niamh has always loved to learn and hopes she can inspire others to do the same. And yes, Niamh dreams in different languages, yes, she has a Cologne accent when she speaks German, and yes, she can do business in English, German, and if persuaded with the right bottle of Bordeaux, French.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Niamh is passionate about creating content that helps others, and setting up her own company, eThentique Ltd., five years ago, has given her the flexibility to work with a multitude of clients in a multitude of industries. Her main role is that of Publisher and Commissioning Editor, roles which confound many but roughly translate into the role of an all-encompassing Programme Manager.
What Niamh loves about the role is that it touches virtually every area of publishing: from market research to author selection and content management, from design to digital, from sales to marketing, and everything in between. Niamh loves the variety of the role and is looking forward to opening her doors to a transition year student shortly, who is as passionate about writing and learning new things as she is. The training plan is already in progress.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
1. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
2. Don't regret it, learn.
3. Don't believe everything you think.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
Niamh is inspired by kindness and compassion, honesty and empathy, which she feels are as important at home as they are in the workplace. She is motivated by the desire to help others and pass on her experience and knowledge where she can. She thrives on creativity and loves to think outside the box, finding ways to inject a bit of fun into everything she does.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
Niamh is most proud of her daughters and the beautiful people they are. Being a parent and raising two children is one of the hardest but one of the most important and rewarding jobs she has ever done.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
Niamh loves meeting people from all walks of life in all types of settings. From conferences to business lunches, personal introductions and social networks, Niamh is comfortable meeting people anywhere and feels that no matter what industry people are working in, there are always ways to connect, with a view to seeing how they can support each other.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Niamh has a structured, project-management-style approach to any work she does and jokes that her ''Germanic'' side helps her to get things done and turn up to meetings on time! She has been known to be cool under pressure, flexible when it matters, and she thinks that having a laugh and a bit of banter can go a long way to establish a good working relationship.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Life is a rollercoaster, keep on moving forward and never ever have regrets.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Niamh admires anyone who uses their position in life, whether privileged or not, to help others and do things for the greater good. People like Marcus Rashford are doing fantastic things to fight against child poverty and homelessness. Performing artists like Dermot Kennedy, who flood their social media with positive messages, are the voices of the future. And Niamh also greatly admires her own heroes, friends and family, who have helped her, and others through difficult times.
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?
Niamh loves cooking and baking and thinks she may have perfected a recipe for her Irish brown bread. She loves reading, has a particular fondness for sea-swimming (though has yet to find a way to conquer the cold aftermath), and has participated in fundraising events that involve dancing and lip-syncing. She writes stories and is determined to do yoga on a regular basis come winter. Her secret ambition is to get back in the saddle and go on a ranching holiday with friends.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
The pandemic meant that most of Niamh's educational projects were put on hold or shelved, which was a difficult time for her business. However, having a lot of time on her hands was also a great opportunity. Niamh got involved in the “Lights on the Horizon” charity book at an early stage, and it got her writing again. Once the initial paperback was published by editor Andrew William Tinney, Niamh decided to raise the profile of the book by writing to celebrities, asking for support.
When Jeremy Irons responded, Niamh knew that she had to use her publishing background to create a full-colour hardback coffee table edition of the book to raise even more money for frontline workers. Louise O'Neill gave a further endorsement, and the book has been featured in The Echo, The Irish Times, The Irish Tatler, The Southern Star, and many more.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
During Niamh's time in Microsoft, there was a fantastic culture of mentoring, and Niamh benefitted both from being mentored and being a mentor. With a background in quality coaching in contact centre environments, Niamh has brought this approach into her roles in publishing also.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Niamh believes it's very important to learn the publishing graft from the ground up. She feels that in order to understand a role such as hers, it's good to thoroughly understand the market one is in, and start in a role such as editorial, to gain a good insight into the content that is being commissioned.
A love for writing and content helps too, of course, and if wanting to pursue a career in educational publishing, being a teacher or having worked with students in another capacity, and wanting to improve education for our children, it is a great attitude to have.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
It's human nature to shy away from conflict, and we only know after a few knocks in life that it is not the good moments but adversity and how we deal with it that makes us more resilient. Learning from the things that happen to us or mistakes that we make is important for us to move forward.
And one thing that has stuck in Niamh's mind is that we need to ''keep showing up'', consistency and sticking with something we really believe in is the key to success. Many people will have an opinion, and many will tell us why we should not be doing something, but at the end of the day, we need to listen to our gut.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." - J. K. Rowling. and “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” - Chinese Proverb
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Organisations like Cork Penny Dinners and Street Angels do astounding work, volunteering their time and resources to help the homeless. Niamh also supports companies that support their employees to strike a work-life balance, particularly during times of crisis. She feels that now is the time for organisations to look at their workplace policies and procedures and consider more flexible working practices, which is the key to a more motivated workforce.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Everybody's definition of success is different, and Niamh has learnt that in order to succeed, we must first be prepared to fail, over and over again. Or, in the words of Thomas A. Edison: ''I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.'' For Niamh, success is not money nor fame, but it is finding happiness within oneself. And mostly, she feels, it's the little moments in life that make all the difference.