Company that you work for: Mervue Equine

Brief outline of what Mervue does:Mervue Laboratories is a privately-owned equine nutraceutical and specialty products company established in Cork in 1986 with over three decades of experience manufacturing and supplying high performance nutritional products to the global equine market. Now employing 108 staff, all products are manufactured in a state-of-the-art factory with GMP+, UFAS and Beta NOPS quality accreditations at Watergrasshill and are now sold to over 60 countries worldwide.

Where are you from? I am from Waterford and am still based there with my husband Conan.

What are your qualifications? I studied Environmental Science in Galway as well as Marketing and French in Dublin.

Experience in the equestrian industry: I was very lucky to have grown up surrounded by horses as my father had a keen passion for horses and there were always horses at home. I was an active member of Waterford Hunt Pony Club, hunted regularly and competed at the RDS. I was given a wonderful opportunity to work for Ashford Stud/Coolmore America on my J1 and my first job was in client relations for Coolmore in Ireland after college. Most recently, I served as the International Sales Manager at Glanbia/GAIN Equine Nutrition and as the General Manager at Plusvital, where I managed global sales. With over 10 years of experience in the equine nutrition industry, I am looking forward to bringing my knowledge and expertise to the Mervue Equine division.

Why did you opt to pursue this line of work? Horses are in my DNA so it was always a goal to work in the industry I am so passionate about. Selling high quality equine nutritional products is hugely rewarding as it can really impact on a horses’ performance and it is wonderful to share in customers successes from pony club championships right through to Group 1 success on the racetrack.

What is your role? My role is head of equine at Mervue, where I am responsible for managing sales and expanding export growth to new markets. I support the research and development of new products with the inhouse team of chemists, nutritionists and vets to bring high quality equine performance products to customers globally.

Do you cater for amateurs and professionals? We know how important ponies and horses are to their owners and have products suited to every type of animal to maximise their health and wellbeing.

What do you enjoy about your job the most? I love working with customers and horse owners around the world that all have a shared passion. I have travelled extensively over the last 10 years in export sales. Being Irish and representing Irish companies opens many doors. I recently met Mervue Equine brand ambassadors Joseph Murphy and Aoife Clark, all in a day’s work and you are left pinching yourself!

What is the most challenging part of your job? There are challenges in every job but managing global markets can mean working across multiple time zones so a lot of early morning starts and late evenings, but I am not complaining.