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Gone are the days when having a good enough product was enough to drive growth, and with so much competition out there, having a brand that people believe in is non-negotiable.
In this episode of all about business, James Reed sits down with father-daughter duo Molly and Phillip King of Ireland’s family-run festival, OtherVoices.
Starting in a tiny church in Dingle, it grew to become a hotly-anticipated event. It’s hosted some of the biggest names in music, including Kate Tempest, Arlo Parks and Amy Winehouse and is now watched by millions across the globe.
They explore the ins and outs of working with family, how to use digital media to build a brand and, despite massive growth, how they’ve managed to stray true to their original vision.
01:55- family dynamics in business
02:27- building an authentic brand
03:57- the role of culture and trust
08:23- the evolution of other voices
10:35- the digital transformation
14:33- the growth of other voices
20:39- maintaining the core ethos
23:32- navigating the pandemic
24:30- the birth of other voices courage
25:21- live performances in iconic locations
26:51- challenges and triumphs in the music industry
28:59- spotting and nurturing talent
33:13- the unique experience of performing in dingle
38:04- Ireland's edge: bridging art and science
42:18- quickfire round
45:47- conclusion and farewell
Watch Other Voices live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OtherVoicesLive/
Follow Other Voices on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/othervoiceslive
Follow Other Voices on Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@othervoices
Follow James Reed on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chairmanjames/
Find a creative job you love: https://www.reed.com/candidates/marketing-creative-pr-jobs
Find out about the Big Give Christmas Challenge: https://donate.biggive.org/christmas-challenge-2024
00:00:30:13 - 00:00:55:06
Unknown
With consumers now bombarded with content. Cutting through the noise is harder than ever. Without an engaging brand that speaks to a clear audience. Your business will get ignored. So how can you make sure your brand stands out and holds people's attention? While staying true to your vision? Joining me today on All About Business. Are Molly and Phillip King.
00:00:55:08 - 00:01:27:08
Unknown
Phillip and his wife Nuala O'Connor started Ireland's Other Voices festival at a tiny church in Dingle. Now, two decades later, their daughter Molly is head of development. And the festival has millions of viewers every year. It's hosted some of the biggest names in music, including Kate Tempest, Arlo Parks and Amy Winehouse. Despite its success, the festival returns to that very same church in Dingle every year while broadcasting to viewers across the world.
00:01:27:10 - 00:01:38:13
Unknown
Which makes Molly and Phillip the perfect guests to talk to us about building an authentic brand with millions of followers.
00:01:38:15 - 00:02:03:02
Unknown
Molly Phillip, thank you so much for joining me today. You were our first double act on All About Business, and I should explain to our listeners and viewers that's because you're a family business. You got two generations of kings on the sofa this afternoon. What's it like working as a cousin, if that's the right way of saying.
00:02:03:02 - 00:02:27:05
Unknown
What are you. Kick it. Kick us off the, I think it's it's always been that way. So it doesn't feel like anything other than who's normal to me. You must. So I feel I've put you on the spot somehow, but. Yeah. So you've you've always worked together. But for you, I suppose growing up in the family, that's been.
00:02:27:07 - 00:02:59:07
Unknown
Yeah. So, but also, you know, they want to, so, so, sport events. Me and my two sisters were always around us in some way, shape or form. So for us, for the studios, musicians in the house, it was, so I was always very taken with us. It's like magic for me. So I did my level best to become like a professional siren.
00:02:59:09 - 00:03:23:00
Unknown
Like you really wanted to join this? I, we agreed on multiple occasions to take you out of school to go and make documentaries for us. Yeah. So coming off first, education for brave for me, and, I've just been doing that since, in different capacities, but, I mean, with a lot of different perspective.
00:03:23:00 - 00:03:46:12
Unknown
First. For me, the worlds that he was inhabiting was so attractive to me in terms of how social it was, the creativity around us, the excitement around us, the kind of teamwork, And I, you know, just wanted to be there also. And so I kind of felt quite sure that I would make my way back there at some point.
00:03:46:13 - 00:04:12:06
Unknown
So what about you? What's your perspective on this? I think it's wonderful to work together in this way. What I think is absolutely wonderful is in this family way, it seems very natural. Some of it's, you know, myself, I've been involved from very, very early on in our lives with music. Culture, capturing, capturing the sense of our own country.
00:04:12:06 - 00:04:38:22
Unknown
But I was like, let's see it through the lens of culture. And I think to work with to privileged to be around some of the remarkably creative people who create intellectual property, and that's a business in itself. But you go back to school or, it's it's, it's still important. It feels like to be alive. What sort of solace and suffering and what conviction do get up every day?
00:04:38:24 - 00:05:06:23
Unknown
To go to work and to go about your daily life. And I think what the culture does is it gives people that sense. I would say that it's more important now than ever to become a little bit more virtual, a little bit more authentic, more artificial. What do we find ourselves in? The company of people. It's tactile, tangible, visceral.
00:05:07:00 - 00:05:33:04
Unknown
But that is a different quality. And I think trying to balance of the loneliness of the digital life with the warmth of the real, tactile, tangible thing is fantastic. And I think that that's people need to get them up in the morning, to give them the sense of purpose to what it is that they do. Well, that's why I'm thinking, listening as you go through this is your family purpose.
00:05:33:04 - 00:05:58:02
Unknown
Is that to bring that to people? Is that fair? I mean, you do this together. Yes. We are doing that together. What we have learned, I think, is skill set in terms of what is needed to go about doing. So you'd like to say, well, what is it that you do? Again, over parts of the brain stimulation to actually sleep.
00:05:58:04 - 00:06:19:21
Unknown
So what does that where does that leave you to that when you, Well, you know, what's being, you know, very careful. All right, as you say, somebody asked me once, what is it that you do? Yes. What do you do? Well. Good question. What we was said very simply was we celebrate what's about to happen.
00:06:19:23 - 00:07:05:13
Unknown
Culture, what's about to. And I would say that that is the core mission of what suffering belongs. Enterprise is about. Is can only happen if you win. Trust. I think many relationships are predicated on that trust. The artist trust. So when we worked with a litany of various different people, like whether it's you to or Elvis Costello or whether it's a nontraditional musician, and almost more importantly, if it's somebody who's sort of unknown to the public that they trust you and they invite you into their home.
00:07:05:15 - 00:07:37:14
Unknown
And this is at the kitchen table and they begin to play the privilege of that exchange and the trust that's inherent in allowing somebody to capture that photograph and to hold this door is hugely, hugely important. So in our work, that piece is, is is the scenic final week of enabling us to do what we do in the arts, getting things.
00:07:37:16 - 00:08:08:21
Unknown
What I'm saying is that privileged to be doing this work and to enter that relationship, trusting relationship, to photograph the artistic life of confidence, which is what we've been doing for 30 years or more, is the heart of the matter. We're delighted that you're watching this episode. Please hit the subscribe button if you'd like to receive more insights and actionable advice that will help your business and your career.
00:08:08:23 - 00:08:53:14
Unknown
So I can hear the passion and conviction about what you do and your love for that. But how do you divide responsibilities, you know, as a family enterprise? How do you what's your focus, Molly? And then yours for that? I mean, yeah, I mean, I suppose my like my title is, has developed. So, I develop all these projects and then I suppose specifically for the voices this, festival on TV shows that we do, I would have been responsible for the groundedness, the esthetic of us, bringing in sponsors, partners, developing in terms of I think it is musically how many shows we have, certain ones, we reach
00:08:53:14 - 00:09:18:07
Unknown
kind of a large capacity terms of people coming down. And I felt kind of frustrated that we were able to step over the voices. I felt it didn't it didn't necessarily match with the experience that everyone was having on the ground. As we deal with contemporary. I didn't think it's expressed who we were. So then I am started just around the dinner table.
00:09:18:10 - 00:09:56:03
Unknown
So to see the creator of the less contemporary version. No, no, no, I oh, so, also come from somewhere or, sometimes to brands evolve. I mean, that's okay. As I say, this look like, it's kind of like clip art, but I don't know who majors. So there was it was more like trying to get people to understand in the company that, what you look like, particularly on social media or on television or on YouTube, is crew is crucial to how you are perceived.
00:09:56:05 - 00:10:20:13
Unknown
And it sounds, maybe slightly superficial. It's not. And so we did we kind of sat down. I spent months thinking about rebranding. And you know, that's a moment to let me do this. And then I can listen to what else rebroadcast and most of which I used to hate, and now I love. But it was kind of it took it was more just that they were taken up with, producing films, directing.
00:10:20:13 - 00:10:48:21
Unknown
So writing them that, and it wasn't as if they were dismissive of it, just haven't necessarily. When did you do this? When this was maybe ten years ago. No, no. So you 20. So you're ahead of your time really. And recognizing this, need for digital, I think first, I suppose we've talked to other people on the podcast about digital first, but you will recognize that decades ago, yes.
00:10:49:01 - 00:11:20:17
Unknown
Maybe it was useful because I've been around for so long and I was quite young at the time, so I'm just naturally engaged with digital media. Of course. Yes, music fans are someone in their early 20s, so, I kind of I could see where I was going and I could see what I wanted from a one of one of the things I think it's a secret advantage of family businesses is that they can immediately tap into the young generations for living with you there, because, you know, a lot of businesses don't have that.
00:11:20:17 - 00:11:45:17
Unknown
I mean, so what was your take on all this hugely enriching, you know, to have somebody who is growing into the business but who has a whole skill set, and means of communication and understanding, and I, out of all guy I grew up with the guys on the telephone. Didn't have you know, a mobile phone, etcetera.
00:11:45:19 - 00:12:19:07
Unknown
He grew up in the generation of a different sort of digital generation, so was able to bring all of that to the company. So for us, it is huge. Thank you for watching. You know, hugely successful as well as people began to sort of sense us. It was about in a different way, a different generation. When I started making television work and being seated at the goal of making television programs, there was a completely different mother.
00:12:19:09 - 00:12:46:10
Unknown
Make some things, to make a good idea. But how do you how do you do it? How do you get the resources that are necessary to go from the abstract idea, the tangible things screen? But as you say, what we did, with, so I suppose it was a business that is self-employed, grew from that passion.
00:12:46:12 - 00:13:19:10
Unknown
I guess in any business that's hugely important, our belief in the passion in the thing itself, for its own sake. You know, I think, that, you know, businesses will always want, Yeah. My father, my father's always said that success is as easy as pie. And I said, what does that mean, pie? And he said, P for passion, I for ideas and for energy.
00:13:19:12 - 00:13:44:24
Unknown
I'm getting a lot of this from both of you. Passion, I design energy, I mean, food without that. I think a business is good. Particularly, you know, a family business. I mean, I think the passion is definitely, you know, the idea that we want to go and do do this is that, we still have.
00:13:45:01 - 00:14:18:17
Unknown
We're rejected. And I go back to his phrase again. We were very, very fortunate, to go about doing what it is that we do. To go back to the the first principles or new sources of celebrating what's about giving the platform to aspiring and interesting musicians, and giving a path forward that they have they can speak to the world eloquently in turning a beautifully.
00:14:18:19 - 00:14:39:14
Unknown
I have a tiny bit of church in the west of Ireland, and you can turn it off. All right. There is a universal language of music. I mean, everyone I think loves music of some sort or another. And and it certainly is a great unifier and brings people together. So you've you've created this wonderful festival. Molly's already referred to it Other voices.
00:14:39:16 - 00:15:07:16
Unknown
And you run this together as a family. Could you just describe it to, listeners? Will you tell us a little bit about the place, the people? What why did you do it and what is it? The other voices. It is Irish speaking, which is hugely important because it is a cultural repository which is a cultural resource.
00:15:07:18 - 00:15:49:04
Unknown
The musicians and the dancers, people speak, the language accurately and beautiful. Still, even though it is, we can probably say it's some sort of danger. But the thing that attracted me with myself, was that, I speak the language, the culture, the food there, which brought me there, keeps me there. The topography is very windswept and and actually, when we were setting up our business, when we moved from Dublin with.
00:15:49:06 - 00:16:24:20
Unknown
The truth is we don't you do not. I see it's a good question. Good. You just described a fishing. For the, You doing in this one? Well, what would you the. So there was this little church, I think the main street, the small town was, old church mine. There were some bits and pieces of music.
00:16:24:22 - 00:16:45:20
Unknown
And one thing that I a telephone. I was lucky not to, you know, so someone was, made of this. I mean, this.
00:16:45:22 - 00:17:05:10
Unknown
This doesn't sound like the sort of good business idea yet, you know? Go on, keep going. I've always, we invited a whole lot of the assistance from the people, and, So where do we get the money to do this? Why not go to the.
00:17:05:12 - 00:17:27:13
Unknown
Can you give me some money? So. Very successful doing with no money. And then I got a phone call this. Oh, my God.
00:17:27:15 - 00:17:36:19
Unknown
So to give, this television to.
00:17:36:21 - 00:17:45:10
Unknown
In 22 years since grown, it was today.
00:17:45:12 - 00:18:25:24
Unknown
Going up and down the main street. And we couldn't get it to see this thing that have to. It took 14 years. For a few years least. I mean, that's unimaginable now. I mean, having been the queues of people, no one could get tickets. Everyone months ago. So really began very sort of modestly and, as most things do, I guess, without the property that's in the place of we wouldn't start the business would not have survived or Jewel and groom house.
00:18:26:01 - 00:18:49:12
Unknown
It's that 56 bits that sort of almost abstract thing that you can't put your finger. That's almost if you if you're starting something afresh, it's almost what you need to find. Is that somehow the thing you can't put your finger where it seems to be, that you did so money you were sort of growing up with this, so you remember it when there was hardly anyone in the church.
00:18:49:14 - 00:19:24:17
Unknown
Yeah. Well, what's your recollection of what happened? How did it suddenly become such a destination once you've taken the, a few things happened. We started putting all these shows. More people came naturally. I suppose after a certain period, I just remember that, my touchstone was about my friends starts care about us, which took years, you know, to they were slow to wake up to this, you know, by the time we were about 13 or 14, it started to become us.
00:19:24:19 - 00:19:48:14
Unknown
People paid attention to what they say. And and then I started to evolve. This is becoming, you know, people are starting to notice this. People who grew. And by the time I got to university every once in a while. So I'd say, oh, this is I've been I know that, but I can't put my finger on how to answer your question.
00:19:48:14 - 00:20:15:18
Unknown
Right. Some of it was just a natural progression. As you describe, like the magnetic nature of, of doing the in this off season time, I think it was lucky that it was winter time. So we were and it also became a little this is mostly Christmas. Irish music industry decamped to jingle for a weekend. Every December I had a goal.
00:20:15:20 - 00:20:39:01
Unknown
I think, location timing artist who has a lot going on his production. There's, you know, it's it's gone. So it's hard to to get in, get in and, do your favorite spot on the company board. Not necessarily because. Yeah, just it's all of it grew naturally. And then I think we started to sit of one thing, which is what do we want to do with this?
00:20:39:03 - 00:21:02:16
Unknown
You know, there's a there's a sense of momentum to something that you don't always have control over. Yes. You always have to sit down and think, okay, what is this? The kind of ball is rolling down the hill, and how do we maintain and retain the ethos. And so you'll understand this, you know, if anything, any business grows.
00:21:02:18 - 00:21:21:20
Unknown
Sometimes it's easy to forget what made us important or yes, what was the core. And if you don't hold on to before, then you might lose sense of what? And you might turn around and go, oh, we didn't, we didn't really need to do that. And I think it was important for us to everyone to also, you know, why do we do this?
00:21:21:22 - 00:21:54:15
Unknown
What why is this is so important? And it goes back to the artist. Without the artist in the house, you have anything with music, so you never lose sight of protecting the music and the artists and making sure it's a good experience for them. I think if you, if you always know that, speaker and cashmere company, then to put all the stuff in different locations, you know, to be able to always kind of keep the ethos the same.
00:21:54:17 - 00:22:18:08
Unknown
So the people, no matter what the what location these offices, people might say, oh, not so the voices. So it will be like this. It will sound close to the internet. It will hopefully be in some way emotional. I'll see some really good music. So I'm going to be able to go look at all these. You and then I will be upset.
00:22:18:10 - 00:22:43:07
Unknown
Send it to my column. This is all just go with the positives and and it's allowing the audience to always be with us. They will get the same quality experience in terms of production value, but also in terms of emotion, because obviously we say this jokingly, but this is true, that we are in the feelings business. Like that's our business.
00:22:43:09 - 00:23:05:04
Unknown
We're in the film business because music is inherently emotional in terms of how people interact with it. But also we're family and it is personal. You know, it's not just a business to to us, it's the way we live. It's what we do every day. And it's hard to imagine doing, you know, so great for me, for you.
00:23:05:04 - 00:23:31:24
Unknown
Oh, you doesn't have to keep going. I would hope you keep going. Yeah. That's so so this is obviously you. You described it very eloquently. You've sort of kept a sort of core to your offering, which is being consistent, but it's grown because of this digital opportunity that happened at the same time in parallel, ready to when you started all those years ago, and you've done that sort of very successfully, sort of taking it out to the world now?
00:23:32:01 - 00:23:55:10
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, I guess, obviously the pandemic happens, every, every one of those, you know, and we were very lucky that we already knew how to do those. So I suppose that accelerated what we were already doing to a very significant degree. So that's a it was a big learning curve for us as well.
00:23:55:12 - 00:24:20:03
Unknown
Again, it's interesting because in the context of, you know, lots of businesses will be grateful to, appeal to, music for artists and musicians. This would be with no restrictions to go. Don't see.
00:24:20:05 - 00:24:44:06
Unknown
Like fortunes off stream. So, I mean, we're very lucky because it's similar resources, gave us the tools to go about doing something. And they said, well, what do you think we should do? We saw the word courage and said, you know what? You do what you need now. And I said, do is put some courage.
00:24:44:08 - 00:25:14:22
Unknown
And I use that phrase, what do we collapse? Distance, which is I read something so he suggested, we do a series called All the Monsters that we did 19 and it was it was remarkable the way we got access to buildings. That was a hundred years ago. We get access to, like, the National Gallery.
00:25:14:24 - 00:25:47:15
Unknown
You know, room, from, like, comic paintings. Sleep with a rapper from. You and do with live life. Not as long as live life. It was sensational, but, So we. So this is in the middle of the pandemic. We did, these, we some to put Fontaines DC into killing dead. Did live and people were realizing this can't be like this.
00:25:47:17 - 00:26:17:01
Unknown
So we then hit on the notion in the distance business that a project or the artist would actually say, hello, we're having their messages coming in to us now from San Francisco, from Australia, from Austin, Texas, from London. Sent this important. And there are pictures of people dancing in their kitchen. And so during the Covid piece, this was a real movement, for the artists as well as for the artist.
00:26:17:01 - 00:26:44:16
Unknown
Well, who got to go to work, but also then we had to break down the distance and bring people together and give people the sensation of almost virtually being outdoors. And so we did 19 goals in 19 amazing sort of places around the country. And it was basically the bureaucracy of getting it to these. This is just another way to go and say, can we do a gig internationally like this?
00:26:44:18 - 00:27:15:16
Unknown
Yeah. So that was wonderful. Anything like that. So we were you took your opportunity, to sort of like dealing with the process. The testing process is just everything in the sense that the level of process is from the Arts Council to everywhere, you know, is the energy of creativity. No, I think that's a very interesting observation that I would share with you.
00:27:15:18 - 00:27:39:20
Unknown
And although we're in very different businesses, I see that one. So that would be I think that you work, wanting to go to work, providing more. Would you get it? You know, if all of you place somebody in a job, you know, if you get the right person, all of those things are absolutely crucial and attendant to everything that we do.
00:27:39:22 - 00:28:00:17
Unknown
It's a difficult business in terms of, you know, challenges. Keep going to get your budgets to, partners and sponsors and, work with getting grants and, you know, any peers and friends that I have in the music industry, a lot of us know how to do this. And then you get to the end of your event.
00:28:00:19 - 00:28:30:06
Unknown
I know why we do this. You know, this is this is it's, you know, I think I can grow up around, all the good parts and the challenging parts as well. Be very aware. You know, there are elements to any business like this. The more challenging is, I guess, being able to kind of keep coming forward in terms of something, you know, sometimes you'll have difficult years, sometimes you have great years, but you keep, you know, you keep going because that's your message.
00:28:30:06 - 00:28:55:02
Unknown
Keep going. Yeah. You just have, I mean, already done several times, you know. Yeah. And that's true of our business too. It's still going 64 years. We've had some war stories. Yeah. War stories. Our business read is proud to support the big give. If you would like to make a donation this Christmas and have it doubled, please visit Big gift.org.
00:28:55:04 - 00:29:13:16
Unknown
All donations are doubled, which means you can make double the difference. But in the very beginning, James, you know, we made a list of ours that probably anybody, nobody would know who they were. They were beginning their career.
00:29:13:18 - 00:29:46:22
Unknown
Very early on, who came before he was well-known? Before he was a star. And the number one artist in America. Would you see this year? So when we asked him to come back when he first arrived, there was a certain problems there. He said yes. So the way in which our thing unfolded, sort of organic in a way, is, you know, Damien Rice became quite a big star, you know, that have to run off to win an Oscar.
00:29:46:24 - 00:30:10:13
Unknown
Yeah, we gave him an all star, you know? So you're supporting talented you. You're bringing in young artists, emerging artists, and then suddenly they they grow and see, flourish. It's almost like as if you would say, or business, a new business. It's almost an untold band or function. You know, we identify artists, we know who does money is in the artistic community.
00:30:10:13 - 00:30:41:12
Unknown
And so we we know that there's somebody interesting a little since came to, see eight years ago actually played with the storm. The very few people you know, she's all the corporations, the main stage of Glastonbury, etc.. So, you know, our job really is like, I suppose, talent spotting to some degree, having a sense of somebody who might be on their way somewhere.
00:30:41:14 - 00:31:10:16
Unknown
And then if we ask them some years, they come back. They come back, and other stars, let's say to each other, they want to write. Yeah. We were there last year. Absolutely. So it's that word of mouth. It's like, I suppose if you're selling something that's nice. But I mean, it's also just business. I suppose with time, like anything, the longer you're in the business, the easier it becomes in terms of word of mouth.
00:31:10:18 - 00:31:35:14
Unknown
So a lot of things come from like agents, bookers, managers, record labels because we've been doing this a long time. So go they might say, might not work with you this year. Or like in any given year, we have a list of artists that we probably try to book five years, and every once in a while one will come to like ten plus last year.
00:31:35:16 - 00:31:58:21
Unknown
You know, we get other forms to this to today because, you know, it's so special. For years. And so there's a artist that I'm superstitious to name another and I just I we will get them back. But it's just it takes you six years. You you just have to keep I'm sure they never forget coming. Know somebody once you get them to do your a lot of your work is done and they will likely come back.
00:31:58:21 - 00:32:20:23
Unknown
But it's the ones you have never been. Yeah. Yeah you have to. Sometimes depending on the artist you have to work to get them there. So it's kind of it's kind of a mix. I think it has built a whole to be a very credible reputation. So I'll go into meetings in London and various record labels are marginal companies and all go, oh, I was in jingle With monkeys 3 or 4 years ago.
00:32:20:23 - 00:32:42:01
Unknown
How are you guys doing? I'm working with this. I'm working with these artists now. What do you think? And it's it's kind of a natural ecosystem. And so you build up these relationships over time. That's right. And then quantity as well. I mean, I mean, I think the seasons, you know, are are really wonderful. We've moved on for so long.
00:32:42:03 - 00:33:07:09
Unknown
I think the Mercury Prize for the BBC this year. Yeah. JM six music now. So we're sort of in the life if you like, live the life of music, accessible forms and people. That's something to carve. Sometimes you get 2 or 3 people or just a box that's, let's put it this way. This reminds me of that expression.
00:33:07:09 - 00:33:39:04
Unknown
You know, every overnight success takes about 20 years. You know, you've this is you look, if there is a cumulative sort of equity and appreciation of what you do and, and that sort of performing in the church is so unique for the artist as well, as you were saying, for some experience for them, it's right. There's a nice kind of equity to us because, you know, church is very small on the way, the way the artist get into it with the sacristy office, the room with all the gear and and it's where they walk off stage.
00:33:39:06 - 00:34:03:16
Unknown
They have to walk up a stepladder through a window that opens. There is only one way. And, you know, it doesn't say you can't be two grand and. You know, that's the only way. And, everyone has wonderful steps. Yeah. I mean, with her spindly legs behind. Oh, you've got good insurance.
00:34:03:18 - 00:34:29:04
Unknown
So everyone kind of comes in the same way no matter where they are. I think I think they feel that, it encourages, you know, are artists themselves. How still watch you through the shows and say hello. Some of them. I've been on the road at the same festival circus, so there's a nice we don't really like the kind of red tape, VIP exclusive, whatever.
00:34:29:05 - 00:34:39:01
Unknown
Like there's no there's no other room you should be getting to. You know what I mean? You may see,
00:34:39:03 - 00:35:11:23
Unknown
That we put them together, in cardigan, and they go to a we used place and, Fantastic. We've been doing that for years now. We'll do it for the next three or, two partnership. So more and more people are beginning to come. So it's becoming something that makes my take hold and nice and Jewel, again, we found the right people, people who are very motivated to want to go to work at the production value level that we're talking.
00:35:12:00 - 00:35:41:02
Unknown
Again, I can't stress that enough. That's a key. Magnet for artists who want to come with you. Okay. All right. Well, which experiences are you? The are 60s, and you were there for an artist. Didn't get very much away as I tried to. You had a good go. So, Oh, I'm not sure about that.
00:35:41:04 - 00:36:36:20
Unknown
You really got something? Minister for finance. Yeah. They're always tricky customers. I suppose due behind the lack of music time. And he's been at hierarchy, like, music wise, that deals with members of the record. So. We have that good appointment saying very good department. Yeah. But I think chief of staff, I think there's a beginning to sense, in our long term, which contributes, I think, I think that there is definitely a sense that investment in the, in a strategic way is something that will bear fruit.
00:36:36:22 - 00:37:06:00
Unknown
I mean, I guess in the Irish sense, you'll see this from from looking across the Irish Sea. In terms of foreign direct investment, in terms of, you know, corporation tax, it's just been released. It's just as if there's a windfall in corporation tax. You know, there's a sort of a sense and a much lower rate, I might say, than in the UK, which is interesting.
00:37:06:00 - 00:37:38:19
Unknown
So Ireland is collect collecting a large amount of corporation tax at 15% in that particular instance and say, the the, the, the actual performance where the companies is that they're beginning to sort of sense, again, the culture is hugely attractive. To a workforce. I want to can and I know that there are huge problems.
00:37:38:21 - 00:37:58:00
Unknown
Think there is that differences, that, you know, that we've been able to do be, have an educated workforce, to the culture in the broadest is is a prime.
00:37:58:02 - 00:38:28:16
Unknown
Business is to participate. Yeah. I can get the workforce to do the job. So, Molly, you run a parallel event with other voices, which is called Ireland's Edge, which is like a conference that you bring together science and art. Is that right? What's the thinking here? Yeah. So we run that, with my sister, you know, you know, a we call it our ideas strand over the voices in terms of it's where we go to figure ourselves out.
00:38:28:18 - 00:39:03:12
Unknown
In the broader sense, the idea with our edge is that it's kind of these boundaries between different sectors that tend to be quite siloed. So kind of insertion a of art into the stem stand, seeing science, technology, engineering, maths, they don't tend to necessarily talk to artists. And our students don't necessarily talk to say, engineers. And the idea is that our language becomes a kind of a, a home to discuss the broadest topic so that the foreign policy issues could be disinformation.
00:39:03:12 - 00:39:36:04
Unknown
It could be I could be environment, could be preserving the Irish language, a huge array of conversations. The ideas of the people in the room are from the those kind of disparate platforms. And the ideas must be in order for us to imagine a better future for ourselves, we have to become collaborative in terms of the challenges that we face, in terms of the environment, as in, us.
00:39:36:06 - 00:40:05:07
Unknown
Yes. The idea is that we bring these people together who may never meet. I suppose the idea was for a of, a lot of questions and conversations we had around the dinner table about these kind of pressing issues that really were preoccupying us as a family. So a whole circle of friends who work on our research found, because we do something or we try and talk to some experts and some very interesting people who can illuminate or give us, show us a path forward.
00:40:05:09 - 00:40:32:13
Unknown
I'm Boston for years now, and we've had some amazing conversations there. Including, you know, we have this last year who's come to most experts on Russian, Russia, Russian foreign policy. I know she's back here. She's my administration events. I think it's very interesting. And I like the idea. We're all looking for an edge, in a way, in life.
00:40:32:13 - 00:40:50:01
Unknown
And you know that people listening to this will be looking for what they can learn and take home. And your fusion of Stem with, since becoming Steam, it reminded me of that wonderful book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I read many years ago as a as an enthusiastic motorcyclist. You know, I love the journey.
00:40:50:01 - 00:41:06:12
Unknown
I like the wind in my hair. I like the smell of the trees in the street, but you have to be able to fix it and you have to be able to work. You understand the engine and how it's all put together. And that's right. And that's what that book was really about. That's sort of the journey combined with the the understanding of how to fix it.
00:41:06:12 - 00:41:48:02
Unknown
Not. And that's what you've you've sort of created here as well, I think in another way. I do have an open forum reading, where we're interesting people like, you know, broadcasting. We different things like that. Guidance is heading up our focus on the podcast getting backwards. Used to run off. Come here. And, he's very challenging for the historian Jeremy Parker, who's just making a few people, on the last 20 years of our 90s to to the present day, is going to sit down and interview him and talk to us.
00:41:48:04 - 00:42:00:21
Unknown
That would be a very, very it's a conversation, you know, what is the that it's a bit like this was a little bit.
00:42:00:23 - 00:42:18:06
Unknown
They suddenly are in England. They're arguing that, I think this game that we talk a lot about, a safe democratic place to live, you must have a source of truth in the news that you can trust.
00:42:18:08 - 00:42:37:07
Unknown
So my last question, and this is one of my interview questions from 101 in the book, one of the fateful 15 is it's described as the classic interview question. And I'm asking all my guests. And I'll start with you again, Molly, is where do you see yourself in five years time? See, in Ireland. I live in London, almost.
00:42:37:09 - 00:43:23:16
Unknown
I'm going to be here for nearly nine years. I, I'm slowly, slowly moving my way home. I mean, I'm I'd about being dingle for, first. Yeah. I mean, doing the same job I'm doing now. How do I say start to starting to really call me home? And you feel in five years time, I would hope that the voices would be secure and growing and developing in the capable hands of moderate, the other voices in our world.
00:43:23:18 - 00:43:32:05
Unknown
The corner of the field occupied in West Kerry.
00:43:32:07 - 00:43:47:04
Unknown
Who you, could use the little corner. I think of you as a hair. So it's called the hair. I ask yourself, what is this?
00:43:47:06 - 00:44:24:14
Unknown
As if it will be possible to see the promise. The farmer will mold the whole field of everything. Every corner. And then he said there's problem. We need the hair. Because the hair sits. On the forehead. We need that little piece for the hair. Just. It's the right thing to do. Again, we're starting to talk about this.
00:44:24:14 - 00:44:27:23
Unknown
It's like, let's.
00:44:28:00 - 00:45:02:11
Unknown
Talk about these places that were left for their own sake and our. And spirals and that they're they're that if you were to spreadsheet or any of these points yourself here. You know what? It will reward you in a different way for, that sometimes, sometimes it's just necessary to do that thing that we operate. It's not call that is the that is the place that we operate in.
00:45:02:13 - 00:45:38:17
Unknown
The people who live in that particular place. Because, it feels, you know, the thing to do or to continue if you don't open corresponding doors to consistently put something back in. And if there was any one thing again, that was it's not is it possible for something to be how do you say that again? How do you say that again in the heads corner in Irish when you hear that's all message, I think.
00:45:38:17 - 00:45:47:04
Unknown
Thank you so much, both of you. I love that. I think everyone should have a hand as Conor.
00:45:47:06 - 00:46:08:20
Unknown
Thank you to Molly and Philip for joining me on All About Business. If you'd like to find out more about Other voices, visit Other Voices. Dot I or follow them on social media. I'm your host, James Reed, chairman and CEO of Reed, a recruitment and philanthropy company. If you're looking to land a job you love in the creative sector.
00:46:08:22 - 00:46:17:09
Unknown
Visit our website or speak to one of our specialist recruiters today. All the links are in the show notes. See you next time.
All about business is brought to you by Reed Global. Learn more at: www.reed.com
This podcast was co-produced by Reed Global and Flamingo Media. If you’d like to create a podcast to get your elevate your brand, visit Flamingo-media.co.uk