Best Of Belfast: Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast

Joshua Burnside is a singer, songwriter and storyteller from Northern Ireland.

 

His award-winning, genre-defying music draws from the rich, complex history of home — and has found music-lovers from all over the world.

 

You can listen to his latest album here.

 

In this exclusive interview (hosted by Mark Todd), we talk to Josh about:

• His first memories
• Sources of inspiration for his music
• The importance of authenticity in songwriting
• And the greatest challenges/successes he's experienced along the way

 

This is a fascinating insight into one of Northern Ireland's rising stars, and we're so excited to share it with you today.

 

Enjoy!

 

//

 

Webpage for this episode: https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/joshua-burnside-singer-songerwriter

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 150+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

 

 

Alice Wilkinson and Susan Rollins-McEwen are the dynamic duo behind Yoga Quarter and Refill Quarter in East Belfast.     They met while completing their yoga teacher training in 2016. One year later they launched Yoga Quarter in Ballyhackamore.     Being both community-driven and environmentally-conscious, the pair were also inspired by the zero-waste shops popping up in towns and cities across Europe. So two years later they created Refill Quarter: Belfast's first zero-waste shop, located on the Belmont Road.     Both the shop and the studio have been positively embraced by the people of East Belfast and have become an integral part of the community.     In today’s episode we talk all about:

• Copying with style
• Driving motorbikes and training to becoming a lay-preacher
• The importance of community
• How yoga changed their life
• And the greatest challenges/successes they’ve experienced along the way

  Enjoy!  

//

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Alice & Susan (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/alice-susan-yoga-quarter-refill-quarter

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

David O’Reilly (Rigsy) is is a broadcaster, DJ and author from Belfast, Northern Ireland.       As an independent producer, he hosts two radio programmes for the BBC and has made a number of incredibly popular shows for the likes of Gary Lightbody and Hannah Peel.      David has also been writing all his adult life and has contributed to everyone from the NME to The Times.      His debut novel 'Lottie the Raven' launching in October is inspired by his own incident-packed teenage years and the woman's football team he formed in 2017.     In today's episode we talk about:  

• Balancing multiple passions and pursuits in life
• Why Rigsy started The Belfast Ravens
• How he finds the time and drive to write
• And the greatest challenges/successes he’s experienced along the way

    Enjoy!     //   

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Rigsy (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/david-oreilly-rigsy

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Cormac Quinn is the founder of loyalBe: a bank-connected rewards app aimed at helping independent retailers to attract and retain customers.

 

The most impressive part is that before their recent investment, the Ormeau Baths based tech startup was built from the ground up by Cormac himself. 

 

Before loyalBe he was a Software Engineer at Kainos, where he worked as part of a small team to build the UK MOT Reminders website - which is now being used by more than 1m people. Along the way, he’s also had the opportunity to work for American Express, Infosys and MSA Security. 

 

In today’s show, we talk about the loyalBe origin story, what it means to be loyal and how Cormac used his time at university to springboard into success. 

 

All this and more, coming up in this week’s conversation.

 

//

 

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Andi (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/cormac-quinn-loyalbe

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

 

Andi Jarvis is the Founder and Strategy Director of Eximo Marketing, a marketing strategy consultancy based in Bangor and Liverpool.

 

Originally from Bradford, Andi has worked with local and global brands to take the "guesswork" out of marketing and implement cost-effective campaigns that work.     He's also a guest lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University and is a regular speaking at conferences on all things marketing.     In today's episode we chat about:

• Why soda bread isn't all it's cracked up to be (shock)
• What it was like moving to Northern Ireland as a young, short-haired athletic-looking black man with an English accent in the 90s (!)
• How marketing principles can help us think about and address issues like sectarianism and racism
• And the greatest challenges/successes he's experienced along the way

I found this unedited, deep-dive conversation with Andi to be incredibly insightful and I know for a fact you will too.

Enjoy!

 

//

 

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Andi (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/andi-jarvis-eximo-marketing

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

 

Sinead O’Sullivan is an Aerospace Engineer from Northern Ireland who has worked with NASA to design human spaceflight missions to the planet Mars and asteroids.

 

Now a Research Fellow at MIT, Sinead is taking the methodologies she created at NASA and applying them to the social sciences to better understand global challenges, such as the interaction between democracy and technology.

 

In today's episode we talk about:

• Growing up in Armagh
• Going to NASA's Space Camp at 16-years-old
• How life is full of complex trade-offs
• The importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to learning
• And the greatest challenges/successes along the way

 

Check it out!

 

//

Webpage link: https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/sinead-osullivan-aerospace-engineer

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Mike is the Managing Director, of beIN ASIA PACIFIC: a global leader in the production and distribution of sports content like The Premier League, Rugby World Cup, FA Cup and much much more.

 

After moving to Singapore on a 6-month placement, Mike has ended up living and working in Asia for over 26-years.     He's also a keen golfer, lover of pastie baps and former professional rugby player for Hong Kong!     In today's conversation we talk about:

• The 45-minute bus commute to school from Jordanstown
• How he ended up in Asia (and why he stayed)
• What local media can learn from Singapore
• Surviving the Bali bombing
• And the lessons he's learned along the way

 

Check it out.    

//

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Mike (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/mike-kerr-beIN-asia-pacific

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Terry Kane is a senior executive at Facebook living in Dubai where he heads up the marketing strategy for the Middle East, Africa and Turkey regions for all Facebook's platforms and services.

  As if his 20-years experience in tech wasn't enough, he's also an avid participant of various sports including Gaelic Games, Surfing, Snowboarding and has completed dozens of marathons, ultra-marathons and multi-day ultra-marathons like the Marathon Des Sables, the world’s toughest footrace... twice.     In today's episode we talk about:  

• What he learned working in a kettle factory 
• The role extreme sports plays in his work
• How to use tactical empathy to understand reality
• What it was like moving to Dubai
• And the greatest successes/challenges he's learned along the way

 

Had really good craic doing this one and learned a lot of really valuable nuggets along the way.

 

I know you will too.

 

//

 

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Lyn (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/terry-kane-facebook

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Bernadette Collins is a senior Formula One strategy engineer from Northern Ireland working with the Racing Point F1 Team.

 

Alongside being responsible for the race strategy for both drivers, she also travels to every event in the championship — often making decisions on a lap by lap basis to win as many points for her team as possible.

 

In today's episode we talk about:

• How she got interested in engineering
• The steps that led to her working in F1
• What lessons Formula One can teach us
• And the greatest challenges/successes she's experienced along the way

 

This is a great story of Bernie's journey from Fermanagh to Formula One and one with plenty of interesting stops along the way.

 

Enjoy!

//

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Bernadette (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/bernadette-collins-formula-one

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt 

Philip Hamill is the Associate Provost, and currently the Interim provost, at Abu Dhabi University.

 

After watching a movie about Wall Street when he was a boy, Philip decided to move to Belfast from Portadown to study economics.

 

The rest, as they say, is history.

 

One Bachelor's, Masters, PhD and MBA later, Philip is now an accomplished academic with a successful track record of publishing in international peer-reviewed journals, books and professional publications on the topic of finance and its interface with computer science.      In today's episode we talk about:

• What it was like growing up in a rural environment
• How he ended up in Abu Dhabi
• The role creativity plays in education
• And the greatest challenges/successes he's experienced along the way.

Enjoy!

 

//

 

To see a 'treasure trove' of all things related to Philip (including a photo) please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/philip-hamill-abu-dhabi-university

 

Best Of Belfast is Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast. We've shared 100+ hour-long conversations with incredible people from Northern Ireland.

 

To find out more, or join 'The Producers Club' please visit https://bestofbelfast.org/

 

Cheers!

 

— Matt