The Straight Up Podcast

Part 2 of our career series. In this episode we reflect back on where we were in our lives and in our thinking when we were graduates, fresh out of university and ready to attack the working world, sort of. We highlight and discuss four pieces of advice, that given the gift of hindsight, we deem would have been very useful to us during that stage of our lives. The items we discuss include passion and how we can feel pressure to be passionate and/or enthused by the roles in the early stages of our career; being proactive and seeking out opportunities and adopting a mindset that lends itself to viewing things not far what they are, but indeed for what they could be. It is an exciting, yet complex time in our lives and it was very enjoyable reflecting back. We hope are reflections resonate with some of your thoughts and experiences in this stage of your life!

The first episode under the theme of Career! We have identified a number of key themes that we feel represent the best way we can connect with our audience and this is Episode 1 where we share our own personal insights and reflections on how to take command of your career. We do not reinvent the wheel or overelaborate on specific career guidance. Instead, we highlight key principles that target the foundations of your career and indeed life. We aim to highlight how changing your perspective to viewing your career in the context of your whole life and not in an exclusive or separate manner. This allows you to identify how 'you' can progress and get better in life, and therefore how your career can help with this or even serve as a platform. We hope you enjoy!

Tyrone senior footballer and former Afl footballer Conor Mc Kenna joins us on the show this week! We jump straight into life back in Ireland, following his arrival in August. He spent the last 6 years in Melbourne, playing with Essendon in the Afl. Mc Kenna caught the eye of scouts in 2013, when he lit up the All-Ireland minor championship, playing with Tyrone, eventually receiving offers from 5 Australian clubs. Electing for Essendon, he arrived down under in late 2014 and began the pursuit of a professional sports career. And it didn't take him long to make his presence felt, scoring a goal with his first kick on debut, in early 2015. From his second season on, he played consistently at half-back and was recognised as a force throughout the league. Admittedly, he battled homesickness throughout his time in Australia, and ultimately decided in early 2020 that he would be bound for Ireland before the end of the year. He rejoined the Tyrone panel as soon as he touched down and was a key performer for them, though they were disappointed their season was cut short by Donegal. Mc Kenna reflects on all of this and more in the episode and opens up candidly about life outside of sport and the sort of free-spirited mentality that no doubt helps him perform the way he does. We hope you enjoy the episode! 

In this episode we welcome on Down senior footballer Caolan Mooney. Having starred for the Down minors as a 16 year old in 2009, he caught the eye of Afl scouts. He went on to justify this interest with two incredible years at St Colmans, Newry winning back to back Mac Rory and Hogan Cup medals, playing a starring role. At 18, he joined Collingwood and traded his sport and life for a new one of each down under. Caolan had mixed fortunes in Australia and believes that his overall performance should have equated to more than the 6 appearances he did make for the club. He terminated his contract and headed for home at the end of the 2014 season. He admits that he was not focussed on sport for two years following his return and this came to a head when he reached a low point in 2016. He returned to the Down panel in 2017 refreshed and reinvigorated and has been a key performer for them since. This has not been a smooth sail for sure and in the episode we are lucky to hear real and genuine reflections from a person who has enjoyed the highs and lows of elite sport and indeed those beyond the playing field!

Tyrone GAA Senior Footballer, Conor Meyler joins us on the show and we gain the perspective of a player who is competing at the top table within GAA circles, both individually and on a team level. We discuss Tyrone's period of transition following their change of management and Conor reflects on this as well as the opportunities afforded to him by the previous management, under Mickey Harte. The primary focus of the episode is Conor's evolution from a player at underage level who was not a regular starter for some of his club and school teams, and did not even make the Tyrone minor panel of 2012, to then being called into the Tyrone Senior panel in 2015 and holding down a starting place for the majority of the time since. He opens up on his mindset during those days of disappointment and explains how this fuelled him on his quest. 'Winning Tine' for Conor happened between 2014 and 2017, as he won the Tyrone Championship with his club, Omagh (2014), the All-Ireland U21 Championship with Tyrone (2015), the Ulster Senior Championship with Tyrone (2016) and then the Sigerson Cup with St Mary's (2017), captaining the team. These victories and how the differed in feeling and emotion are also highlighted. Enjoy the episode!

We had the pleasure of welcoming Aoife Lennon onto the show this week. A girl with an unrivalled sporting career that has saw her represent her county, Armagh in Gaelic football, and Northern Ireland ladies soccer team. She also captained Newry City ladies to three straight promotions and a Irish Premier League title. What is more is that she led this Newry City team to the Champions League. Although Aoife has enjoyed huge individual and team success on the sports field, she has had to ensure some obstacles that many would struggle to cope with. Namely, the death of her father at the age of 13, and, being diagnosed with Anorexia while in New Zealand travelling. Aoife shares her insights and reflections on the ups and downs she has enjoyed and endured and we thank her immensely for her genuineness and humility in doing so. 

Battling with a gambling addiction for the best part of a decade would be enough to overwhelm the strongest of person. Eoin Fields, our guest for this weeks episode overcame his battle and is now well on in his recovery and his story and enthusiasm is infectious! Genuine, humble and down to earth, Eoin's personality comes across no end in the discussion we have. We get the background on his addiction, get a sense of his day-to-day thoughts and emotions during the worst of it but most importantly he opens up on what was driving him as he began the process of turning his life around. Enjoy the episode!

For this episode, we are joined by Chris Kerr, who formerly represented county Antrim, lining out in goal over 100 times. At 34 he is still lining out for St Galls and does not seem to have lost any appetite for the game! On the field, Chris has enjoyed more success than 99% of all club players ever will, with 8 Antrim Senior Championship medals, an Ulster Club medal in 2010, and an All-Ireland Club medal in 2010.  However, off the field, Chris had to deal with the death of his father in 2013, a time where he really struggled in life. He does not hold back in describing his thought processes and emotions during this phase of his life, and for this we thank and admire him. Chris came through this ordeal ultimately by reaching out and telling someone (the GPA in his case) about how he was feeling. Since then, Chris has spoken in the European Parliament on behalf of the GPA on mental health awareness and now uses his Head Health Matters platform on social media to continue to raise awareness in the area. It was a great chat and you will love the episode!

This episode marks 6 months of The Straight Up Podcast. How quickly the time has elapsed! In the episode we reflect on our own journeys over the last 6 months and our collective journey. Importantly however, we look ahead as we enter the final quarter of 2020, a year we will not forget. We offer our thoughts on how to make the most out of the final portion of the year. 

What a vibrant and progressive man we had the pleasure of speaking with in this weeks episode, and what a joy he must be for the primary school children he teaches in Doha, where he is currently based. He embodies positivty and optimism, the core principles behind his You Never Arrive at LIfe platform, that he uses to project his personality and message to people of all ages. This episode highlights some of the battles Miceal has faced in his life, namely the death of his school and club-mate at the age of 15 and his battle with hair loss during university. More importantly though, we delve into how he was able to come through these battles and ultimately grow from them. The pleasure was ours Miceal and we will speak soon!