Six figures in debt.
Then Kel Galavan did something fairly extreme. She put her family through a No Spend Year and cut their annual outgoings by €27,000.
Today, Mrs Smart Money says she has a seven-figure net worth.
Naturally, I wanted to know how.
Where did the money actually come from? How much difference did the No Spend Year make? Why can intelligent people earn very good salaries and still have absolutely no idea where their money goes? And why does Ireland remain so uncomfortable talking about investing?
Then Kel drops something else into the conversation.
She's building a personal-finance app in Ireland that she believes can eventually be rolled out across Europe — and this one, she says, will need funding.
Also back at the table is Geraldine Jones of Skin Formulas.
When Geraldine joined us five years ago, Skin Formulas was bootstrapped and she was thinking about Britain and perhaps outside investment.
She never took the investment.
Instead, she kept control.
Today there are 170+ stockists, a flagship store in Nenagh, a 2,500 sq ft warehouse, B Corp certification, manufacturing relationships in Britain, Korea and Turkey, European expansion underway — and Dublin Airport is next.
Oh, and Geraldine has just recruited someone who was selling for Trinny Woodall.
Not a bad five years.
The common denominator?
Both women came through ACORNS, the extraordinary programme for female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland.
Applications for ACORNS 12 close 18 September 2026.
And, inevitably, we finish with Hire in a Heartbeat.
Geraldine wants Emma Grede.
Kel wants…her husband.
She eventually even tells me his name.
Kel Galavan — Mrs Smart Money
Geraldine Jones — Skin Formulas
That Great Business Show with Conall Ó Móráin.
Made in Ireland. Listened to everywhere.
With thanks to our magnificent supporters at De Facto Shaving Oil — made in Mayo, sold worldwide. No foam. No nonsense.
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