Gillian Moody Strikes the Right Balance at Stryve Ireland
7th March 2023
Wicklow woman Gillian Moody has been appointed Managing Director of Stryve Ireland. The rapidly expanding tech company has offices across Ireland, the UK, Morocco and Poland. Formerly the general manager at the company, Gillian will run the operation here from its head office in Co. Carlow, managing a growing team of 40-plus people.
“The company is on a steep growth trajectory, doubling in size for two consecutive years.
As a group, it is on track for €10M turnover in 2023 and Stryve Ireland is a significant portion of this success. I look forward to taking on the new responsibilities of Managing Director of Stryve Ireland and helping to align the Irish operations as the company continues to expand across Europe and beyond,” she says.
Gillian graduated from Waterford Institute of Technology having studied Computer Applications. More recently she earned a Diploma in Leadership at the UCD Professional Academy. She has two decades of experience in senior leadership roles with an impressive client list, including Bank of America, Lidl Ireland, Nokia and the Royal Australian Navy. She also ran and successfully sold her own IT support business in Co. Carlow, providing technical support to a network of clients including the Department of Justice.
As the primary caregiver to her nine-year-old son, Seán, Gillian believes she has finally found a work/life balance, that works for her.
“I work Monday to Thursday. The four days are full-on and extremely busy but the culture at Stryve suits me and gives me the right balance to be present for my son.
I’m proud to say that I have brought in some of the biggest clients to date, big-name clients like Total Produce, Anthony Nicholas Group, and Liffey Meats, but I’ve never missed any of my son’s matches!”
Tech or Sales – She’s experienced them all!
Gillian went globe-trotting in her twenties, picking up impressive IT support contracts with Walt Disney Australia, Bank of America, the Australian Navy and Nokia. Despite Nokia trying to entice her to move to Singapore, Gillian returned to Ireland and successfully established her own IT business in Co. Carlow, providing technical support to a network of clients from home users, small businesses, schools and even the Department of Justice. She later sold her business to take up the role of IT System Manager for Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland. Here she managed the launch of the biggest and most technologically advanced warehouse in Europe, from an IT perspective, at that time.
After a career break to start a family, Gillian moved into sales, somewhat reluctantly at first. She explains, “The CEO was a former colleague, he said, ‘You could sell sand to the Arabs’ to which I replied, “I don’t want to, because they have enough sand, they don’t need anymore. I wanted to be a problem-solver and not a sales pest,” she recalls.
“Later he bought a food distribution company and asked me to take over as MD and rejuvenate the business. I was with them for three years. It was a big change from technology, but I was looking for a new challenge. It was a great team and I thoroughly enjoyed the role, but the three-hour commute took up way too much time,” she admits.
Gillian is now embracing her new role as MD at Stryve Ireland where she appears to have cracked the elusive work-life balance conundrum. As a woman in technology she believes there’s no better time to be in the sector.
“Right now is a terrific time for women in technology. Incentives for girls to study STEM, and gender quotas are levelling the playing field.
There is much more gender balance today. I accept that Women are still usually in the primary care role at home, but there are companies like Stryve that genuinely value a work/life balance and foster a culture where it is possible to thrive in tech,” she concludes.
