Louise Byrne

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I have a Bachelor of Business Degree from Waterford IT. After I first graduated, I really wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take with my career. However, I ended up joining Dell and worked as part of their sales team for three years. I really did enjoy that role. It was fast-paced, and target driven. After that, I took one year off to travel, which was my goal at that time. After my year away and coming back to Ireland I then began my career in HR at Salesforce but I still had a longing to travel and live and work abroad. My husband and I decided to move back to Melbourne, and we settled there for almost 10 years. During that time I worked for one of Australia’s leading IT and Management Consulting firms. We returned to Ireland 4 years ago to be closer to family and the role at CoolPlanet was the first job I applied for before I even left Melbourne. I just loved the ethos of the company.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was growing up, I remember wanting to be an Air Hostess! It seemed like a great way to travel and meet new people.

What does your job entail?

I have so much variety in my role and that's one of the things I love. I'm pretty much involved in the entire employee lifecycle; I really enjoy supporting the leadership team to find great people to help grow the company. I also support our people with their career development and seeing them achieve great things for themselves and the company.

What did you do before joining CoolPlanet?

I worked for an IT management consulting company in Melbourne. I was there for approx. 8 years; I was part of a big team. I learned so much about different industries, people, and cultures. It was an amazing experience. I had the opportunity to travel all around Australia and work with each regional leadership team to grow and develop their people. I also met some of my closest friends while working there, I feel so grateful for the entire experience.

What do you enjoy most about working at CoolPlanet?

I love that CoolPlanet is an entrepreneurial company and you're part of a relatively small team that's growing and evolving. In other places I've worked before you're coming into a well-established organisation and teams where it is business as usual. At CoolPlanet, you feel like you are part of something evolving and get the chance to do things differently, so I would say that's the part that I love the most. The other part is the day-to-day and getting the opportunity to see people achieving great things which also have a positive impact on our planet.

What keeps you motivated and driven on a daily basis?

I suppose I think it's just the freedom and autonomy that I have in my role. You just know what you have to do and get on with it. Everyone works really hard but we have a good laugh at the same time.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would say just be yourself. I think there can be a lot of pressure sometimes when you're younger to do what everyone else is doing or trying hard to fit in but just trust your own gut. Do whatever it is that you think is the right thing to do.

Three interesting facts about you?

1. I have Irish, British, and Australian citizenship
2. I would not consider myself an adrenaline junkie at all by any means, but I love to give things a try. I've done a bungee jump and a hot air balloon ride in New Zealand and a 12,000 feet skydive in Byron Bay in Australia.
3. I am pretty bad at most sports.

What is your life mantra?

I don’t think I have a life mantra but there is a saying that always comes to my mind when things are not going my way in life. The words that always come into my mind are, “what's for you won't pass you by”. You can be trying so hard for something and it's just not happening, I look back on different things that have happened or not happened and think yeah that probably wasn't right for me at that time. Sometimes opportunities come up that you didn’t plan and you’ve just got to run with it if it feels right.