Books, films, and nature were portals to other worlds, ones that enriched me in ways nothing else could. Years later, I would think of lines from Emily Dickinson, along with the poetry of Yeats, Pablo Neruda and Patrick Kavanagh … I was always searching for inspiration and for something bigger, something that would set my soul on fire.

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I went on to university to study English literature and Spanish, simply because I wanted to continue reading. I didn’t have a game plan but, looking back, I must have followed some guiding force; it was there, showing me the way. Shortly after I completed my degree, I became very interested in fashion. I saw in it another form of creative self-expression, an exploration of ideas and powerful storytelling. I discovered designers like Dolce & Gabbana well before they were famous – and years later I even met their grandmothers at their after-show dinners!‎ I went on to open the first concept store in Dublin, where I curated and sold collections by international avant-garde designers and Ireland’s Lainey Keogh. Even then, I never lost my feeling for art and literature, showcasing the designs amongst artwork and beautiful furniture, with extracts from my favourite writers on big panels that hung on the walls.

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But my vision for Dublin was at odds with the economic times we lived in then and my dream ended. For many years, I felt the brunt of that failure and couldn’t shake it off. Years later I would come to understand what Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar-winning film director, once said: ‘Failure is the fuel, success is the brakes’. Or, as actor Denzel Washington said: ‘Failure is the best way to figure out where you are going.’ I knew in my heart then that I was not on the right life path. A part of me was yearning for something else, another way of life, but I couldn’t articulate what that was.