Pippa O’Connor is a busy woman.
From her POCO fashion line to her istil38 vodka to her brand new POCO Beauty range. So it makes sense that she was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award sponsored by Penneys at this year’s eir Power of Women Awards.
VIP Magazine caught up with her after the awards.
“I’m seven years in business with my fashion business – POCO by Pippa. We launched POCO Beauty this month. So this award has come at the perfect time. I’m thrilled to get such an award,” she tells us.
“I think days like these awards are so important. I think women that are in the forefront of businesses are still a minority. To be able to celebrate this is so important. I hope it inspires other people to get up and do what they want to do! You can start a business from your kitchen table.”
However, she is quick to admit that it’s not all plain sailing. She admitted that there “more downs than ups”.
“POCO is on the go seven years and with business there are some ups and downs. More downs than ups. But to me that’s what an entrepreneur is. Someone who keeps fighting, keeps going, keeps getting up. I think I’m good at doing that.”
And she’s a busy woman, telling us that she is in the middle of working on new beauty pieces for POCO Beauty.
“I’m in the middle of developing new products for beauty. We have a very busy 2024 ahead of us. That’s what I’m mainly focusing on,” she explains.
As for 2024, she goes on to say: “In the new year, there’ll be a lot of travel. I will be going out our factories and I have a lot of campaigns to shoot in January for spring/summer. Just getting ready for them.”
While Pippa is on top of the world right now, we had to ask what she would tell her teenage self before she began her journey to being one of Ireland’s best-known women.
“I would tell my teenage self that you’re more capable than you realise. Don’t listen to them and believe in yourself.”
