Both VIP and eir are all about celebrating female led businesses in Ireland, and gaining some insight around what makes them unique.
First, we’re catching up with period care business, and former eir Power of Women winners, Riley, to chat all about the inspiration behind their brand, and how they’ve built a B Corp Certified company with technology and community at its heart.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about Riley and what inspired you to start the business?
Riley was born from a simple yet powerful idea – to address the gap in the market for accessible and sustainable period care.
What started as passionate conversations between friends about female health and reproductive rights, soon led to a question on why we were accepting the sub-par period care market.
Unbeknownst to us we had been using products with hormone-disrupting chemicals. When this came to light in a 2020 study, Fiona and Áine felt compelled to do something about it, and the friends turned founders.
By 2021, we launched Riley only using clean certified organic cotton. Because both our bodies and our planet deserve better. We’re on a mission to make a tangible social impact and change the way period care has always been consumed.
We’re working with businesses to provide for their people. Because we believe period care is a basic human need and should be provided in every bathroom just like toilet paper and hand soap. A simple but powerful step in the right direction.
2. As founders, what are some of the challenges you’ve faced, and how have you used technology to overcome them?
Scaling up our operations while keeping that personal connection with our customers has been one of the biggest challenges. Technology plays a vital role in helping us stay agile—whether that’s responding quickly to client and customer queries, managing logistics effectively or continuously posting valuable content online.
Through our partnership with eir, delivering high-speed broadband and 5G mobile network connectivity, we never have to worry about staying connected. We can focus on what truly matters—our customers—knowing that our technology infrastructure is reliable and secure.
3. If you could give one nugget of wisdom to other entrepreneurs to boost their business, what would it be?
Don’t underestimate the power of connection. Now more than ever, building strong relationships with your customers is essential.
It helps you stay in tune with what your business needs and keeps your audience engaged because people don’t want to follow brands anymore, they’re more interested in learning about the people behind the brand.
4. What’s next for Riley? Do you have any exciting plans on the horizon?
We’re always eager to innovate and explore new opportunities. Whether it’s launching new products, expanding into new markets, or scaling our business, we’re constantly moving forward.
With eir, we can do all of that without worrying about disruptions. The support we get from their network makes it much easier to focus on growth, expansion and communication between our Cork and London office.
Just recently, we were incredibly proud to announced that Riley is officially B Corp Certified! Becoming B Corp reinforces our commitment to sustainability and ethical business practices, which we hope will open more doors to like-minded corporate partners, impact-driven clients and new business opportunities.
5. How does staying connected help you build a strong relationship with your community?
So much of our business operates online. Whether it’s responding to feedback, sharing updates, communicating across teams or providing customer support, being online enables us to engage with our customers in real-time.
Thanks to eir’s dependable connectivity, we can be there for our community whenever they need us. It’s this consistent communication that helps us build trust and deepen our relationships with our customers.
6. In what ways has technology made life easier for Riley as a business?
It would be next to impossible to operate our business without technology so it’s no doubt that it’s made our lives easier. It’s streamlined our operations, making it easier to focus on growth while ensuring we continue to deliver high-quality products.
For Riley, staying connected isn’t just about technology—it’s about using that technology to foster meaningful relationships with customers, support the growth of the business, and stay true to our mission.
Thanks to reliable partners like eir, we’re able to focus on what truly matters: building a business that supports both people and our planet.
You can find out more about Riley here.