The day began with a gentle yoga session led by the founder of Yoga Quarter in Belfast, Susan McEwen.  

Next up was a panel discussion featuring trailblazing women working and researching across different areas of sustainable business in Northern Ireland. Susan McEwen of the Yoga Quarter was joined on the panel by Gillian McKee of GIRAFFE Associates, Maria Diffley of SustainIQ, and Professor Shuang Ren of Queen’s Business School. 

The panel was chaired by Dr Laura Steele, a Senior Lecturer in Business and Society & Director of Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability at Queen’s Business School. 

We gained valuable insights and a deeper understanding of different aspects of sustainability in business - from how each panellist was inspired to focus their career on sustainability, to how they view the evolution of sustainability in business in today's world. 

Inspiration 

Gillian McKee runs sustainability and Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) consultancy, GIRAFFE Associates. At first, she was nervous to leave her full-time job and set up her own business, but she took the leap because she recognised the limitations of staying in a comfortable job and realised, she had the knowledge and skills to transform her passion into a full-time career. The name ‘GIRAFFE Associates’ was proposed by Gillian’s friend, symbolising the power of standing tall - a strong personal value of Gillian’s. 

Maria Diffley is the co-founder of ESG reporting software business, SustainIQ. Maria jumped at the idea of starting her own business, inspired by the need for a solution to help companies to navigate the complexities involved in measuring, monitoring, and reporting on their Sustainability and ESG investments. Maria made significant sacrifices to facilitate the growth of her business. She balanced another job alongside her business while getting it off the ground and didn’t take a salary out of SustainIQ for the first few years. In the beginning, she was involved in every aspect of her business, stepping into various roles to support the development of her team and to demonstrate leadership. 

Susan McEwen co-founded Yoga Quarter in Belfast, followed by Northern Ireland’s first refill shop, Refill Quarter. After falling in love with yoga in 2009, Susan had the idea to open a yoga studio, and realised her dream was shared by her two friends. Susan is a firm believer that ideas choose people, and if people don’t seize the opportunities, the idea will move onto the next person. She didn’t want to look back with regrets which is why she decided to forge ahead and build her own community of like-minded people who valued slow and sustainable living. Despite the unfortunate recent closure of Refill Quarter due to escalating costs, the zero- waste shop introduced an innovative perspective to Northern Ireland, inspiring others to follow suit. 

Professor Shuang Ren was inspired to pursue research in the field of sustainability due to her growing awareness of the terrible pollution in her home country, China. Shuang’s academic expertise focuses on sustainability, human resource management and leadership. Her research adopts a multi-level, multi-stakeholder approach in investigating how to transform organisations towards sustainability. An interesting addition to the panel, Shuang was able to provide a wide-ranging and solid academic evidence base in support of the benefits of sustainable business.  

Learnings 

Support networks: Gillian candidly shared her fear around starting her own business, and  the unwavering support of her friends which gave her the confidence she needed. Susan’s dream flourished when she opened up and included her friends in her ideas. Never underestimate the power of being, or leaning on, a supportive friend. 

Risks and rewards: Maria inspired us with her confidence to pursue entrepreneurship without fear, showing that taking risks and believing in yourself can lead to high rewards both personally and professionally.  

Seize ideas: Susan's story emphasises the importance of seizing ideas when they come to you and not letting procrastination hold you back.  Gillian started her business ‘later in life’ proving it’s never too late to act on an idea and pursue your entrepreneurial dreams.  

Passion: Shuang faced an initial lack of support around her for her chosen direction, but she followed her gut and knew her passion was telling her that a research career focused on sustainability was the right path for her. 

Accept endings and embrace new beginnings: Susan has recently faced difficulties with one of her businesses being forced to close, but her upbeat and positive nature has led her to accept the ending and embrace what’s ahead.  

Know your worth: Maria’s experience highlights the need for women to recognise their own value, revealing that in all her years in the business, only men had ever asked her for a raise. She is a strong advocate for having faith in your abilities and understanding your worth to a company. 

Thank you to all our panellists, our chair, and everyone who came along to celebrate International Women's Day 2024 with us. 

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