Aisling Maher strives for excellence on and off the pitch.
The Dublin centre forward, who has been nominated for a PwC Camogie All-Star once again, balances running her own business while trying to help her county continuously push on to new heights.
Maher along with Monaghan footballer Stephen O’Hanlon, and former teammate Faye McCarthy setup their business Mooze Vegan in 2020.
The company produces a vegan protein shake in various flavours and has received support from Enterprise Ireland and the SuperValu Food Academy programme.
The idea was born during the trios time studying for a Masters in Business and Entrepreneurship in Technological University Dublin.
“The two guys are vegan so they were acutely aware of a gap in the market around high protein, grab and go products for vegans, which got us thinking about designing a product which would fill that gap or meet that need,” she explains.
“I'm not vegan so we had a nice balance of me seeing it as a product that might while being suitable for vegans could also be a more sustainable choice for somebody like me to make a couple of times a week.”
The entrepreneurs setup base in Ballybay, Co. Monaghan initially attempting to produce a maze-based drink before then switching to soy. They were awarded with a food innovation voucher from Enterprise Ireland which helped them to further develop their concept.
Having been hit by delays due to Covid, the final product is now nearly ready to enter stores, and Aisling has major ambitions for the future.
“The plan would definitely be to get it up to a full-time job for myself and Stephen and then really we'd be looking at hopefully being able to employ somebody at some point to look after the production side,” Maher says.
“We'd love to have a full range at some point.
“At the moment we have a vanilla drink and a strawberry drink which are ready to go, and we also have a chocolate flavour which is in the works.
“If we can get the three of those up and selling then we'd definitely like to bring out more within the range.”
Aisling Maher grateful for the support of GPA
Maher believes that all three business partners coming from a GAA background has helped the business, with the company receiving significant support from those involved in the game, particularly the GPA.
“They have been brilliant for us since we first incorporated.
“They covered an accountant for us for the first year, so Sean Cavanagh was doing a lot of our work on accountancy, helping us with things such as tax that we wouldn't have had enough experience with.
“We've sat down with them, the three of us, a couple of times if we're at a bit of a bottleneck or we're not sure where we're going and just tried to work out what exactly our aims are.
“In general, the GPA are very good,” she adds.
Striking a balance is essential when playing at inter-county level and while managing a business has many challenges Maher is grateful for the flexibility it gives her.
“It is definitely busy but in some ways it's ideal because there is a certain amount of flexibility because of it.
“Obviously, there's a lot of work to be done but whether I'm doing that first thing in the morning or last thing at night, there's nobody giving out to me either way, I'm on my own clock.
“The three of us being from GAA backgrounds helps because we have that understanding with each other that if it's championship week that we may need to put a bit more time into sport for a few days.
“Sometimes that results in us slowing down for a couple of weeks at a time but by and large it means the three of us are well able to dedicate our time to something, to apply ourselves to something and to find a way rather than find an excuse.”
Maher and her Dublin teammates had an improved season in 2022 making the All-Ireland quarter-final before being defeated by eventual champions Kilkenny.
Aisling Maher - O'Sullivan's resignation is "disappointing"
Adrian O’Sullivan has since departed as manager, a decision which Maher described as “disappointing.”
“It (the season) was definitely a move in the right direction, we’re getting back closer to where I think Dublin camogie can be.
“It was really disappointing to see Adrian go.
“We had a strong year with him last year, so I'm very surprised to see him step away.
“I definitely think that the team is left in a better place because of him.”
Maher last won an All-Star in 2017 and while she is honoured to receive it and be nominated once again this year, she believes it is in no small part to the efforts of her team.
“I think the team reaching the quarter-final again and putting up some good performances throughout the championship is probably what afforded myself and Aisling O’Neill the opportunity to get nominated.”
Looking ahead to future, just as she is for her business, Aisling Maher is ambitious that Dublin camogie can progress.
“Ultimately what we want is for the team to be getting further and further in the championship each year.
“If we can build on this year and go one step further in the knockouts next year then I'll be very happy with that.”
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