AIBF Business Talk

“I never thought it would be what it is today.”

Three children walked into Sheila Moffatt’s first Irish dancing class in North Mayo.

That small class became the Moffatt School of Irish Dancing.

More than 35 years later, the school has grown across Mayo, producing world champions, developing future teachers and passing a love of Irish culture from one generation to the next.

Today, several dancers who grew up through the Moffatt School are preparing to take the next step towards becoming teachers themselves.

But Sheila’s story isn’t really about dancing.

It’s about seeing potential in people, opening doors, staying the course when success doesn’t come quickly - and building something far bigger than you ever imagined.

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Sheila joins Elaine Carroll to talk about the journey from those first three dancers to building one of Ireland’s best-known Irish dancing schools.

And there are some powerful business lessons along the way.

Early in Sheila’s career, she struggled to access the training she needed to become a qualified teacher. She travelled from Mayo to Dublin each week before eventually finding people who were willing to support her.

She never forgot what that felt like.

 “When I got my exam, I did say in my head at the time, I’d never block anybody.”

That decision became part of the culture she created.

Today, 11 dancers who grew up through the Moffatt School are preparing to become teachers themselves.

“Every one of the 11 of them has come into me as a baby… and now they’re in their early 20s and they’re preparing.”

What does it take to build people, not just performers?

For Sheila, success isn't simply about coming first.

World titles are part of the Moffatt story, but she believes progress looks different for every child.

“Sometimes if a child can place fifth or sixth in a big competition, that’s as big an achievement as the child who comes first.”

Her philosophy is simple:

“Everybody gets equal praise, every child has potential.”

And perhaps that's one of the biggest lessons for any leader: People don't all need the same thing to succeed.

There is also the importance of creating an environment where people feel they belong.

“If they feel happy and safe and content with you, they will grow and you will develop their confidence.”

That philosophy has become part of the Moffatt culture:

“Once a Moffatt, always a Moffatt.”

But behind the success stories are years of persistence.

Sheila’s teams spent years finishing second at world level before finally breaking through.

“They were second and second and they kept going and going.” And when the breakthrough finally came:

 

“To actually see them achieve it then was huge.”

How do you keep going when you’ve come so close, but success still hasn’t arrived?

That question sits at the heart of Sheila’s story.

Because perhaps her biggest lesson is the simplest one: Never lose sight of the people at the centre of what you're building.

From the four-year-old walking into class for the first time to the dancer standing on a world championship podium, Sheila remains deeply involved in the lives of her dancers.

“For me, the centre point will always be…the child.”

And behind all of it is something even bigger than competition or winning.

“Because to me, what we do, we pass on the culture of our country. And if we can instil that love into a child, it will continue.”

From three dancers in North Mayo to world champions on the international stage, Sheila Moffatt has spent more than 35 years building something she never originally set out to create.

Her story is a reminder that sometimes the biggest businesses, careers and legacies don't begin with a grand plan.

Sometimes they begin with three children, a passion, and the decision to simply keep going.

🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Sheila Moffatt, founder of the Moffatt School of Irish Dancing, on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

About the All-Ireland Business Foundation

The All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) is Ireland’s national body for recognising and supporting business excellence. We are the accrediting authority behind the Business All-Star marque — Ireland’s Symbol of Trust — awarded through a rigorous audit of reputation, performance and customer trust.

Since 2014, we’ve impacted over 5,000 businesses, with 750 currently accredited.

For more information please visit www.aibf.ie here.

When Francis Roach and Michael Fitzgerald began talking about setting up a bus company more than 30 years ago, their idea was unusual.

They wanted to build one without owning the buses.

“We were setting up an Uber for buses. We didn’t know it back then,” Francis recalls.

Not everyone was convinced.

“We went to several banks who told us we were mad as a bag of cats.”

So, they started anyway.

“On a shoestring, we started it off in September 1995.”

More than three decades later, that idea has become Marathon Group, spanning coach hire, sports travel, major event transport, logistics and safety solutions.

In Episode 248 of AIBF Business Talk, Francis joins AIBF Co-CEO Elaine Carroll to reflect on the risks, relationships and people behind that journey.

The early Marathon model was simple. Hire buses from operators, find the work and give customers a better overall service.

“The first two or three years, we were very poor at maths, but the concept was working.”

Then customers started asking for more.

Day trips led to sports travel. By 2007, Marathon had secured rugby tickets for the World Cup in France.

“We went from hiring buses to hiring planes.”Major events followed. From early concert work at Oxegen and Slane, Marathon developed the experience to manage increasingly complex transport operations.

At a recent event at Palmerstown House, the team moved almost 10,000 people from nine different locations in a single day.

Yet for the passenger, it should all feel simple.

“The key of it all came back to the customer experience.”

Behind that experience are the people Francis credits with Marathon’s longevity.

His philosophy comes down to three principles:

“Respect, hard work and have fun.”

Some relationships with operators, suppliers and event personnel now stretch back more than 20 years.

“Relationships are what builds your business ultimately.”

That culture has helped Marathon Group earn recognition as an AIBF Superteam for 2026.

For Francis, the recognition belongs to the people whose work customers rarely see.

“This recognition for me is for them, in that the unseen work that goes on.”

That same respect extends to customers when things go wrong.

Buses can run late. Stops can be missed. Mistakes happen.

“When that happens, we put up our hands.”

Francis believes those moments can define a relationship just as much as the good ones.

“The relationship with the person who’s giving out is as important as the one who’s praising us.”

After three decades in business, Francis also sees his own role differently.

“My job now in the business is risk management.”

Every major event involves judgement. How many buses should Marathon order? How many tickets should it buy? How much should it commit to flights or hotels before knowing exactly what demand will be?

“Too many buses, I’m losing money. Too little buses, we’re turning opportunities away.”

“Entrepreneurs will always bring it to the line of risk.”

But one of Francis’s biggest lessons has been learning to let go.

A self-confessed micromanager, growing Marathon meant changing how he led.

“I had to change my style.”

“The journey for me probably over the last 15 years has been that transformation from micromanaging everything to building systems, empowering people, training people.”

Technology has played a part in that change. But Francis remains clear about where investment matters most.

“Anytime you train your good staff, it’s an investment. It’s not a cost.”

It is a lesson shaped by more than 30 years of changing markets, recessions, major events, calculated risks and relationships that have lasted decades.

And if Francis could go back to the young entrepreneur starting Marathon in 1995?

His advice would be simple.

“It’s going to take a lot longer than you think. Stick with it.”

Listen to the full conversation with Francis Roach of Marathon Group on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

About the All-Ireland Business Foundation

The All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) is Ireland’s national body for recognising and supporting business excellence. We are the accrediting authority behind the Business All-Star marque — Ireland’s Symbol of Trust — awarded through a rigorous audit of reputation, performance and customer trust.

Since 2014, we’ve impacted over 5,000 businesses, with 750 currently accredited.

For more information please visit www.aibf.ie here.

When Juliana Erkkonen and her husband Donal decided to start their own business, there was a feeling that the time had come to take the chance.

“If you want to do something in life, life is actually very short. And you might as well try it, because what do you have to lose?”

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll sits down with Juliana Erkkonen, Co-Director and Head of Customer Relations at Abhaile Solar & Electrical, to talk about building a family business, creating a better customer experience and learning to let go as the company grows.

Originally from Finland, Juliana moved to Ireland in 2003 with plans to stay for just six months and learn English.

More than two decades later, Ireland is home.

“I discovered an amazing country and amazing people. I just fell in love with it.”

Juliana came from a career in social care leadership, while Donal had more than 30 years of experience as an electrician, including time working in renewable energy.

Together, they saw an opportunity to combine two very different strengths.

“The combination was there in terms of Donal’s technical abilities and his experience, and then my side… my skills are a lot in customer service.”

Coming into the renewable energy industry without a technical background also gave Juliana a different perspective on what customers were experiencing.

“Because I had to learn so much about the industry, it’s maybe easier for me sometimes to explain to customers simply what it is and what it’s not.”

She quickly recognised how overwhelming the language and technology could become.

“What actually matters to the customer… and to communicate that in a way that they understand it.”

That focus on people and service has remained central as Abhaile Solar & Electrical has grown.

But growth has brought a new challenge.

Letting go.

“We created this, what I call, our little baby. And then when you start giving it to the world and to other people… that was first quite difficult.”

As the workload increased, Juliana realised that trying to manage every part of the business herself was no longer possible.

“You can’t do the bookkeeping and the marketing and absolutely everything and the finance side of it, and ordering materials and scheduling… you can’t do it anymore.”

The next lesson was learning to trust others.

“Bit by bit, trying to delegate and let go of the control. I think letting go of control is probably harder for me than I thought it would be.”

Today, Juliana and Donal are deliberately thinking about what the next stage of Abhaile Solar & Electrical should look like.

Demand has grown. The team is growing. And rather than chasing growth for its own sake, their focus is on protecting the service and customer experience that helped build the business in the first place.

“We will keep growing, but a little bit controllably, hopefully.”

And if Juliana could go back to the beginning and give herself one piece of advice?

“Don’t worry about absolutely everything so much. Just do it, just one step in front of another.”

From moving to Ireland for six months to building a family business here more than two decades later, Juliana’s story is one of taking a chance, finding her own place in a new industry and learning that building a business also means knowing when to let go.

Listen to the full conversation with Juliana Erkkonen of Abhaile Solar & Electrical on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

About the All-Ireland Business Foundation

The All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) is Ireland’s national body for recognising and supporting business excellence. We are the accrediting authority behind the Business All-Star marque — Ireland’s Symbol of Trust — awarded through a rigorous audit of reputation, performance and customer trust.

Since 2014, we’ve impacted over 5,000 businesses, with 800+ currently accredited.

For more information please visit www.aibf.ie here.

Michael Hennelly had opportunities to join the family business years ago. Looking back, he knows he wasn't ready.

“I wasn’t mature enough 20-odd years ago to go into the family business. I’ll hold my hand up and say that.”

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll sits down with Michael Hennelly of Hennelly Finance to talk about building his own career before joining the family business, working alongside his sister Ruth, and bringing his own experience to a business his mother started more than 26 years ago.

Hennelly Finance began after Michael’s mother was made redundant. When other companies started approaching her about similar roles, she asked herself a simple question.

“If these people are chasing me and they think I’m good enough, why can’t I do this for myself?”

She did exactly that.

“She started with a blank page… really no clients, just a phone and a paper and away you go.”

Michael took a different route.

He spent more than 25 years building his own career, including 13 years with New Ireland and later working with Aviva, where he gained exposure to financial advisers across the country.

“What it gave me was a really good understanding of what the really good people do well with their clients and what gives a client a high probability of getting a good outcome.”

One lesson stayed with him: take ownership.

“You take ownership… you don’t pass it on. You make sure it goes from start to finish.

After years of watching advisers work directly with their clients, Michael increasingly wanted to do the same.

“For 20 years, I was looking at these people saying, ‘I’d love to be doing that. I would love to be sitting in front of clients as well.’”

When his mother began stepping away from Hennelly Finance, the time was finally right to join Ruth in the family business.

But Michael wasn't coming in to replace what had already been built.

“They’ve built some business here. They really have.”

Instead, he saw an opportunity to bring more than two decades of his own experience to the foundations already in place.

“It’s not taking away from what’s been done here. It’s about adding to it.”

More than 26 years after his mother started Hennelly Finance from a blank page, Michael and Ruth are now helping to build its next chapter - holding onto the values that built the business while bringing their own experience to where it goes next.

Listen to the full conversation with Michael Hennelly of Hennelly Finance on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

When people ask Rob Haran what they should spend their first bit of money on when starting out, his answer isn't equipment, a van, or a website.

"There's no point investing in machinery. There's no point investing in a van. There's no point investing in anything if you're good at nothing. So invest in yourself."

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll sits down with Rob Haran, Managing Director and Founder of the Haran Group, to talk about starting a scaffolding business with nothing but a pickup truck, growing it into a group of specialist businesses, and why the first investment anyone should make is in themselves.

Rob's own career is the proof. He began as a scaffolder with a single-cab Ford Ranger, a silage pit for storage, and his father helping him load it by hand.

"We literally handballed the scaffolding onto the Ford Ranger, we went off, we put up what we could for the day and we loaded for the next day."

He never lost sight of what came next.

"What I wanted after the Ford Ranger was a truck, what I wanted after the truck was a forklift... there's always something you need after, if you have ambition."

That same principle - build the competence first, and the opportunities follow - is how Rob explains the growth of the wider group. When staff numbers rose and training costs followed, he became a qualified instructor himself before ever opening a training centre to the public.

That approach has taken the business a long way from its beginnings. Founded in 2007 with just three employees, Haran Group has expanded beyond scaffolding into machinery, safety training, welding, calibration and temporary works design. By 2024, the Group had invested more than €1 million into the business, with plans for further expansion and growth across the West and Midlands.

What started as one scaffolding business had become a wider group of specialist services - each new arm growing from a capability Rob first saw a need for.

"I never grew up thinking I was going to own a training centre... I just adapted the idea of in-house training, I utilised my yard, I utilised my equipment."

It's also how the welding and calibration side came about - not from a business plan, but from Rob putting in the work to learn a skill he didn't have, with help from someone he'd never met.

"Anytime I've reached out to anybody and I've been open and honest in what I want to do, they can see the honesty there... it's always going to be a win-win."

For Rob, hiring is no different. Qualifications matter, but attitude is what he looks for first - because attitude is what makes someone willing to invest in themselves in the first place.

"You can always get trained... but if you don't have the right attitude, you're not going to go very far."

His full advice to anyone starting out, or thinking about what's next, comes back to the same idea.

"Start training as something. See if you like the job you're in... once you become a competent person in anything, the doors of opportunity will open up for you."

From a Ford Ranger to a group spanning scaffolding, training, welding and calibration, Rob's growth has been built one skill at a time.

Listen to the full conversation with Rob Haran of the Haran Group on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

About the All-Ireland Business Foundation

The All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) is Ireland’s national body for recognising and supporting business excellence. We are the accrediting authority behind the Business All-Star marque — Ireland’s Symbol of Trust — awarded through a rigorous audit of reputation, performance and customer trust.

Since 2014, we’ve impacted over 5,000 businesses, with 800+ currently accredited.

For more information please visit www.aibf.ie here.

When you’re an independent business competing against major international players, it can be easy to focus on what they have that you don’t.

Bigger budgets. Bigger teams. Bigger reach.

For Vicky Kelly of Kelly Hearing Specialists, the answer was not to try to compete on size.

It was to focus on what they could do differently.

“We knew we could never outspend these big, massive companies. So we very quickly and very early on said to ourselves, we’re never going to be able to do it. So let’s do what we’re good at.”

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll sits down with Vicky to talk about building Kelly Hearing Specialists alongside her mum, growing an independent family business and why trust and relationships have remained at the heart of everything they do.

Vicky and her mum had worked together in the hearing industry for almost ten years when the decision to go out on their own came quickly.

“Mum very quickly made a decision…I think it’s now or never.”

Within a week, they had the keys to their first premises.

Having worked within a large corporate hearing company, they believed there was room for a more personal approach. One where patients were given time, listened to and treated as individuals.

One patient experience in particular showed Vicky just how much that could matter.

A man returned for his first follow-up after receiving hearing aids and began to cry. Every night, his wife would pat him on the leg before they went to sleep. He had always thought it was simply a pat.

Then, for the first time, he heard what she was saying.

“She’d always say, ‘Good night, I love you.’ But he always missed that.”

It became a defining moment for Vicky.

“I remember thinking, that’s what I want to do… Mum makes such a difference to people’s lives.”

That personal approach became the foundation of Kelly Hearing Specialists.

Rather than trying to match the spending power of larger competitors, Vicky and her mum focused on what they could control.

“We’re clinicians and let’s be the best clinicians we can be. And let’s give people the best experience and the best, honest advice.”

Three years later, Kelly Hearing Specialists has grown to more than 30 clinic locations. But Vicky is clear that getting bigger cannot mean losing what made the business different.

“We’ve always said growth cannot come at the expense of the customer’s experience.”

The business has also achieved Business All-Star Accreditation for three consecutive years and has been named Business All-Star All-Ireland Independent Audiologist of the Year 2026–27.

For Vicky, that recognition represents something at the centre of their journey.

“For us, it’s an external validation of the work that we’ve been doing. It absolutely represents the trust that our patients and our partners have in us.”

From one clinic to more than 30 locations, their growth has been significant. But the principle behind it remains simple.

Give people time. Listen. Build trust. And never allow growth to come at the expense of care.

As Vicky puts it:

“If you be yourself, be honest, build trusting relationships with people, there’s nothing that’s going to compete with you.”

Listen to the full conversation with Vicky Kelly of Kelly Hearing Specialists on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

For many entrepreneurs, starting a business means doing everything yourself.

But what happens when the business begins to grow?

For Donna McCullagh, Founder of Foundry HQ, that is when one of the hardest lessons begins.

“You can’t really go to that next level if you’re not supported in some way, shape or form.”

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll sits down with Donna McCullagh to talk about her journey from side hustles to building Foundry HQ, and what she has learned about growth, leadership and letting go along the way.

Donna had always wanted to run her own business. But it was during COVID that she began seriously exploring how she could build a career around her family and create something for herself.

After training in web development, she launched McCullagh Digital alongside her sales career before eventually leaving the security of a salary behind.

“What’s the worst that can happen? We can go and get a job.”

What began in web design soon expanded into virtual assistance and online business management, eventually becoming Foundry HQ, where Donna and her team now support other businesses behind the scenes.

That experience has given Donna a unique view into the realities of entrepreneurship.

“I see the inside of plenty of businesses as well, and I see we’re all the same. We all have the same issues. We all have the same worries.”

It is a side of business she believes we need to talk about more.

“We probably should talk more about the downside and not the highlight reel.”

And when it comes to moving beyond that difficult growth stage, Donna is clear about the mindset shift founders need to make.

“It’s delegation. 100% it’s delegation.”

Giving up control is difficult when you have built the business yourself, but Donna believes learning to trust others is essential if you want to move forward.

That same belief in support extends beyond your own team.

“What I’ve found now as a business owner is its community over competition. There’s plenty of business for us all.”

Donna has also seen first-hand how external trust can influence growth.

After asking clients why they chose Foundry HQ, she discovered her Business All-Star accreditation had played a role.

“They basically all came back and said, ‘Well, you had the accreditation badge in your signature.’ And it was what made us make that decision in the end.”

From taking the leap into entrepreneurship to learning to delegate, Donna’s journey is a reminder that building a business does not mean carrying it alone.

Sometimes growth begins when you finally allow other people to help you build it.

Listen to the full conversation with Donna McCullagh, Founder of Foundry HQ, on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

What really happens when you choose to buy Irish?

For Joe Murphy, Founder of All Ireland Foods, the answer goes far beyond the product in your basket.

It supports a producer. It creates jobs. It keeps money moving through the Irish economy.

“If you spend one euro with us, that euro will go to a labourer, a marketeer, it goes back to the producer, it creates jobs. It’s keeping the money in Ireland.”

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll sits down with Joe to explore the story behind All Ireland Foods, his own entrepreneurial journey and why supporting homegrown producers has never been more important.

Joe’s path into business was anything but conventional.

After leaving school early, he began working in retail before studying sales and marketing at night. His career would eventually take him through some of the biggest names in food and drink, including Coca-Cola, Diageo, Cadbury and PepsiCo.

But after years of building business for others, one question started to play on his mind.

“I make so much money for this company. Why don't I just do something myself?”

That decision eventually led to All Ireland Foods.

The original concept was an online farmers market. Joe believed consumers would increasingly want to buy local food online.

There was just one problem.

He was too early.

The first model struggled to gain traction in Ireland. But instead of walking away, Joe looked at the data and noticed something interesting. Much of the interest was coming from overseas.

He changed direction.

Today, All Ireland Foods connects Irish producers with customers across Europe and beyond, while helping smaller food businesses access markets they may struggle to reach alone.

That mission comes from Joe's first-hand experience of how difficult it can be for small producers to compete against major brands.

“If we don't support these small producers, the big guys are going to win and you're not going to have local food anymore.”

For Joe, buying Irish isn't simply about patriotism.

It's an economic decision.

“If you're going to a big multinational and you're buying foreign products, you're exporting the money out of the country.”

The conversation also explores something Joe believes we often take for granted: the extraordinary quality of Irish food.

“People in Ireland don't realise how good we have it for food. We are without doubt the best food producers in the world.”

From Irish meat and dairy to artisan products and local producers, Joe believes the quality and story behind our food are powerful assets that Ireland should value far more.

And increasingly, consumers want exactly that.

“People want to know where the food comes from. They want to know the story about it.”

Joe also speaks candidly about the reality of leaving a successful corporate career to become an entrepreneur.

“If I'd known how hard it was, I would never have done it.”

Building an e-commerce business brought cash-flow pressures, technology challenges, costly mistakes and plenty of lessons.

But those mistakes also became part of the education.

“I made so many mistakes, but I learned from them, and now we're in a good place.”

From spotting opportunities created by Brexit to helping Irish producers reach European customers, Joe's journey is a lesson in adapting when the original plan doesn't work.

This episode is a fascinating conversation about Irish enterprise, entrepreneurship and the real economic impact of where we choose to spend our money.

Because supporting the Irish isn't only about what we buy.

It's about what we help build.

Listen to the full conversation with Joe Murphy, Founder of All Ireland Foods, on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

Every business wants to grow.

But sustainable success isn't about moving faster. It's about building organisations that are prepared, resilient and ready to perform when it matters most.

Fresh from announcing its recapitalisation with JLL Partners, a milestone that positions the business to accelerate global expansion, invest in next-generation technologies and strengthen its service offering, CAI is entering an exciting new chapter of growth. 

In the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk, Elaine Carroll is joined by Alice Redmond, Chief Risk & Quality Officer at CAI, and Tom O'Farrell, Director of Client Engagement & Head of Mission Critical, EMEA at CAI, to explore the principles behind operational excellence, leadership and managing risk in industries where failure simply isn't an option.

From pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities producing life-saving medicines to mission-critical data centres supporting businesses around the world, CAI helps organisations prepare for success long before the doors officially open. 

For Alice, operational excellence isn't reserved for multinational corporations.

"Operational excellence is very much centred about improvement."

Whether a business employs five people or five hundred, the goal remains the same: continually finding better ways to work, improve and create value.

Technology and AI are transforming how organisations operate, but Alice believes their greatest value lies in giving people more time to focus on meaningful work.

"If you can take some of your mundane tasks and they're done in 10 minutes rather than three hours, it gives you the chance to do something better for your business."

The conversation also explores one of the most overlooked aspects of leadership: recognising problems before they become crises.

For Alice, the warning signs are often there long before businesses choose to act.

"Problems grow in silence."

Whether it's emerging risks, performance concerns or difficult conversations that are continually postponed, she believes the strongest organisations create cultures where issues are addressed early rather than ignored.

"Don't delay the difficult conversations because they don't make them any easier."

Tom shares how this mindset applies across mission-critical industries, where even the smallest mistake can have enormous consequences. Success isn't achieved through reacting to problems, but by anticipating them before they happen.

The discussion also highlights the role culture plays in high-performing organisations.

For Tom, leadership isn't about authority.

"I don't see myself as a manager or a boss. I see myself as a leader."

Building trust, empowering teams and leading by example are what enable organisations to consistently deliver at the highest level.

The episode concludes with a powerful reminder that resilience isn't something businesses create during difficult times. It's something they build long before challenges arrive.

"Build resilience before you need it."

And perhaps the most important lesson of all is to never stop learning.

"Stay relentlessly curious."

This episode is a masterclass in operational excellence, leadership and future-proofing your business. Whether you're leading a growing SME or a global organisation, the principles shared by Alice and Tom offer practical lessons on creating stronger teams, better systems and more resilient businesses.

Listen to the full conversation with Alice Redmond and Tom O'Farrell from CAI on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.

Every business has a strategy.

But according to Shane Kenny, Founder of Orunova, strategy is rarely the issue.

Speaking on AIBF Business Talk, Shane shares why the biggest challenges facing organisations today aren't found in business plans or financial reports - they're found in relationships, communication and workplace culture.

"It's a people problem. It's a people issue."

Drawing on years of experience working with business owners, leadership teams and family businesses, Shane explains that the strongest organisations are built on something much deeper than process or performance.

They create environments where people feel they belong.

"One of our most innate needs in life is to belong."

For Shane, belonging is fundamentally different from simply fitting in. When people feel psychologically safe, they're more willing to contribute ideas, challenge respectfully and bring their best selves to work. Without that safety, innovation, trust and performance begin to suffer.

One of the biggest obstacles leaders face isn't a lack of solutions - it's the conversations they're avoiding.

"It's often the conversation that's not being had."

Whether it's unresolved conflict, succession planning in family businesses or difficult conversations between colleagues, Shane believes the issues that quietly sit beneath the surface often become the greatest barriers to growth.

The episode also explores the importance of authentic leadership and the hidden cost of workplaces where employees feel they can't truly be themselves.

"Are you being yourself at work? Is your authentic self turning up?"

Shane reflects on one of the most powerful conversations he's had with employees over the years.

"I've witnessed and worked with so many people who've told me, 'I have to try so hard not to be myself... just to survive here.'"

For leaders, the impact extends far beyond the workplace.

"Imagine going home with that to your family."

The conversation is also a reminder that building a stronger culture doesn't require expensive programmes or major restructuring.

It starts with leadership.

"Talk is cheap... let's get out there and demonstrate how we'd like our culture to look."

Rather than telling people what the culture should be, leaders must model it every day through their actions, behaviours and interactions.

And perhaps most importantly, Shane believes creating a workplace where people thrive isn't about increasing budgets - it's about increasing humanity.

"It doesn't cost any more money. It's making the effort, with empathy and compassion, to take an interest in the people around you."

This conversation is a powerful reminder that every successful business is built on people. When leaders create environments where people feel safe, valued and heard, stronger cultures, stronger teams and stronger businesses naturally follow.

Listen to the full conversation with Shane Kenny, Founder of Orunova, on the latest episode of AIBF Business Talk.