Ciara Clancy is our guest this week on The Architects of Business, in partnership with EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™.
Ciara Clancy, founder of
Beats Medical - a company that builds technology to help people with Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions - doesn't believe it's possible to build a successful career without giving everything to the cause.
"I believe work/life balance is a bit of a myth, I believe in work/life boundaries," she tells host Tadhg Enright. "I love what I do, so in some ways that gives me some balance in my life. I don't think you'll always work a 9-5 day and you'll come home, and life will happen and work will happen.
"I think that it's about boundaries. So I could work crazy hours for three weeks in a row and I'll set a boundary and I'll go surfing up in Bundoran. I'll come back and I'll go again.
"I think it really is about setting a boundary and saying, "OK, now I'm getting to step back a little bit. But I think seeking that balance all the time, especially when you're doing something you're so passionate about, I don't think it's easily done."
Explaining more about her business, Ciara revealed that finding cures for the likes of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's is not part of what she or her company is looking to achieve.
Instead, it's about improving the quality of life for those with existing symptoms, and the sooner Beats Medical can intervene the better.
"We can't cure it. We can't cure any neurological conditions. All we can do is help people have the tools to take control now," Ciara,
a 2016 EOY Ireland Finalist, insists.
Listen to the full episode...
"You do meet people with these rare genetic neurological conditions which have poorer outcomes; you want to do more, and you wish you could cure it, but it's not our focus. All we can do is give people the tools to take control now.
"If cures are ever found for these neurological conditions, it probably won't reverse them. It'll stop them in their tracks. So the better and more well you are when you get to that point, that'll matter. Because that will be what will change the rest of your life.
"We need to help people live well now. It's tough when you see it, it's tough when you've gone as far as you can go."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=iuYZOTXx0UQ
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