Lisa McGowan: I used to not back myself but now I’m not afraid
Lisa McGowan is one of Ireland’s most successful influencers but before stepping into the online sphere, she had a very different career and there’s one person who she credits with her success.
After school, Lisa worked in the insurance department of a bank before her dad opened a brokerage in Tullamore. She took a salary cut and moved home from Cork to join the family business but she knew that she didn’t want to take over the firm as it’s her love for fashion that sparks joy.
Lisa, who has recently branched out into beauty, puts her success down to her friendship with Linda Blanchfield, an events consultant and pal who saw something in her she didn’t see in herself.
‘Linda would always say to me, “Lisa, would you not do a live show?” and I’d say I couldn’t as I didn’t think anyone would come but she persuaded me to try it and the first show sold out in three minutes. Then she asked if I wouldn’t start a website so I tried that. I could never do what I do without her and she has pushed me over all of these years.
‘Because of the marriage breakdown, there was a lot of that hidden underneath but Linda helped break all of that down because she could see something and thank god I wouldn’t be where I am today without Linda Blanchfield.
‘She’s helped me grow as a person. I used to not back myself. Because of my marriage breakdown, I used to think, what’s wrong with me? Why didn’t that work? But I now know I shouldn’t be afraid and I should back myself.’
It’s a message to all mid-life women out there that anything is possible – you’re never too old to achieve what you want out of life. Yes, there have been setbacks and in particular five years ago Lisa had a health issue that meant she had to have a hysterectomy, but as ever she got on with things.
Reflecting on a tough time period which saw her marriage breakdown and brother pass away, Lisa said: ‘Darragh [her son, who is now 22] was 14 months old when I got the shock of my life. I wasn’t the first and I won’t be the last. Then six weeks after that my brother was killed in a car accident.’
Losing her brother was devastating for the whole family and Lisa will admit that it was a tough time. ‘But you come back – you have no option,’ she says. ‘You just pull your big girl pants up and get on with it. Nobody is going to do anything for you, you’ve got to do it yourself.’
Lisa understands the issues her followers at Lisa’s Lust List come up against and replies to every message herself, sometimes even in the middle of the night until her partner Chris, who works in manufacturing, puts a stop to that. They met eight years ago and are soon to move into a new house.
‘Chris is Scottish, he was seconded here for two years but that was eight years ago,’ Lisa says, laughing. ‘He’s very good to me and he keeps me grounded.’ It’s a very secure relationship and they’ll be moving in to the new house in February.
It’s no secret that Lisa is a six-figure earner but she doesn’t like to flaunt wealth, she’s not flashy and would rather keep these things private. ‘I’m very much aware that my followers are what is driving me and I have the support of the thousands and thousands of brilliant women who are behind me,’ she says.
Lisa is a great believer in seizing the day now and this would be her advice to any woman who feels a bit lost. ‘Sometimes, just when you wake up in the morning, say “right, I’m alive and healthy, let’s grab this day because I’m not going to have this day again tomorrow.” When I do that, I get up in the morning and say, “Great! What are we going to do today?”
‘I’ve lost a brother, you know you can’t bring anybody back. No one knows what’s around the corner and every day could be the last one you have and, by god, I’m going to live every single day as my last.’
Read Lisa’s full interview in the Irish Daily Mail’s You Magazine.
