Primarily I'm a stay at home dad to 3 kids. I just happen to run a small little business in the evenings, weekends and when they were in school. When covid struck I stopped making hurley holders and dedicated my print farm to producing face shields for the HSE, local doctors, nursing homes and anyone that needed them. All were donated and never charged for. 12 full weeks of non stop 24 hours a day production. As part of a large collective of makers we made and donated in excess of 50,000 face shields to the HSE. Once face shields were able to be produced more efficiently I was able to go back to my hurley holders and try make up for lost time. The first post I made on Shop In Ireland facebook page was in November. I sold out all the stock I had made for Christmas in little over an hour. I remember having to ask Teresa to block further comments on it as my phone just wouldn't stop pinging. All the messages asking to be notified when I had more in stock kept me busy right up to the end of January. Previously I used to have free time on my machines to make other prototypes, designs and custom orders. Since that post in November I've had to added more machines to try and keep up with the increased demand and I still don't have any free machine time. The best thing about it though has been that I have refined my processes. Every passing week my manufacturing, finishing, packaging and shipping all get more efficient. I now set myself production schedules, targets and goals. I wouldn't be doing that stuff had my wife not suggested I make that post back in November. I'd still be busy but not as busy or as efficient as I am now. With my kids back in school now I have time to prototype the additional products I have designed. I have a lot of ideas and products to come.

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