EE 405 - From Idea to Impact: The Courage to Start Your Own Business with Keogh's Crisps & Advanced Cosmoetics

The Entrepreneur Experiment Live Special with The Local Enterprise Offices: Lessons from Ireland’s Top Founders.

To celebrate Local Enterprise Week, we sit down with Tom Keogh of Keogh’s Crisps and Noreen Hackett of Advanced Cosmetics to uncover the real stories behind building globally recognised brands from Ireland.

Tom shares how his family farm transformed from market gardening to a premium snack brand sold in over 20 countries, including on international airlines.

Noreen reveals how she went from chemist to CEO, creating an end-to-end cosmetics manufacturing powerhouse serving 37 brands worldwide.

 If you're a founder or aspiring entrepreneur, this episode is packed with real-world insights on branding, scaling, and navigating sustainability and global expansion.

🎧 Show Notes: In this episode, we cover:

🔥 The power of branding – How Tom turned a family farm into a global snack brand

🚀 Taking the leap – How Noreen built her cosmetics empire from scratch

💡 The importance of authenticity – Why telling the truth in branding is a competitive advantage 📈 Expanding internationally – Breaking into global markets while staying true to your roots

🌍 Sustainability & business – What actually works vs. greenwashing

💰 Navigating funding & investment – Lessons from early-stage growth

🔑 Scaling smartly – How to manage multiple business lines without losing focus

💬 "Word of mouth is the most powerful form of marketing you’ll ever get." – Tom Keogh

📌 Resources & Links:

📖 Enterprise Ireland – Support for Irish startups: enterprise-ireland.com

🛍️ Keogh’s Crisps – www.keoghs.ie 

🧴 Advanced Cosmetics – www.advancedcosmetics.ie

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