By Business & Finance Pictured: Andrew Lynch, Co-founder and COO of Huckletree.
Andrew Lynch, Co-founder and COO of Huckletree Workspaces, takes the Business & Finance 60-second interview.
Q. What was your first job? I always did odd summer jobs as a kid, but my first ‘real’ job was in a sports shop in Blackrock shopping centre. At no point do I ever recall having any surplus cash from it though as I used to spend my whole wages in the shop – I always ended up having the newest rugby boots and Ireland rugby kit before anyone else. It was there that I learned that it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters! Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? I have two amazing daughters under the age of 4, Edie and Esmé. I would list them as an achievement, however, that may take the limelight from my amazing wife Jen. If marrying someone so amazing could be classed as an ‘achievement’, then that would be mine. Q. In three words or fewer, how do you define success? Health is everything. Nothing else matters. Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? I work with some highly experience people every day but something I always go back to when things get tough is something my Dad often says: “If every day was a fine day, there’d be no such thing as a fine day.” Things will almost never go to plan, so one’s real mistake is assuming otherwise and not planning for it. Q. What’s your motto? “Pull like a dog.” – Paul O’Donovan, Irish Olympic rower, 2016. Q. How do you motivate yourself and your team? The easiest (and best) source of my own personal motivation is my family. It’s so easy for me now to put them at the forefront of my mind and focus on succeeding at whatever it is that I’m doing. Professionally, I naturally try and lead by ‘doing’ rather than ‘saying’. I like being in the trenches with our team and I think they appreciate that and it inspires them to put in max efforts. Q. How do you relax? I run fairly long distances. This might not sound overly relaxing to most people, but if you’ve just run 50km, it’s very difficult to concentrate on the mundane things that stress you out in daily life. I’ve noticed recently that unless I run every day, it noticeably impacts my mood and the way I deal with the many high-pressure situations I face every day. It’s my meditation, and my fuel source. Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business? All I want to do is keep doing the best we can do, across every element of the business. It sounds relatively simplistic but it’s absolutely not. If we’re not consistently pushing for the very best then – as management and owners – we’re doing a disservice to both our own team and our members. My biggest fear is missing the mark and not ever reaching our full potential.
Professionally, I naturally try and lead by ‘doing’ rather than ‘saying’. I like being in the trenches with the team.
