By Business & Finance 
Barrie Rogers, Co-founder and Owner, Chia Bia
Barrie Rogers, Co-founder and Owner, Chia Bia, takes on the Business & Finance 60-second interview challenge.
Q. What was your first job? I was a lifeguard in Tramore Leisure Centre. Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? A huge business achievement has to be bringing the idea of Chia Bia to where it is today in eight short years and having our 400g Whole Chia Seed product the No. 1 selling branded seed product in Ireland. Q. In three words or less, how do you define success? Leaving a legacy. Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t ask. By asking questions you open up more opportunities. Q. How do you motivate yourself and your staff? I motivate myself by reading and listening to other entrepreneurs’ stories; often we face the same obstacles so they motivate me to keep going. Our company ethos is to support the local community as best as we can and that gives me great satisfaction to be able to do that through my business. I aim to be open and transparent with my team; I empower them to make decisions, I acknowledge hard work and most of all encourage them to enjoy what they do. I feel you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial, so if an employee has a creative flair, I nurture it. Q. If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why? Aidan O’Brien, one of Ireland’s best horse racing trainers. I would love to achieve what he has in a business sense and still remain humble. To understand his work ethic and how he gets buy in from his team would be a very insightful day! Q. How do you relax? Spending time with my family, travelling with them and learning and sharing new experiences together. In the last year, I trained and competed with the Waterford Surf Life Saving Club on the Masters team, this has been great to relieve stress and focus my mind. Q. What’s your motto? It is what it is, you can’t do anything about it. Learn and move on. Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business? Our vision is to consistently deliver high-quality products that offer consumers a healthier choice. We believe there is significant opportunity to grow the health food category through Chia Bia by driving awareness and consumption of chia seeds and other seed products. Ultimately we want to hold leadership position in the seed market.
I aim to be open and transparent with my team; I empower them to make decisions, I acknowledge hard work and most of all encourage them to enjoy what they do. I feel you don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial, so if an employee has a creative flair, I nurture it.
