By Business & Finance 
Lynda Booth, director and head tutor of Dublin Cookery School takes the Business & Finance 60 second challenge.
What was your first job?
Teaching aerobics classes when the fitness craze hit Ireland.
What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
Building the cookery school and turning it into a vibrant business and writing my cookery book, From ‘Lynda’s Table’.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
To find a harsh mentor with business acumen.
If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why?
Neven Maguire – I have seen him put a small country town on the map and he manages to run an amazing restaurant, be on TV and still do demos around the country without breaking a sweat.
In three words or less, how do you define success?
Full buzzing classes.
How do you motivate yourself and your staff?
I set milestones for myself every year, both at a personal level and for the business. I like to challenge the staff to constantly present new ideas so that the school is always evolving.
How do your relax?
Friends to wind down with, golf to redirect my drive.
What’s your motto?
Trust your instincts.
What are your aspirations for the future of your business?
To put the school on the map internationally.
COOKING UP A STORM
Lynda Booth is the director of Lynda Booth’s Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock, and is widely recognised as one of Ireland’s best cookery teachers. She set up the school in 2007 and since then it has gone from strength-to-strength, claiming the title of ‘Best Irish Cookery School’ at the 2013 and 2015 Irish Restaurant Awards.
The school offers a wide range of evening and one day cookery classes as well as full-time one week, one month and professional three month certificate cookery courses.
Booth has a rich and varied background, having spent a decade travelling and cooking around the world, from simple bistros to Michelin star restaurants. This opened up a huge number of contacts to her and she continually uses these industry connections to attract talented guest chefs to teach at the school as well as securing ‘stage’ placements in top restaurants for her certificate students.
As well as being hands-on in the day-to-day running of the school, Booth took some time in 2013 to publish her first cookbook, ‘From Lynda’s Table’ for which she has received rave reviews.
