By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Graham Carrick, COO, Assure Hedge.
Graham Carrick, COO, Assure Hedge, takes the Business & Finance 60-second interview.
What was your first job? My first job was taking bets at horse-racing courses around Ireland for the non-profit organisation, the Tote. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date? My greatest achievement to date (work-wise) was helping local grassroots clubs and charities raise over €780,000 through several initiatives stemming from sports prediction games we developed in my previous company. Now that that the company has been sold, upon reflection, it was incredible to help so many clubs that are pillars to communities across Ireland. Personally, convincing my wife to marry me was my greatest achievement! In three words or fewer, how do you define success? Drive, ambition, honesty. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? The best advice I have been given is to never worry about anything that is outside of your control as if you can’t change something with direct interaction then being weighed down by worry about it is truly pointless. How do you motivate yourself and your team? I tend to be incredibly honest and always strive for realistic goals. I find there is nothing more toxic in companies when staff are weighed down with woefully planned unrealistic goals and targets that demotivate rather than motivate them to work harder. With the nature of the sales team being to generate funds for the company, a clear commissions and bonus structure works extremely well. How do you relax? Gym, playing football (soccer) for my club and spending time with my wife and new son. What’s your motto? I don’t have a motto per se, however, I do live by the mantra that if you can’t directly control something with your own actions, then there’s no point worrying about it. What are your aspirations for the future of your business? Our aim for the business is to become the number 1 supplier of technology in the foreign exchange space, and currency hedging, in particular. We see huge potential in what we are doing to bring currency hedging to every company in the world, regardless of their size, by simply offering our regulation and tech to banks and currency brokers who are not able to sell hedging.
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