60 Seconds With

“Leadership, inclusion and passion.” 60 Seconds With: Joey Sheahan, Head of Credit, MyMortgages.ie

By Business & Finance
27 November 2018
Joey Sheahan, Head of Credit, MyMortgages.ie

Joey Sheahan, Head of Credit, MyMortgages.ie takes on the Business & Finance 60-second interview challenge.


Q. What was your first job?

Collecting glasses in The Maltings Bar and The Keg Nightclub in Washington Street in Cork when I was a young lad!

Q. What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?

Winning the World Cup with the Ireland U19 Rugby Team in 1998 was awesome & it made me believe that I could achieve anything from a young age. But it would have to rank a distant 4th to welcoming my 3 children, Danny, Abi and Bobby into the world.

Q. In three words or fewer, how do you define success?

Leadership, inclusion and passion.

Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Your dreams don’t have an expiry date. Take a deep breath and try again.

Q. How do you motivate yourself and your team?

We use the carrot approach… we work hard and then enjoy ourselves when we have achieved a goal or if we’ve had a particularly good week. Simple things like heading out for a pizza or a beer with the team after work can have a big impact on morale in the workplace.

Q. If you could step into the shoes of one business person for the day, who would it be and why?

I think it would have to be Jack Welch (former Chairman and CEO of General Electric).   Why? Because of his extraordinary experience, his instinctive sense of organisational leadership and just his clear-cut communications style. In his world “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion”! In business – that clarity is as good as it gets!

Q. How do you relax?

Walking to and from work which gives time to unwind. I also enjoy gym and running. I like to keep active. But if I do take some time to stop I enjoy a bit of Netflix as much as the next person!

Q. What’s your motto?

Treat other people the way you would like people to treat you and do something nice for someone every day without getting caught!

Q. What are your aspirations for the future of your business?

We are on a journey and we are striving to improve and grow on an ongoing basis. We have grown our business by 40% year on year for the past 4 years and we hope to continue to grow at the same rate each year going forward. We are also expanding our reach and now deal with Irish people living all over the world.

Your dreams don’t have an expiry date. Take a deep breath and try again.