By Héloïse Chaudot 
Mark Ryan is a financial adviser with over 25 years of experience. He specialises in providing advice to individuals in all aspects of financial planning, whether that be the design of an investment portfolio or helping to plan for pre and post-retirement. In 2024, he became Director of MyWealthManagement.ie and embarked on the business on its current growth strategy to significantly increase its workforce and scale its operations.
What was your first job? Stacking shelves in Dunnes Stores when in college. A great learning experience for my first job and a great company to work for. I remember seeing Margaret Heffernan visiting the store – and she is still at the helm today, 35 years later! What are your main priorities and goals in your current role? Building an environment where our team of advisers and support staff can flourish, while supporting our growing client base across the country. What pushed you to pursue a career in this field? I am a problem-solver by nature, and I like helping people. My role as a financial consultant allows me to do both. How do you motivate yourself and your team? For me personally, the job satisfaction I get from client feedback is the biggest motivator. We recently did a pension presentation to a new client, and the feedback was, “This is the first time someone has explained pensions to me in simple language, and now I understand it.” For my team, I think consistent, honest feedback, both praise and constructive criticism, is a key motivator. You must provide people with the tools to succeed in their role – whether that be practical tools like the best hardware and software solutions, or sharing your own experience and what has worked for you in the past. Rewarding success and having a clear career progression structure are also important. In one sentence, how would you define success? Managing to balance a happy working and home life. Modern life moves at a very fast pace, and sometimes it can be hard to step back from the work laptop, iPad, and phone. It’s important that when you are working, you are working, but equally, when you are not working, you can switch off. I believe that it benefits both your work and personal life equally. How do you relax? Coaching my kids in Nemo Rangers, running and gardening (both while either listening to music or a good podcast). What is your favourite (non-business) book? Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Be yourself; everyone else is taken. How do you handle adversity? I generally see it as just another challenge or obstacle to get through each day. Life is full of adversity; it’s how you deal with it that defines you. What are the aspirations for the future of the business? To continue to grow our business over the coming years. My business partners and I saw there was a gap in the advisory space in Ireland. At one end of the market, you have the very large corporate brokers, and at the other end, you have the small one-person broker firms. We are looking to fill the space in between by leveraging our own corporate experience and expertise, while consciously maintaining and developing personal relationships with our clients.
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