Who is your mentor?

I'd be lying if I said my mentor was Bill Clinton or someone like that, because generally I've just done my own thing. My parents were both business people and that would have had an influence. But I've been with my partner DJ Carey for the past four years and he's definitely my mentor now. I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but genuinely he's the one person whose opinion I would most value.

He's my absolute soundboard. He's a very level-headed, logical, stable, feet-on-the-ground type of guy and he would have added a completely different dimension to the way I approach business.

What has he taught you?

DJ is very, very balanced when it comes to judging the good guys from the bad guys. So it's very interesting getting his perception of human beings as opposed to mine. I would have learned some very hard lessons in terms of the people I trusted in the past. Every businessperson would have some story to tell about someone who betrayed them. DJ's taught me a lot about judging character. I'm good at spotting a good idea from a bad idea, but DJ is very good on people. He just sees people for what they are.

Anything else?

He would have taught me a calmness that I wouldn't have otherwise had. Women can have a more challenging time in business than men.

Even as they're doing deals they'll be worrying about their families. I don't see these things as obstacles, I just see them as things that we have to deal with. Having a partner who doesn't hold you back is very important. I think that because he's a sportsman, and also because he doesn't drink, he has a very clear way of looking at things.

So is there a comparison between business and sport?

I never imagined that you could compare sport with business. But I can see the parallels more clearly because of DJ. They both involve people on a team. Everyone has their own position, a different role.

And that has to be clear. Who's the finance director? Who's defending the accounts we've got? It's very like a pitch. It's given me a different understanding of why people behave in a certain way. So business is a lot like sport!

In conversation with Patrick Freyne