Galway-based Orlaith Kilgannon returned from the UK to establish Pelvic Health West to help women deal with symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Pelvic Health West founder Orlaigh Kilgannon is a recent alumni of the Irish Government’s Back for Business programme.
The development programme, which is now in its 8th year, was created to foster and support entrepreneurial activity among emigrants recently returned to Ireland and is funded by the Irish Abroad Unit, Department of Foreign Affairs.
“I always had that bug, that thought in the back of my mind, that I’d like to go into business”
The deadline for completed applications for Back to Business 8 is midnight on Thursday 16 January. For more information or to register your interest in receiving an application form, click here to apply.
Physio performance
When Orlaith Kilgannon moved with her family from her native Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, to their new home in Salthill, Co Galway, at the age of 14, she found the adjustment challenging. But she believes the skills she learned then have been of benefit to her in starting and running her own business.
After finishing secondary school in Galway, Orlaith did a Bachelor of Science in NUIG before moving to England in 2016 to do a Master’s in Physiotherapy at the University of Birmingham.
After completing the course, Orlaith spent almost five years working as a physiotherapist in Birmingham and Newcastle, but she always expected that she would start her own business one day. In March 2023, she left England to travel the world for a few months before returning to Galway in July.
“I always knew that eventually I would move home because I wanted to be close to my family. I had been in my job long enough to have good experience and that was my main objective in being in the UK – to get that experience and bring it home,” she explained.
Orlaith registered her company, Pelvic Health West, in September 2023 and saw her first client a month later. “I always had that bug, that thought in the back of my mind, that I’d like to go into business and my family supported me the whole way. When I was travelling the world, I’d be on a bus in New Zealand or Australia working on the business plan, so it was ready to go when I came home.”
Based in Oranmore, Pelvic Health West provides specialist physiotherapy and Pilates for women to prevent and manage symptoms of pelvic floor dysfunction.
Orlaith says that she didn’t encounter any significant problems in setting up the business. “I think in Ireland people are willing to help you, which is great. I was very lucky with getting a premises. Somebody had suggested one to me, and I looked at it, and it was perfect. That was the first thing I did. The second thing I did was get an accountant which helped me to register the company and really start things off.”
On the Back for Business programme, Orlaith found that the peer support from other participants who were having similar experiences was a great help to her. “Back for Business also helped me to structure my goals. Sometimes when you are caught up in the day-to-day running of a business, that gets lost.”
Orlaith says her best moments in business are when she alleviates symptoms that can destroy a sufferer’s quality of life. I received feedback one day from a lady whose symptoms meant that she wasn’t leaving the house, she had cut down her social interactions, she wasn’t even getting out for her basic walk,” she says.
“She had one session with me, and she emailed me a month later and said that her life had been changed. She no longer had to think about leaving the house – she would just do it, and she was back in her social environments. She signed it off as ‘a new woman’. Those are the little things that stand out.”
Orlaith was recently ‘Highly Commended’ at the Network Ireland Galway Awards as an Emerging Businesswoman of the Year. “That was lovely to be recognised and to reflect on how far the business had come.”
She plans to keep expanding the business and to put her Pilate classes online, so they are more accessible. “It will enable me to treat more people.”
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
-
Listen to the ThinkBusiness Podcast for business insights and inspiration. All episodes are here. You can also listen to the Podcast on:
-
Spotify
-
SoundCloud
-
Apple
