In 1987 when Lulu O’Sullivan started on her journey as an entrepreneur she did so on a moped with €2,000 in her back pocket and the spirit of her shopkeeper grandmother driving her forward. Having completed a ‘start your own business’ course because she couldn’t find a job in a recession Lulu went on to weather many economic storms in the past 30 years, building two thriving, innovative businesses, winning numerous awards along the way and supporting Irish producers at home while successfully promoting them around the world. Staring off selling teddy bears via newspaper ads and some quirky PR she grew the business into giftsdirect.com in the late 1990s. It was one of Ireland’s first ecommerce websites and ultimately became its largest online gift shopping destination laying out a vision to provide the best gifting experience and to become the No. 1 digital Irish gift company in the world. The purpose of Gifts Direct is to enrich the joy of giving by curating unique, meaningful Irish gifts and providing a hassle-free experience for all occasions and its focus would be on convenience, delight, reliability, quality and choice all wrapped up in a WOW customer experience. Lulu and her team are no strangers to receiving awards having previously won ‘Online Exporter of the Year’ and as a role model for women in business she is most proud of winning ‘Leading Female Award’ in Fast 50 Technology Companies and Internet Entrepreneur of the Year. It’s a remarkable success story which is all the more meritorious for its enduring nature grounded in the passion and vision of its founder. The incredible journey which started all those years ago with a young woman revving up her ambition on a moped is still taking Lulu O’Sullivan and her businesses to fantastic destinations unknown.