Norah Casey – Biography
Career Summary
Broadcaster and publishing entrepreneur Norah Casey was formerly a Dragon in the popular television series Dragons’ Den and is a well-known radio and television personality. The 2nd Edition of her book Spark! was published by Penguin in 2017 and her TEDx talks The Cure for Grief and The Courage to leave have been watched by thousands. Her digital learning platform Planet Woman seeks to empower women through workbooks, videos, podcasts and annimations. Much of her work can be viewed on her You Tube Chanel and at norahcasey.com. Her vodcast 10 Steps to Startup Success is widely used to help budding entrepreneurs start their own business.
Entrepreneurship & Investments
Over the past five years Norah has helped over 1000 business start-ups directly and indirectly. While most of her work in start-ups began as a result of her role in Dragons’ Den she has extended her reach beyond that into other investment spaces. As well as owning Harmonia Publishing Ltd, which is engaged in magazine publishing, digital media, app development, events, creative communications and data analysis, Norah also owns Harmonia Investments (home to a range of investments in diverse areas such as home storage, children’s accessories, media and fashion in both the UK and Ireland). She also owns her own production company Miss Clover Media. Her expertise is in moulding budding entrepreneurs into potential business owners. She does one to one consultations, runs business clinics for SMEs and mentors early stage start-ups and those seeking growth potential at two to three years maturation. She also hosts, speaks and moderates at a wide range of conferences, seminars, training programmes and bespoke mentorship programmes here and abroad. She is currently writing her second book: Secrets of a Dragon: The 100 Things You Need to Know To Start Your Own Business.
Television & Radio
Norah has extensive experience in radio and television including presenting her own weekly show, MindFeed, on Newstalk and her social entrepreneurship television series, Norah’s Traveller Academy which was aired on RTE in Spring 2015. She presented 13 episodes of The Takeover with RTE 2 – transforming business through staff mentorship. Her documentary exploring issues around death and the Irish titled Way to Go was aired on RTE One. She is a regular guest on news and current affairs programmes.
She was anchor of the successful daily radio Breakfast Show on Newstalk until July 2013 and co-hosted the Today show on RTE 1 every Friday during the 2012/2013 season. She is currently appearing weekly as a celebrity contestant in television’s Dancing with the Stars.
Awards & Board Membership
A journalist and former nurse, Norah is currently Ireland’s 2018 Philanthropist of the Year. In May 2018 she received the Woman of the Decade Award at the Women’s Economic Forum in Delhi. Also in May 2018 she received the former pupil Star Award from her former school, Stanhope Street (a Deis (government funded) all-girls school which Norah retains a strong connection with).
She has been Publisher of the Year no fewer than five times (and is the current Publisher of the Year having won it again in December 2017). She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Magazines Ireland in 2014. She has served on numerous boards and is currently a member of the Press Council of Ireland, the London-based Women’s Irish Network and The International Women’s Forum. She also serves on the European Board of Vital Voices stablished in 1997 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, following the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing to promote the advancement of women
She is a former Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year. Norah is also a member of a team helping to facilitate the Papal visit to Ireland in August 2018 at the World Meeting of Families which will be hosted in Dublin.
She is currently an Ambassador for Dublin Honours Magdalenes, an event which will bring together survivors for the first time to meet with each other and discuss how they would like to be commemorated.
Norah’s husband, BBC Correspondent Richard Hannaford, passed away in 2011 and she has one son Dara. She now divides her time between business, documentary making, broadcasting, publishing and pursuing her passion for travel writing.
Twitter @norahcasey / Facebook Norah Casey / Instagram Norah_Casey /LinkedIn NorahCasey
www.norahcasey.com / www.harmonia.ie