Chartered Accountants Ireland has selected entrepreneur Fiona Smiddy as its 2022 ‘Chartered Star’.
The designation is awarded annually by the accountancy body to an individual who is doing outstanding work in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Smiddy is founder of Green Outlook, a Naas company that aggregates sustainable products spanning personal care, hair care, domestic products and even some pet food.
It was established by a Czech couple living in Ireland and Smiddy reached out to them for advice as she mulled online commerce. When the founders decided to leave Ireland in 2019, Smiddy paid them for the stock and took over the site.
Green Outlook operates off Woocommerce and WordPress. “The founders built the site themselves and they trained me how to use the backend one afternoon. I’ve been learning by myself ever since,” said Smiddy.
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Smiddy started out packing products herself and taking them to the post office. Now she uses the services of Autofulfil, an ecommerce fulfilment specialist in Galway.
“Green Outlook has over 200 SKUs so it wouldn’t be possible for me to store them efficiently at home,” she explained. “I started working with Autofulfil in September 2019 and it was the best decision I made for myself and my customers.
“Orders made by 3pm are posted the same day. All stock is checked in by the warehouse team and any issues are flagged with me to raise with suppliers. I work from home so it also stops couriers calling to the house every day.”
The Chartered Star judging panel evaluated initial application forms and video content submissions and conducted follow up interviews to shortlist candidates and select a winner.
Entrants were asked to demonstrate how they are working towards, supporting, or living the values of any of the 17 UN SDGs.
Smiddy will represent Ireland’s chartered accountancy profession at the One Young World summit in Manchester in September 2022.
Smiddy said she is looking forward to learning from inspiring world leaders and contributing to the conversation on solutions for global social and climate issues.
Barry Dempsey, chief executive, Chartered Accountants Ireland, commented: “Fiona follows in the footsteps of other Chartered Stars who have demonstrated passion and commitment in applying the skills and knowledge of the chartered accountancy profession in trying to address some of the issues that the climate crisis presents.”
