PODCAST: Season 3, Episode 5: Serial entrepreneur and inventor Louise Grubb

Work Rest Slay is a monthly podcast hosted by IMAGE Contributing Editor Melanie Morris, who speaks to some of the most compelling Irish and international people in business, spilling the truth on the real secret sauce for a successful career.

Our next episode in the series launches on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, and features entrepreneur and IMAGE PwC Overall Businesswoman of the Year 2023 Louise Grubb, who is currently working on her third successful start-up, TriviumVet. 

Work Rest Slay: In this episode…

In this episode of Work Rest Slay, Louise delves into the highs and lows of her entrepreneurial journey – all of which have led her to her latest endeavour and extremely successful start-up Trivium Vet, a veterinary nutraceutical company that creates drugs to cure chronic conditions in ‘companion animals’.

“Louise is a woman whose achievements have all come from STEM; and her third business looks set not only to mirror the huge successes of her previous endeavours, but – and very excitingly to any of us with precious pets – to be a global gamechanger in the field of animal health,” says Melanie.

“Equally, Louise is a woman who, like so many other female entrepreneurs, has been through the rough and tumble of pitching, team-building, fund-raising, networking, going back to the drawing board and above all else… holding the show together!”

Prioritising is key

To say Louise is a wearer of many hats is somewhat of an understatement. So, it’s no surprise that Melanie is eager to find out how she manages it all. The key, she reveals, is an underrated asset – the simple but mighty to-do list.

“I absolutely love having a start-up… I actually thrive on that frantic phase where you’re trying to pull all these things together. I like to be busy, so my weakness would probably be (and my team would probably say the same) attention to detail. I’ll be looking at the bigger picture, and what we have to do, and then zoom in on what I think I need to spend my time on. Then, I need to have confidence in the team that they can go off and do their own thing. So it is a bit of prioritising and asking, ‘What do I need to do most?’

“I do have a diary, and I write down a list every day of all the things that I need to do. So at nighttime, if I think of something, I write it down, and then close the book and forget about it. And then I get up in the morning and start ticking off my list – it’s the only way that I’ll make sure that I actually get to everything.”

Young women in STEM

Louise has a strong background in science, with a degree in dietetics and multiple life science businesses under her belt – and has experienced gender imbalance in STEM firsthand. So, when she’s not in the office, Louise often travels to schools and organisations to encourage more young women to join the sciences.

“I think people look at STEM and they think it’s very limited. They think of people in lab coats in laboratories. And they don’t see the vast array of careers that you can have. Mine is one; it’s an example of what you can actually end up doing. Having that scientific background is wonderful, and it’s not in any way limiting what you can do.

“[My advice is] to look as broadly as possible. And if you like the sciences, maybe the maths area or engineering – whatever it is that you like, pursue it because my opinion is that your basic degree is just a stepping stone… from there, you have the opportunity to go wherever you want.”

To hear more about Louise’s career journey, listen to the full episode below:

About Louise

Serial entrepreneur and inventor Louise Grubb has founded a number of internationally successful life science businesses. Driven by innovation Louise is currently working on her third successful start-up, TriviumVet.

TriviumVet develops innovative, novel veterinary therapeutics, working with veterinarians and specialists from all over the world to formulate, develop and commercialise medicines and diagnostics for use in companion animals. Louise founded Q1 Scientific, a high-tech stability storage company providing services to Ireland’s blue chip pharmaceutical companies which was acquired by Cambrex Group in June 2022.

Previous to this Louise founded Nutriscience, a veterinary nutraceutical company which is now part of one of Europe’s leading animal health companies, Swedencare, and the products continue to be developed and manufactured in Waterford. She is an advocate for promoting women entrepreneurs in the life science industry and encouraging people of all backgrounds to consider careers in STEM. Louise was awarded the IMAGE PwC Overall Business Woman of the Year Award 2023.

Watch the full episode

This season of Work Rest Slay is in partnership with Range Rover. Every Range Rover leads by example with modernist design, connected, refined interiors and electrified performance driving unrivalled luxury – inspired by exemplary design since 1970. As part of a sustainability-rich vision of modern luxury by design, every Range Rover is available as an electric hybrid. A fully electric Range Rover will arrive in 2025 and a fully electric Range Rover Sport in 2026.