Co-founder of the Hygiene Hub Ciára Dalton: ‘I wanted to make a tangible difference’

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far is choosing to set up a national charity at 23!

To some, it was risky, but to me, it was something that I just had to do. It has been an incredible journey, filled with highs and lows and lots of learnings but it has been so rewarding.

I wake at 6:20am and the first thing I do every morning is try to get outside and go for a walk.

I work mainly from home so I find getting some daylight early on really sets me up well for the day. This is a habit I definitely struggle with coming into the winter months with the darker mornings, but I do love a stroll around my local park and never regret starting my day that way.  

My morning routine is varied – it all depends on how much Hygiene Hub work I have to do before I start my main job at 9:30am.

I like to get up, go for a walk/go to the gym, have breakfast, read and then get ready for the day. Sometimes though, my morning might involve me heading to our storage unit to sort a delivery, or jumping straight onto the laptop to fix a problem… thankfully, the latter doesn’t happen too often (anymore!). I travel to work by foot most days (to the spare room!) but by bus when I am in the office, or by car when I need to go to our storage unit. 

I can’t go to work without my water bottle, laptop and AirPods.

I work mainly remotely for two organisations so I cannot do anything without access to WiFi and my laptop. I am also so easily distracted when in a public place, so I often need to be able to block out background noise.

On an average workday, I focus on a mix of creative, operations and strategy tasks.

Each day really can and does look very different, and that’s exactly why I like it. I start my working day at about 8:30am so I can fly through some Hygiene Hub work before I start my day job an hour later. The first thing I do at work is check my emails, write my to-do list and prioritise my tasks for the day.

I usually spend the first portion of the day ticking off some ‘quick ticks’ for the Hygiene Hub, before I get into longer project-based pieces of work.

I break for lunch between 12:30-1:30pm and usually have leftovers from the night before. I like to spend that time outside, or reading, so I try to limit the amount of cooking I have to do during that hour.

The most useful business tool I use every day is Salesforce.

This has been transformative for us at the Hygiene Hub and just makes everything so much more efficient. Zoom also has to be up there too, as without it, we wouldn’t have survived the pandemic. We are based all over Ireland so most of the team haven’t actually met in person, yet we still have good relationships and I think Zoom has played a big part in that. I also use Canva literally every day for so many things! 

I save time by not putting things off and by time-blocking as much as I can when working on longer-term projects.

I rarely get through my working day without copious amounts of tea, and lots of snacks. I love all things chocolate so I’m sure to keep a good selection in the house!

The best part of my day is working with some amazing people and hearing about the impact that the Hygiene Hub is having.

It can be really heartbreaking too, knowing that so many people across the country would be going with basics like shampoo or deodorant, but knowing they have access to these items because of the work that we do, you just can’t beat that feeling.

The most challenging part of my day is juggling two very different full-time jobs.

Having to put organisations on the Hygiene Hub’s waitlist is also something we really struggle with as an organisation. While we take pride in knowing we support 100 different organisations across the country, having any on our waitlist is something that the entire team struggles with. Currently, there are 23 organisations who need our support but we cannot distribute to right now. 

I know it’s been a good day if I make progress on something.

I am flexible as to what that looks like! A good day always ends with time to relax and recharge too. I usually end my day at 6:30pm. I work past this when necessary, but I also know that I need to properly unwind in order to keep working at a very busy pace!

I switch off from work by going for a walk while listening to a podcast or going to the gym or making dinner.

I find going straight into a ‘task’ allows me to leave work behind for the day. Before I go to bed, I do my skincare and read a chapter or two of a book. I often prepare for tomorrow by assessing my to-do list and tidying my desk.

After a long work week, I destress by finishing a little bit early if I can.

Doing some sort of exercise, particularly a class-based one, really means I can just shut off and follow someone’s instructions. After that, I’ll take a long shower and fill my weekend with rest, good food, good company and lots of nature. 

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is the Hygiene Hub.

It will likely always be the thing that I am most proud of. How can it not be when I know we are supporting 100 organisations across Ireland with access to essential hygiene items that they would otherwise go without? I’ve just finished working on the Hygiene Hub’s Christmas campaign and at the moment I’m working on an event we are planning for next year to celebrate our 5th birthday!

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to speak to people in the industry.

Ask questions. Think about what problem you are trying to solve and go from there!

Visit hygienehub.ie for ways to support.  Photography by Leon Farrell.