PODCAST: Season 3, Episode 3: Niall Horgan of Gym+Coffee

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 Saturday, April 6, 2024, and features Niall Horgan, CEO and Co-Founder of direct-to-consumer athleisure clothing brand Gym+Coffee.

Work Rest Slay: In this episode…

In this episode of Work Rest Slay, Cork-native Niall Horgan shares his entrepreneurial journey from working with tech giants like Twitter and Slack, to later pursuing his passion and starting a high-quality athleisure wear brand with his friends and creating a strong Irish community around it.

“Gym + Coffee started life in 2017 with a mission to ‘make our lives richer’, offering the sort of clothes and accessories that form the staples in our wardrobes,” opens Melanie. “Niall and his two friends, Diarmuid McSweeney and Karl Swaine, wanted to bring high-quality athletic clothing to a nation that was quickly making the bougie independent coffee shop and Ireland’s stunning natural landscapes their new social hubs. 

“Now in its seventh year, Gym+Coffee has grown to become a significant player in the field, performing admirably alongside the biggest global brands. Its success is a culmination of passion, authenticity, hard work and a fantastic focus on community.” 

Building community

Niall, Diarmuid and Karl all shared a similar love for health and fitness, but what they valued most was the supportive and social hub around that lifestyle. And, as the name suggests, this is what they wanted to emulate in their business – Gym+Coffee.

“We really wanted to be a brand that inspires people,” says Niall. “We really wanted to build it around that love and that passion people have for exercising and for socialising; we wanted to be a brand that created opportunities for people to do that.” This desire is what drove them to start the business in hyperspeed. In 2017, it took just six months from the first conversation around Gym+Coffee to having actual products in people’s hands.

They started simple with a storefront in Dundrum Town Centre and one product, hoodies. They wanted their athleisurewear to be versatile and durable, “from work-out to chill out”, says Niall. And this ethos has continued on to today. Now, seven years later, they have about 300-400 different SKUs, a huge online and international presence, retail stores across the country, and perhaps most importantly, a dedicated Gym+Coffee community.

“During Covid, there was a real rally around supporting Irish businesses and that was amazing to see. People consciously made choices at that time to buy[…] We felt that support from our side too. The Irish market is amazing, and we’re super grateful and super proud of the support we’ve received here. We want to be that brand that Irish people can point to and feel a general element of pride in it.”

Best advice

When asked, Niall said he would give this advice to anyone starting out in business – “bite off more than you can chew because, for us, some of our biggest successes have been when we’ve said ‘yes’ to stuff without having the full plan for it.” 

They did this for their first retail store in Dundrum, saying yes with the pressure to turn it around in two weeks, and they made it happen. Then again when they hosted a hike up Sugarloaf Mountain, and there was a march larger turnout than expected. “We had 2.5k to 3k people show up. I had to ask a farmer to open up his field for more parking.”

Now, thankfully, Niall says he’s been able to slow down (just a bit!) and enjoy his weekends with his wife and two daughters, aged two and four, and go for a run to clear his head when he gets a chance. But that doesn’t mean the business is on hold, quite the opposite.

What’s next? “It’s that balance of challenge and opportunity. We want to make sure we’re maintaining the business really well. The next chapter is becoming a global player and expanding our retail partner network… I think it’s an Irish thing but it’s hard to give yourself too much of a pat on the back at any stage, so you’re always looking at what’s the next challenge, what’s the next opportunity, what’s the next fire that we’re putting out.” 

For more on Niall’s career journey, listen to the newest episode of Work Rest Slay below:

About Niall

Niall Horgan is the CEO and co-founder of direct-to-consumer athleisure clothing brand Gym+Coffee. Founded, headquartered and operated in Dublin, in the last five years Gym+Coffee has scaled to over 150 team members and 10 physical retail clubhouses across Ireland and the UK, becoming a best-in-class e-commerce experience with a passionate community of over 500,000 around the brand.

Niall has spent over 12 years in various sales and marketing roles including time at Twitter, Slack, Sky and Irish Mainport Holdings. During this time he was responsible for setting up international sales operations, and building and scaling sales teams across the EMEA region, all while working with brands and agencies on their digital marketing strategies. In 2016, he was named one of the Sunday Independent‘s Top 30 Under 30 in Ireland. Niall was one of Ireland’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalists in 2021; he is one of the 6 Irish Endeavour Entrepreneurs; and he was Chair of Digital Business Ireland in 2020/21.

Niall is married to Orlaith and has two daughters Zoe (aged three) and Cassie (aged two). Niall has a huge interest in sport and keeping fit, he played GAA with Cork for a number of years, winning an All-Ireland Medal and four Munster Medals in football and hurling. He has run the Cape Town marathon and numerous half marathons, and he endeavours to squeeze in a daily run or workout.

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.