The Journey That Brought Me to Arthur Mallon Foods
I’m Amanda, and my story begins with a Polish mother, an Irish father, a childhood in London and a move to Dublin at the age of 10. It has been far from a straight path to Arthur Mallon Foods, but every experience along the way has helped shape it.
After spending much of my life in Dublin, love eventually brought me to Monaghan. Swapping city life for something a little different marked the beginning of a new chapter, both personally and professionally.
A Career of Different Experiences
My career began in the corporate world, in recruitment and events, before I moved into a PA role. Those years taught me how to stay organised, communicate clearly and juggle plenty of responsibilities in a busy environment.
I had always been interested in beauty, so I later qualified in the industry and took my career in a completely new direction. Over the next six years, I progressed into training and other specialised areas of the business.
I’ve always loved working with people, and the beauty industry helped me grow in confidence, build relationships and discover how much I enjoy sharing knowledge and supporting others.
Little did I know just how useful all those experiences would become.
Finding My Place at Arthur Mallon Foods
When I joined Arthur Mallon Foods in a reception and administrative role, I quickly discovered that it brought together many of the skills and experiences I had developed throughout my career.
I’m naturally outgoing, so meeting people, welcoming visitors and being a friendly first point of contact is something I genuinely enjoy. What I hadn’t anticipated was how much my role would grow beyond Reception.
I’ve been fortunate to work with colleagues across different departments, share ideas and get involved in projects where I can use both my previous experience and my creative side.
Drawing on my background in recruitment and training, I helped develop our induction and pre-boarding packs. Having moved to a new area myself, I also knew what information I would have appreciated while settling in, which inspired me to create our Relocation Guide for colleagues joining us from further afield.
Representing Arthur Mallon Foods at the Balmoral Show brought my customer-facing experience into a new setting entirely. I loved meeting visitors, chatting about our products and putting those years of working with the public to good use.
Discovering My Creative Side
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises has been discovering just how much I enjoy internal communications.
I created the Bangers Bulletin, our in-house communications platform displayed on canteen screens, to share company news, promote events, highlight health and safety messages and celebrate our colleagues. It has given me a creative way to help keep everyone informed and connected.
I’ve also loved developing Safety Links with our Health & Safety team. Together, we make important safety messages more engaging and accessible through creative campaigns, multilingual materials and our very own Safety Sausage mascot, who brings personality and humour to the subject.
The multilingual side of this work is particularly close to my heart. Growing up with a Polish mother, I learned to understand much of the language and can hold a conversation, although putting full sentences together can still be a challenge. Being raised around different cultures showed me how important it is for information to be accessible to everyone, whatever their background.
Alongside these projects, I’ve also been involved in employee engagement, wellbeing initiatives and events across the business. What started as a reception role has developed into something much broader, and I’ve really enjoyed seeing how one idea can lead to another.
Bringing It All Together
On paper, my career may not look like the most obvious route: recruitment, events, the beauty industry, training and, eventually, Reception. Yet each experience taught me something I use every day, from the organisational skills I developed in the corporate world and the confidence I gained working with customers to the training experience I now bring to our induction projects.
What I value most about Arthur Mallon Foods is being able to contribute and be creative. I feel genuinely respected, trusted to run with ideas and encouraged to get involved in projects across the business. In many ways, it feels like a role that was tailor-made for me.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s that changing industries doesn’t mean leaving your experience behind. Sometimes it takes a fresh start to discover just how valuable those skills can be.
From London to Dublin and eventually to Monaghan, it has certainly been an interesting journey. Looking back, I would not change the path that brought me to Arthur Mallon Foods.