Gráinne Ní Ghiollagáin, daughter of industry veteran Pádraic Gilligan, grew up in a home where her parents regularly hosted clients and guests for dinner. “While the rest of my siblings may have been embarrassed to come out and say hello, I used to love meeting new people from different cultures and countries,” she said.
She ended up spending a few years as a pharmacist “until I realized I wanted something a bit more exciting.”
She didn’t begin her career at SoolNua, the company her father co-founded in 2014 with long-time business partner Patrick Delaney (the pair had previously acquired Ovation in 2002, sold it to MCI in 2007, then led its expansion to over 100 destinations).
Instead, she joined Conference Partners International, a PCO (professional congress organizer), and then went to work for Croke Park, a convention center in Dublin. She finally joined Gilligan in 2019 as a business development manager, and this year took over, along with Aoife McCrum, as managing partners.
Though the vast majority of college-educated children will not follow the career paths of their parents, the meetings and incentives business seems to be an exception. Even the industry’s major trade show, IMEX, is run by a father-daughter team, Ray Bloom and Carina Bauer.
“I think the perks of the industry are a specific draw for younger folks,” said Anjee Sorge, director of operations at FIRE Light Group, an incentive marketing and employee engagement company founded by her mother, Sandra Daniel. “Travel and all the glamour associated with it are such a hook.”
Sorge was 29, having graduated with an art degree, when her mother offered her a job at the small incentive company where she was working. She had been working in the property and casualty insurance field and it wasn’t offering much excitement or mobility. Her new position was mostly administrative, but she had opportunities to learn about planning and contracting. “Then I went on my first fam trip and I was hooked,” she said. When Daniel started FIRE Light Group in 2007, she was all in.
Working in her family company has allowed her to take on more responsibility than she would have been able to have otherwise. Her mother is the final decision-maker, “but we also have a say in the running and direction of the company. I don’t know many other folks — especially women — who can say that they have that level of voice in their organization’s future.”
Lack of Industry Awareness
Stephanie Harris, president of the Incentive Research Foundation, was working from home when her daughter Kate McAllister was in middle and high school. McAllister was just promoted to client engagement manager at American Express Global Business Travel (Harris’ former company).
“I think there was a lot of learning by osmosis,” Harris said.
She recalls the time she needed to take her daughter to a doctor’s appointment while she was on an annual planning call. “She took notes on my phone while I was driving, things like ‘Mom is asking for a lot of money for marketing.’ She was 12 years old, and now she works with some of the same people who were on that call.”
“I got to see the glamorous side of the job and watch my mother travel to interesting destinations while participating in unique events,” said McAllister. “We were also fortunate to be able to travel frequently as a family. This fostered my love of travel.”
Harris says one of the biggest challenges is that many people in the next generation have no idea there even is a meetings and incentives industry. “So many people say they just ‘fell into it’ when you ask about their career path.”
“Every time I tell someone about the industry, they are enamored,” said McAllister. “I constantly hear, ‘I want a job like that’ or ‘I went into the wrong field.’
“When someone knows this industry exists, they want to be involved.”
Learn, connect, and get inspired — with the event industry’s who’s who.
September 15 – NEW YORK CITY
