One could call Sonya Lennon many things - a fashion designer, a business person, a social entrepreneur, an innovator, a co-founder, a public speaker, a feminist, a mother. One of her friends calls her and her partner The Jam Factory. That is to say, theyre lucky. But Lennon believes that you make your own luck.

There is a book called The Luck Factor which looks at the science behind luck, Lennon tells me.

One of my best friends jokingly calls myself and my husband The Jam Factory. We are lucky, lucky to have been born in Ireland, lucky to have been born into the families we were, lucky to have been born at all!

But we are also both grafters who love what we do, and we will graft till the day we die. It helps that we like what we do - thats the first thing that makes you lucky. It is about attitude, perception and narrative. The opportunity is there and its about your mind being open to those opportunities.

This former freelance fashion stylist has successfully repositioned herself from fashion girl to motivational speaker giving talks on topics such as thinking like an entrepreneur and behavioural change.

Herself and Brendan Courtney have just launched a new podcast, she works out every day, oh, and shes just about to start a masters in Business Equality Diversity and Inclusion in IADT where her partner David is president. Tired yet?

Plus, when we speak, shes in the final stages of planning for The Irish Examiners ieStyle Live virtual event, which took place last night - as MC she was preparing to interview Glamour Editor in Chief Samantha Barry. (Last year Brendan and Sonya hosted the inaugural sellout networking and fashion event at Cork City Hall.)

Busy is one word you could use to describe her. One could also call Sonya Lennon passionate. In fact, she frequently describes herself thus throughout our conversation at the Lennon Courtney offices in the Dunnes Stores HQ.

Lennon is dressed, as is fitting, in a Lennon Courtney design, her large statement glasses more than a hint at her definitive style.

The conversation flows from the projects shes involved in, her work with Courtney, juggling motherhood and business (why do we even still say juggle? she ponders). She frequently references the ideas of leading thinkers on behaviour, social enterprise, leadership, personal development and more; she quotes from books and podcasts and she cites those whose experience shes tapping into for her new strategy for Lennon Courtney.

Equality, empowerment and confidence is at the core of everything we do at Lennon Courtney, its who we are. That all now lives within the brand. Were constantly thinking about how we can create additional value for the woman who wears our clothes, she says. We have a huge network of incredible women, they can all support each other knowing that their common purpose is each others success, she says at the time of writing.

Were launching our YouTube channel in September with Lennon Courtneys Career Guidance Tips, everything from that first interview to negotiating at a senior level.

This communal approach to things is something Lennon seems to excel at, but, while she has established or co-founded entities such as Lennon Courtney, Dress for Success and LIFT, she is also keen to stress she does not work alone, nor does she work directly on everything that she has established.

The key is that the things that I have set up are resourced, so I am not doing everything myself, she says. We have an extraordinary team on Lennon Courtney in Dunnes. In Dress for Success there is an amazing team as well as a network of about 100 volunteers including stylists, active HR professionals and mentors. We got a significant piece of funding last year through the Mn na hireann Fund and are a proud member of the Government-backed ReThink Ireland programme.

"We love that you are a partner, a patron, and a huge supporter of Dress for Success Dublin."

A big thank you from @sonyalennon and everyone here at DFSD to all the amazing volunteers from @Verizon who delivered two online workshops on 17th Sep. pic.twitter.com/wHBULgOD3k

Lennon describes Dress for Success as her first foray into organisational development. I didnt have a bloody clue what I was doing, she freely admits. But you dive in with two feet, even though you are terrified that youre going to fail or that you will succeed, because they are both unknowns, and then you dont die and its okay and you get a little bit braver and you stand on the shoulders of the very fear that held you back in the first place.

Lennon co-founded Leading Irelands Future Together or Lift with siblings Joanne and David Hession. It was Joannes idea to establish Lift to explore how we can really lift leadership. When we were setting up we went out with two surveys and asked people what the values are that need to be lifted in Ireland. The top eight were: listening; positive attitude; respect; competence; dedication and determination; empathy and understanding; accountability, honesty and integrity.

We think of leaders as being leaders with a capital L, someone standing on a stage at a podium or in the boardroom. But if we exert influence on the people around us then we are leaders. So its about looking at our behaviours, how we are influencing people and [asking] are we being the best version of ourselves around those people?

Lennon says that her realisation that business development was a creative process came as something of a welcome revelation. I hadnt joined the dots to realise that business development is a creative process. I then became more and more interested in business and leadership rather than pure fashion. It is about having the confidence to say: This is who I am. It is up to you to position yourself in this world, what you stand for, what you are capable of and what you want to achieve. Lennon sees it as a common danger to ruminate on things and she invites people to place their challenges in three columns: those they can control, those they can manage, and those they cannot control.

If you can control the challenge then you have a duty to do something about it. If it is a challenge that you can manage or influence you can still have to have a strategy for how you can lessen that challenge,

If there are things that you cant control, just take them off your rumination list because, by your own admission, there is nothing you can do about them.

One challenge she is dealing with is the fact that her mother has dementia. She says that many of the opinions she now espouses are thanks to her mother and to the values present in the family home of her youth. My mother was independent. She worked, she knew the value of economic independence for women. She always said if you are not part of the revenue, youre not part of the decision-making process. That was really drilled into me at an early age.

This powerful female mentorship is echoed in Lennons membership of a closed professional network of female entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with whom she meets every three months.

But Lennon says its not all about women helping women and she cites her friendship and work relationship with Brendan Courtney as a case in point. We enjoy each other hugely, we respect each other hugely. That doesnt mean that we dont have to mind our relationship continuously. Thats something that is important in all relationships. An unwatered plant will wither and die.

She believes that conversations with men who get it can be very powerful and that personal responsibility can be anything from a man advocating for a female colleague in a meeting to asking himself whether all stakeholders are represented in the corporate decision-making process. In other words, wheres the womans voice?

Conversations with men who get it are very powerful. Women are 51% of the population and it is insane that we are. A truer term to use would be underrepresented, we are not a minority. People have asked me why I focus on gender representation when there are so many bigger issues to solve. My response is that if we had had womens representation at decision-making tables up to now we wouldnt have this situation - we can really see that in the Covid response globally. This is not, however about a hostile gender takeover, its simply that men and women need to work respectfully together. Its better that way.

Sonya Lennon is an Audi Ireland ambassador and drives an Audi A4.

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Sonya Lennon: stand on the shoulders of the fear that holds you back - Irish Examiner