Aim Higher: Armagh to NASA | Anthony Kieran

How did the entrepreneurial journey start then? And when did that start? Did you leave the States and come back here? Or did that start in the States and kind of materialise from there?

It started in the States, Seamus.

And I remember, again, I was standing in a house.

It was like a 12,000 square foot house.

A gentleman by the name of Tom O'Donoghue Senior.

He...

He'd come over from Ireland, from Kerry, with, I think he had the equivalent of 100 quid in his pocket.

And he had nothing else.

And he, I mean, his story is just well-renowned in Pittsburgh.

But standing in his house on the balcony, looking out onto these grand lawns, and he'd built it from scratch.

And again, he, you know, Tom wouldn't be too afraid of telling you he came with nothing.

But again, I sat there and I thought, Jesus, this is the American dream.

This, like he came with nothing.

And he had a big construction company.

He had a restaurant as well.

A very wealthy man, a very, you know, a man well to do.

And then you would meet other people like that, like the Minox.

A lot of different Irish men that came over with not much in their pocket, but all of a sudden they created these incredible lives for themselves.

And I suppose that was instilled in me that if you work hard, and keep showing up, you know, and hopefully you hang around long enough to get a little bit of luck, which you also need along the way, big time.

But that's definitely stood with me.

But I think right down, there's moments like that, that I just said, yeah, I got to do something for myself.

I always wanted to do something for myself.

And I suppose stemming from getting that second chance from... you know, leaving after the bombing incidents, I always knew this was my time.

I got to make the most of it, you know.

I knew that, yeah, I've got a second crack at this here.