Irish Women In Business… Domini Kemp Of Itsa Bagel Ltd.

Domini and Peaches Kemp have become two of Ireland's leading food entrepreneurs after opening the popular Itsa café on Abbey Street in 1999. The company has now expanded to include seven branches of Itsa stores and six Itsa cafés, while the pair have also expanded their empire to include outdoor catering company Feast Catering, Hatch & Sons Irish Kitchen and speciality coffee outlet Joe's. Domini, who trained as a chef at Leith's in London, is also a food writer with The Irish Times and will release her fourth cookery book this year. She had a chat with Her.ie this week to discuss the challenges of starting up a new business, the joys of working with family and why you should never listen to people who think you are "bonkers".

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Did you always want to go into the food business? We've always been involved with food and business, although both of us originally had careers with horses. Peaches was involved with showjumping and then racehorses, and I (Domini) with just showjumping. Peaches had done a cookery course with Alix Gardener in the 80s and started her own small catering company and I used to work for her. Slave labour! Our lives became more intertwined when we split up with our respective partners and both needed to find a new job. We had always wanted to open up something together and the timing was right to start Itsa. How did you take your first steps towards breaking into the sector? I sold my house, moved into rented accommodation and took the €50,000 to invest in starting Itsa. We were very determined in what we wanted to achieve and we ignored all the pessimists. Our late mother Val was incredibly supportive though and she really believed in us at the start, which was great, as most people thought we were bonkers! What were your goals with setting up the Itsa food company? Initially, we just wanted to pay the bills. Neither of us took a salary for the first six months. We just pumped everything into the new business. But once it took off, we really wanted to continue growing. There were so many things we wanted to accomplish but at the start, I think we didn’t dare to think too long term. I think we were just very grateful that we had customers. What were the biggest challenges that you faced? Financing to grow the business, trying to find the right premises and then making the decision to hire a head chef - who took over from me - so that we could start to grow the business, create new brands and develop Feast Catering, our catering company. What sets your company apart from its competitors? I think we are incredibly hands-on and we are always looking at ways to improve what we do. I'm very proud of our reputation and the fact that we are a good company to do business with. I think that by challenging ourselves, we remain very current with what we serve. I like to think we do things better each year. What has been the highlight of your career so far? I think we would both say that getting through the last few years without inflicting pain on our staff by making pay cuts is something we're really proud of. We continued to grow the company and worked hard to ensure wages remained untouched. That was tough, but I think worth it. Do you think that women face additional challenges in business or has this ever been an issue for you? It has never really been an issue for us. Kitchens are tough environments to work in but they are meritocratic and hard work gets you places. That kind of tough environment gives you a bit of an edge. Of course we've encountered all sorts of nonsense over the years, but we're strong and we've never shied away from having a good fight when necessary. Do you think working with family makes things more or less difficult? Both - but neither of us would change it for the world. There is an element of trust there that is incredibly comforting. We both believe in getting things sorted quickly and amicably so if we do end up disagreeing over something, we have a good scrap and clear the air. We are very close and hang out a lot anyway. We also have to remember to stop talking about work constantly and to remind ourselves that, first and foremost, we are family. How do you approach the creation of a new cookery book? Can you describe the process? I work very quickly and when I like something, I run with it. My next book is a collection of recipes for Dinner from The Irish Times. The tricky bits can be editing down text, getting photos done, writing intros and also picking a cover. But they are all just stages in the process. You just approach them methodically and then what initially seems daunting, slowly becomes manageable and then very exciting. I really enjoy creative processes so it doesn't ever really feel like work. What is your favourite recipe? Last night, I made Caesar Salad and some roast chicken. The whole family was together and we had such a lovely night. Recipes are special because of what you associate with them. So, to be honest, my favourite recipe changes all the time! What do you hope to achieve with Itsa in the future? We have really enjoyed creating new brands over the last few years. Our sister company Hatch & Sons is a great example of this, as is Joe's - a fantastic specialist coffee shop that we opened last November. We're working on a juice and wholefoods cafe called Alchemy Juice Co that will be opening this September. We will continue to grow but we're really happy with the changes we've been making over the last few years. Watch this space! Cover photo: Barry McCall