While you may recognise her from the small screen, Anna Daly is so much more than a TV presenter.
The Dublin native was working as Marketing Manager for TV3 (now Virgin Media) when she decided to take the plunge into an on-screen career back in 2008.
Since then, Anna has interviewed the world’s biggest stars, and co-hosted Virgin Media’s national flagship breakfast show, Ireland AM.
In August 2021, the popular presenter announced her shock departure from the programme, after landing a new job with The Communications Clinic.
At the time, Anna also revealed she wanted to focus on her “side-hustle business” Little Bliss, her lifestyle clothing brand for adults and kids.
The 45-year-old launched the ethical brand in late 2020 with a range of organic cotton hoodies and sweats, and its grown exponentially ever since.
While Anna is no longer on Virgin Media in the mornings, she’s still a familiar face on our screens and hosted a new series called Hospital Live for RTÉ earlier this year, alongside Philip Boucher-Hayes.
In between her TV jobs and working on Little Bliss, Anna is also mum to three boys – James, Euan and Rhys – whom she shares with her husband of 13 years Ben Ward.
So how does she do it all? In an exclusive interview with Goss.ie, Anna opens up about juggling work as a busy mum-of-three, how her life has changed since walking away from Ireland AM, and her hopes for the future.
Take a look:
You’re best known for being a TV presenter but you launched your own brand Little Bliss in 2020, what inspired you to do that?
I wanted to do something for myself that I can control. If you look at other UK TV presenters, they often work with other brands and do edits or collabs but actually some of them have created their own range and the novelty of it is, you can control it.”
“Yes you need to invest and yes, you take a gamble that it will actually work and people will like it, but it’s yours, you decide every aspect of it, you set up the company and you invest your own hard earned cash into it and that in itself is very empowering.”
“As it grows you realise that you’ve built something for yourself that you can control, it gives you freedom to work from anywhere and in a way it future proofs you in an industry that can be very unpredictable.”
What were the main challenges you faced starting the brand, were there any unexpected setbacks?
The costs are scary, even setting up the smallest of brands, especially when you want to do it properly.
You really need to want it and you can’t be afraid of hard work, because when you start a company you do everything from the paperwork to the hiring of creatives, web designers, photographers, models, editors etc.
I even did the fulfilment (actually packing the orders myself and taking them to the post office several times a day) until it quickly grew to the point of being able to hire a fulfilment company who can stock and pick and dispatch my orders for me.
It’s quite the luxury but I’d recommend you do that element yourself first in order to understand what you’re looking for if you are in a position to outsource it.
Now my orders are packed by a small family business in Portlaoise and they’re still packed carefully and with lots of love and it feels really good to support a local business in that way.
Can we expect any popup shops or permanent shops in the near future?
Right now it’s all pretty seamless, pardon the pun, online but you never know in the future.
A pop up at Kildare Village would be a great option as we grow and upscale. Watch this space!
Are there plans to expand Little Bliss further? What’s next?
Bigger ranges, new products – developing our own designs from scratch like the longline sweatshirt is exactly where I want to be rather than just putting my brand on products that already exist. I’m always thinking of what I want in a wardrobe essential.
Do you have advice for others hoping to start their own business?
Pull together a mood board of the brands that inspire you and ask yourself why they inspire you. What is it about them that makes your heart sing? What’s their ethos? What makes them different?
Decide on what you want your brand to be, who your typical customer is and stick to that brief. Don’t worry about trying to please everyone with your offering, just be true to what it is and what it stands for.
Little Bliss will always be about luxury for everyday. Pieces that you will sip coffee with friends in and always feel comfortable and chic, even if its Tuesday!
You announced your departure from Ireland AM last year, what have you missed the most since leaving the show?
Like any job it’s about the people, and the people I’ll always be connected to.
The work has been replaced with other TV work and when you love TV you just want to keep doing interesting projects that engage an audience and allow you to be yourself.
How has your life changed since then and do you have any regrets?
I get to be on the sidelines at my boys football matches more often, which funnily enough is hugely important.
I get to choose TV projects that I’m genuinely really interested in and I get to run a brand that I love.
I probably still don’t have a perfect work life balance but does anyone get it right all the time?!
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Do you think you’ll ever return to presenting a show full time like Ireland AM?
It depends on the show and how engaged I am by the idea of it.
Was it emotional saying goodbye to everyone on the show after so many years?
There was a great crew there and I’ll continue to connect and build my friendships with those people. I’ve overlapped with many of the crew on other RTE projects since I left too.
My pal Janine who floor managed me for many years on Ireland AM was also floor managing Hospital Live on RTE1 recently so that was a joy to have such a familiar face on such a new TV set.
On top of presenting gigs and running your own business, you’re also mum to three children – how do you juggle it all?
With difficulty at times and a hugely supportive and hands on Dad who happens to strike a much better work life balance than I do!
Ben runs kaliedy.com (Ireland’s number 1 online nursery website) with his siblings and he is excellent at managing his time between work, sea swims, children’s activities, soccer coaching etc. I always say he keeps our show on the road.
Do you have any advice for other working mums out there?
Stop beating yourself up over the work life balance, we’re all just doing our best. You’re probably doing an amazing job, start giving yourself some credit.
You previously said your third child would be your last, do you still feel the same or have you changed your mind?
Well I don’t have any ‘news’ for you! Yep, there’s no more time in the day for another child.
I’m very happy with my house of boys, big and small, and in one sense it’s lovely being the only girl!
You’ve achieved so much over the past few years. Is there anything else still on your bucket list? Personally and professionally?
I’m ambitious about work for both Little Bliss and the telly stuff, but I’m also ambitious about time off and building memories and traveling and seeing new places and meeting new people.
I think in a way Covid refocused us on whats really important and it certainly sharpened up my outlook.
Where do you hope to see yourself in five years?
I used to ask lots of very famous people that question and you know what, they all had one thing in common…
Not one of them knew what they were having for dinner never mind what they were doing in 5 years. So that made me feel a lot better and hopefully your readers will feel the same.
Do stuff you love, spend time with positive people, take all the inspiration you can find, travel, be curious and don’t sweat the 5 year plan. That’s my motto anyway!
