Goss.ie is celebrating 10 years in business this month, so who better to interview for our newly revamped cover series than our very own founder and CEO, Alexandra Ryan.
We’re sitting down with our Goss Boss, otherwise known as Ali, the businesswoman and journalist who has come a long way since she launched her own entertainment news site, the first of its kind in Ireland, back in June 2014.
Running a company is no easy feat, and the success of Goss Media as a business and media outlet has been a journey to say the least – and I’ve seen it all first hand.
Having known Ali for almost ten years myself, I’ve come to learn that she’s always been a grafter.
In this exclusive interview, Ali takes us back to the very beginning of her career as a showbiz journalist, and how the idea for Goss.ie was born.
From the outside looking in, it might seem like Ali lives the high life, attending glamourous events, and rubbing shoulders with celebrities in LA.
But the reality is a lot less glitzy, as the day-to-day life of running a business on your own is exhausting, physically and emotionally, and can be lonely at times too.
During this chat, Ali gets candid about the behind-the-scenes of Goss.ie, the struggles she’s faced along the way, and the one regret she has looking back over the last 10 years.
While she may be known as Ali ‘Goss.ie‘ Ryan, the 34-year-old has added many strings to her bow outside of the company too.
Back in 2020, she bravely wrote about being a victim of Revenge Porn, after a man filmed a video of them having sex without her consent when she was 25.
The following year, Ali helped the Department of Justice launch a campaign to combat the sharing of intimate images without consent – and she’s now working on other legislative changes to help tackle anonymous accounts online.
This is where her law degree has played a key role in her work, a degree she began during the COVID-19, graduating in 2023 where she was awarded the Highest Achievement Award for earning the most points out of all of the law graduates at Griffith College.
You may be wondering how she juggles it all, and honestly I don’t know how she does it myself, but I have a feeling its driven by an urge to prove herself.
In this exclusive interview, Ali reveals the most common misconceptions about her, how she deals with criticism, and whether she’d ever let cameras into the Goss office for a reality show.
Rounding off our chat, our Goss Boss shares her hopes for the future, both personally and professionally, and the highlights of her career to date.
Read my full interview with Ali below:
You are celebrating 10 years in business this year with Goss.ie. However, some people may not know how you started out. Could you take us back to the beginning and explain how you first started the business?
Thinking about it now it actually feels crazy, but my family and close friends know what I’m like when I get an idea in my head, I just can’t let it go and no matter what anyone else says I just have to go and do it!
I had been in the showbiz industry for about four years at this point. I started off with a showbiz blog called ‘Miss Red’, after I had done 9 months work experience in The Limerick Post Newspaper. On the blog I interviewed stars like Laura Whitmore and Vogue Williams, while finishing my final year in my Undergraduate in UL and also while working in SPIN Southwest as a News Reader (you’ll start to see a pattern).
I spent my teens reading Hello and OK! Magazine, binging E! News and Xpose, showbusiness had my heart from a young age. When the blog was doing well and it was just me writing on it myself, I knew that’s where my career focus had to go.
Before I finished my degree I sent an email to pretty much every editor in Dublin, and it got me a trial day with the Evening Herald. On my first day I landed a page three story (about Jedward), and I was hired on the spot.
“showbusiness had my heart from a young age”
I fell in love with the showbiz world instantly. It was tough and meant late nights, early mornings (I started my shift in the Herald at 6am) and I was breaking into an industry I had no experience in. I spent my teens and college years in Limerick so I had no ‘in’ in the Dublin social scene. But I quickly was promoted to the Herald Diariest, and anyone who knows the Irish newspaper industry will know that was one of the toughest but most important showbiz jobs.
After a year in the Herald I received a text from someone in The Irish Mail on Sunday saying they had a job I might be interested in. It was pretty much the position everyone was talking about, and I got it! I was just 22 at the time, and was the youngest candidate interviewed for the position.
I think a lot of people weren’t sure about me joining and getting such a coveted role, but six months in I became the youngest journalist to win Showbiz Journalist of the Year at the National Newspaper Awards.
That felt like the first time I was able to prove a lot of people wrong, and I feel like the fire in my belly was born that day. Winning that award was my entire career goal so when I won it so young, I realised I had to do something even bigger with my career and really my life.
I had a lot of job opportunities, including moving to London, moving to LA, but at the time (2014), there were no dedicated showbiz news websites in Ireland. I was tired of waiting for papers to print stories, tired of not being able to find entertainment news online, so the idea for Goss.ie was born. I still can’t believe that domain was available by the way, it was meant to be!
What’s the hardest part of running a business? Specifically a business like Goss.ie?
I honestly had no idea how tough running a business was going to be, and I don’t think anyone can understand until they do it themselves. I remember saying to myself, ‘Ok I’ll do this now, I’ve no mortgage, husband or kids, I have time’. But honestly it’s like having a mortgage, husband and ten kids, if not more stressful at times.
I have been able to handle the constant workload because I always had two or three jobs on the go since my teens, but nothing can prepare you for the level of responsibility. I have done all of this on my own, no bank loans, no big investment, no corporate management boards running things when I need help, so being self-sustainable from day one was a huge struggle.
I lived week to week so many times, slept on the office floor because a client didn’t pay on time and I had no money to get home, I don’t think anyone would believe how hard it was at times.
I think every entrepreneur faces the fear and panic that you will fail and that you won’t be able to captain the ship and turn it around when it hits and iceberg or starts taking on water (sorry for the metaphor), but you have to constantly believe in yourself, believe in your decisions and trust that you are doing your absolute best.
Consistently making myself believe that everything will be okay when we had tough times was difficult but I made it through.
Now I think the hardest thing is focusing on the bigger picture, I have been so used to putting out fires and dealing with day to day little things all the time. This is the first year I’ve had a PA and an Office Manager so that has helped with all the HR duties and handling my own schedule, next will be some very big hires and hopefully that will be soon.
“I honestly had no idea how tough running a business was going to be…”
Do you have any regrets looking back at the past decade? Is there anything you wish you did differently?
I try not to regret anything in life, as cliche as that sounds. But I do wish I had prepared better.
I had zero understanding of the advertising industry and how media sales worked, if I could go back I would have researched this for months and months, and probably would have tried to bring in someone very early to help with sales.
I also would have saved money and I should have planned for the worst. Instead I did one big five year cashflow plan, thought it would all work out but ended up struggling financially a lot. I sold my car and had to move into a tiny house share early on into the business, it was grim.
I also would have applied for funding ahead of starting the business as I see now that’s a much easier way to raise money through government bodies. To date we’ve never received even a euro from any business funds or anything like that.
But again, I try not to have regrets, I think everything happens the way that it should.
While many people believe myself and Ali are related (we’re not sisters FYI), we didn’t meet until she hired me as an Entertainment Reporter in September 2015 when I was fresh out of college.
As Goss.ie‘s longest running employee (almost nine years and counting) and the Editor of the site since 2017, I have been there for all the success, as well as the many trials and tribulations.
You honestly wouldn’t believe the stories we could tell, and through all that we have ironically become sisters in a way, and the best of friends outside of work.
Sisters or not though, my respect for Ali as a businesswoman has never wavered, and her ability to keep fighting, even when sh*t has truly hit the fan, never ceases to amaze me.
I have been a part of the business for nine years and it’s safe to say its been a rollercoaster! There’s been very big ups but also a lot of downs. What made you keep going during the tough times?
Yes you have seen it ALL. Sometimes I wonder how you’ve stayed calm throughout the ups and downs because we definitely have been through some rough periods.
I really think my obsessive need to succeed, to prove myself and to make something of my life has always saved me from losing my mind. Even when I couldn’t afford petrol to drive home to see my family or I lost pitches that I spent so much time on, campaigns that could have changed the trajectory of the business in the early days, I still forced myself to keep going, and I always said we’d make it… and we did!
You really just have to fake it til’ you make it, and from what I have learned, that’s what most successful people do. They throw everything at their dream, make mistakes, nearly fail, save everything last minute, are on the brink of failure, all while sharing a smile and putting on a show. One day it’s just not a show anymore, that’s when you know you’ve made it.
I think the darkest period, as you’ll remember, was 2016-2018, and that was for a few reasons. One, I had privately been dealing with the torment of being filmed having sex without my consent (you can read Ali’s story here), and because of that I threw myself into work and almost got lost in the business to avoid dealing with the horror of what had happened. Two, in 2018 we were offered to be bought by quite a large sum, and at the time I decided to sell. The deal fell apart in the very last stages, and that was honestly the biggest blessing.
I walked away from that deal knowing there was more to do, brighter days ahead, and bigger fish to fry. After that, the business just started doing better and better. The Gossies blew up, a lot of doors started opening up that had been closed before, I have never once regretted not selling the company back then.
At the time I cried into a box of McDonalds chicken nuggets though and thought I would regret it forever, so things change with time.
Now in 2024 we have over 300 clients, including Disney+, NOW, SuperValu, Centra, Boots, Diageo and Google just to name a few. We’re working on our third key annual event which is kicking off this Autumn, the Gossies are bigger than ever, the team is bigger than ever, revenues continue to grow, everything I dreamed of and worked for has come to fruition.
I have to say having you with me on this journey has kept me calm too. I couldn’t do this without you, you’ve been the best shoulder to cry on, an amazing number two to rely on and you’ve adapted so well to all the role has asked of you over the years, running a business alone can be quite lonely but it’s been easier thanks to you.
Did you ever consider giving it all up?
Honest answer? Yes. Of course, I think any entrepreneur would be lying if they said no.
I nearly did give it up in 2018, but deep down I wasn’t ready and it wasn’t right.
Now that I’m getting older I do have days where I wonder would life be easier without it? But to be honest I have no plans to sell, the business continues to grow each year, we’re creating more and more special events and incredible campaigns that I am so proud of, I wouldn’t want that to end.
I think we do things very differently to everyone else, and I love that. If I walked away I would miss that, because I do think we’re a leader in the industry and we’ve already changed the industry quite a lot. For example, we were the first publication to ever write about influencers or nominate them for awards, and look where the industry is at now.
For now I’d like to step back, and move into a more Creative Director role and let someone else handle the CEO responsibilities, so that’s something I’m hoping can happen in the very near future.
You worked as a showbiz journalist for years before you started Goss.ie, so your hair is quite literally full of secrets! What has been your favourite scoop to date?
Oh wow there are so many! I have always said that the best stories are the ones I can never write! I’ve had a few stories break all around the world, for example Pamela Anderson revealing she had been sexually abused as a child, that was such a harrowing moment and I had no idea it was going to happen, all at a private Cannes Film Festival party as well, it was very surreal and she is incredible.
Back in the day I wrote a lot of hook ups and break ups scoops, including a story about Meghan Markle dating Rory McIlroy before she ever met Prince Harry. At the time it was a big enough scoop, but only recently has it gone worldwide, when I was name dropped in the biography about her, Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors. So many journalists sent me photos of the few passages about “Dublin gossip columnist Alexandra Ryan”, that was hilarious.
We’ve broken some great stories on Goss.ie which I’m proud of as well. I think having exclusives is the most important part of being a good journalist, it shows you can do great research but also that people trust you enough to tell you things.
Aside from being a businesswoman, you are also a passionate advocate. In 2021 you helped the Department of Justice launch a campaign to combat the sharing of intimate images without consent, after sharing your own harrowing experience. How has life changed for you since then, both personally and professionally?
My life will never be the same to be honest. It’s one of my proudest achievements and it’s hard to put into words what that experience was like. I had a gut feeling that I needed to share my story and that people had to put a face to the name of revenge porn, or intimate abuse as it’s now called.
I really felt that the general public didn’t understand how traumatising it is to have photos or videos of a sexual nature shared of you without your consent. For me I didn’t even know I was being filmed and it nearly killed me. I kept thinking how would someone younger than me survive this? And that’s when I knew I had to speak up.
I always say that it was like I was walking around with a dark cloud over me until I shared The Truth About My Sex Tape article here on Goss.ie. I woke up crying so many mornings, I worried that strangers had seen my tape, that my peers in the industry all knew about me and thought I was asking for it. It was a shame and fear I woke up with every single day for five years.
When I did the campaign the cloud lifted and I really started to feel like myself again. I couldn’t be blackmailed anymore because I had let the secret out myself. It was no longer a hidden, dirty secret, it was instead a part of my story, and something awful that happened to me that I was able to turn positive.
If I never achieved anything else in life I’d be happy with doing that campaign, I know that it helped a lot of people and I know that having someone front the campaign got the right eyes on the issue.
Do you plan on working with the Department of Justice on more campaigns?
I hope so. I am still working on other legislative changes that I really want to see, and policy proposals that I want the Taoiseach to view. Namely in the realm of anonymous accounts online, whether they send death threats or post defamatory comments online, I am really passionate about creating consequences for people who continue to try and shield their identities in order to cause harm.
When Bloggers Unveiled was huge here it caused me so much anxiety and stress. We lost commercial deals from completely false claims, and I was blackmailed about my sex tape by someone who wanted it to be shared on that account. That was 2018 and honestly trolling and anonymous defamatory platforms seem to have just got worse since then. I don’t think anyone realises the true impact of slander, and how unsafe it is to share details of people’s daily lives online in an almost stalker-like fashion.
I have spoken to the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee about reforms I want to see in the Defamation Act and the sort of bills we could implement here to make it easier for people to sue people who post anonymously online, or to find them to set criminal charges, so that’s my next focus now, and it’s a really important one for me.
During the pandemic you decided to go back to college to study law. You have since graduated with a first class honours degree, which is such an amazing achievement on top of everything else you have done business wise. Do you plan on using the degree to help with your advocacy?
Yes definitely, that was always the plan. I’m writing a policy proposal for the government at the moment, and I only know how to do it because of my degree. In my last meeting with Helen McEntee I was able to ask for changes based on my understanding of the law and previous case law, so it’s been such a huge help.
I don’t know how I’m fitting in working in a solicitor’s firm one day a week at the moment but I’m loving it and I’m learning a lot about litigaiton and the courts, all of which I think will help me in the long term.
I have big big plans for myself outside of Goss.ie as well, especially in the area of policy change and helping victims, so I still have a lot of work to do.
From the outside looking in, it can be hard to fathom how you juggle it all, even as your friend and colleague I have no idea how you do it! Genuinely, how do you manage everything?
I’m honestly laughing at this question because the honest answer is I don’t know. Nothing is never enough, I am always thinking of the next bigger and better thing, you know that when you see me planning the next Gossies before the current Gossies are even finished.
But I don’t know, I think I just think we have so many hours in the day, so much time on this earth, I want to make an impact and I want to follow every thread that interests me, follow every dream, achieve everything possible. I guess I just think nothing is impossible and I constantly try to prove that to myself as well as others.
But trust me when I say I want to slow down and I’m ready for it. I’m ready for the madness of a home life and being a mother, it just hasn’t happened for me yet. But given the triple life I seem to lead I think I’ll be able to handle it.
A common misconception about Goss.ie is that it’s a salacious website which purely makes money off clicks and the misfortune of others, does this bother you given your advocacy against trolling?
That’s a great question. What I would say to that is, the reason I won Showbiz Journalist of the Year back in 2012 was because I did such intimate interviews, I gained the trust of people who gave me extremely personal stories and full access to their lives, that’s because I’m not out to get anyone, and Goss.ie works the same way.
Of course people do complain about being written about if it’s not exactly what they want to see, but at the same time it’s the name of the game. If you post your boyfriend online and want articles written about it, Goss.ie will write about it if you break up too.
But you know this, we have a LOT of limits. And given I’ve had so many rumours written about me online that were so untrue, and I’ve seen the effects negative comments and negative stories have on people, we always pull back.
I’ve lost count the amount of times we haven’t run stories that would have blown up the internet because we were concerned about how the person in question would be able to deal with it. The editorial team get sent tips all the time, we know a lot of what really goes on in the industry, and we make the decision not to publish it. Our aim is to entertain, not to upset, and I stand by that.
In saying that some stories need to be written, for example stories about our national broadcaster RTE. The payments scandal we absolutely had to cover because it was a national tax payer issue, but of course I worried about how Ryan Tubridy was handling it, so it really is a balancing act.
I do think largely we’re known for being on the kinder side. The funny thing is if people only knew some of the celebrities I count as close friends, and the things I know about them and have witnessed and have been around and I’ve never said a word. So if we were all about the clicks that wouldn’t make sense. Plus, hate to break to you all, but ad clicks don’t pay the bills, it’s a very small portion of how we make money.
Speaking of misconceptions, what do you think is the most common misconception about you?
Oh there are a good few I think. That I’m stuck up and definitely that I’m a ditzy blonde bimbo, they’re the biggest misconceptions. I also think some people think that I am promiscuous or that I’ve had some man paying for my life (sigh).
I would say the things most people think about me are the complete opposite of who I am as a person, like shockingly so. For example, I can still count the amount of guys I’ve ever kissed, I’m just an old romantic really. I’ve also paid for everything in my life completely on my own.
And you know with the dumb blonde thing, I would hope by now that idea of me has changed. When I won the Highest Achievement Award at Griffith College for getting the most points in my law degree I thought surely now people will believe I’m intelligent, but who knows.
I have had decent, normal people tell me they’re really surprised when they meet me or when they work with me, I’ve heard the sentence ‘wow she’s actually really smart’, more times than I can count. People think it’s a compliment to tell me of people’s utter shock that I really know what I’m doing and that I’m a leader in my industry, but honestly the lack of confidence in me based purely on how I look, is depressing.
That’s probably why my drive is still very strong in terms of proving myself, I do still feel some people don’t take me seriously, but achieving ten years in business, two degrees, a national department of justice campaign, I would hope the tide has changed somewhat, but you’ll always have haters when you’re in the public eye and that’s just the harsh reality.
I think the best thing you can do is ignore the haters and prove them wrong by just being your best self. Success is the best revenge, I truly believe that. Whether that’s success in love or career or just personal success in terms of your own journey, never feed into the hate you just have to keep feeding the love.
I remember when I first started Goss.ie so many people hoped for its demise, for my demise really. People were taking bets on how long the company would last, apparently a lot of people said “it’ll be gone by Christmas” in my firs year. So my message to those haters now is, look where I am, look what I’ve achieved, you were wrong.
Have you developed a thick skin when it comes to what people think of you online, or do comments like that still hurt?
For the last three years I’ve had a policy of no longer looking at comments about me so that has been my saving grace, because it’s unnatural to see such horrible comments about yourself, or read bizarre lies about your life and not be able to defend yourself.
I have definitely developed a thick skin at this stage but it hasn’t been easy. I always ask people what they would think if they started shouting, slamming and accusing their own child or sister or mom with the same comments, would they? Obviously the answer is no.
The older I get though the less I care about others opinions. All that matters is that when you lie your head on your pillow at night you know you are a good person, you know you have been honest and you’ve made good decisions.
Aside from that, if I’m ever upset about I think I imagine myself on my death bed and what I would think, trust me I won’t be thinking about other people’s opinions, I’ll be regretting the fact I spent so much time worrying about them.
You share a lot about work on social media, but don’t share much about your personal life. Do you think this will ever change?
No to be honest. I think it’s because of my journalism background. I know once you share personal stuff you’re inviting in the public, the press, pretty much everyone to have an opinion, to comment and to get invested.
I will absolutely never share my children’s faces online or anything like that. I might possibly share a picture on my wedding day, but that would be about it. Best to keep personal life private I believe, it’s just easy to tear apart otherwise.
We’ve often joked about letting cameras into the Goss office for a reality show, particularly to capture the lead up to The Gossies. Would you ever consider it?
We have joked about this so much! I’ve had producers pitch a few ideas to me before, I think it could possibly work but I’m pretty sure everyone would think I am a bit mad. Day to day life running a company is so stressful and such crazy things happen, it’s hard to always stay positive and to act cool. You and I curse more than anyone I know as well so a lot would be bleeped out.
Never say never though, I think a documentary of sorts on the organising of the Gossies would be TV gold, the ups and downs and celebs we work with and the disasters we endure, I think I’d be open to that.
But I think reality TV makes or breaks a person so I’d have to be prepared that people may not like me, so who knows.
You have already achieved so much, and the best is yet to come. But what has been the highlight of your career to date?
That’s such a hard question. I think creating the Gossies has been one of the biggest highlights and seeing it grow into a brand of its own, seeing national and international press pick up the awards and validate them, that’s a dream come true. It’s safe to say that The Gossies are one of the biggest nights in Irish entertainment now, it’s a big event on the calendar, it’s a coveted place to be for so many, and that’s something to be proud of.
The same goes for seeing US publications crediting us for stories or UK ones, the first time that happened I nearly cried. Even hearing someone reference Goss.ie on the radio is the weirdest feeling, let alone TV. All those early validations I’ll never forget.
The Women of the Year Awards as well I’m so proud of and that will always be an important pillar of this business. Having the platform to give inspirational women such recognition has been the greatest honour, and really a personal project for me.
I would also say publishing The Truth About My Sex Tape on Goss.ie itself. It was a huge decision and a risky one at that but I feel it paved the way to give more women a voice on Goss and since then we’ve worked with Women’s Aid a lot and covered the likes of the Aisling Murphy trial, so it’s really brought change to the site.
Getting invited to Oscars parties. I remember the first time I went to Oscars Week and I saw the Goss.ie sign at the red carpet I gasped. I felt the same about the New York Fashion Weeks and Cannes Film Festivals that I did, those invites and press passes really legitimised the brand.
There are probably some others, I guess reaching ten years, that’s insane. Most businesses don’t last a year. I’m really bad at patting myself on the back but I will definitely raise a toast to ten years this month.
Celebrating 10 years in business, Goss.ie is at an all time high, but what’s next?
I think growing the business even more, continuing to grow the team, working on creative, exciting campaigns for our clients, moving a lot more into broadcast, and at some point, in between it all, slightly stepping back.
As the only Irish-owned, female-owned and female led media brand in Ireland I think the sky is the ceiling in terms of the impact we can have, the things we can do and the changes we can make, not just in this industry but in general in this country.
Looking back now, what advice do you wish you could give your younger self?
Everything is going to work out. All this bullying in school stuff is only going to create the drive that will make you successful, you will have the career of your dreams, and never ever give up on yourself.
What’s left on your bucket list – professionally and personally?
Professionally a lot of my bucket list has been ticked but I would love to write a book (well finish the one I started), I’d love to go back to acting and script writing and directing, I spent a few years dipping in and out of that but I really feel I’ll get a TV series made one day, I already made a few short films, and randomly starred in a horror that aired on RTE, but I’d love to have something of my own get the green light.
I also have an exact revenue figure in my head that I want to make, the year I make that exact figure I’ll celebrate.
Personally it’s all left to play for. Marriage, kids, my dream home, it’s all still on the list and it’s time to start ticking that side of the list off.
Where do you hope to see yourself five years from now?
Creative Director of Goss.ie, still running The Gossies and Women of the Year and being involved in the big picture stuff.
Working in law some how whether that be in legislation or as a solicitor/barrister on the side.
Most importantly I hope to see myself happy with a healthy, happy family. My biggest dream has always been to become a mother and have a family. I’ve already achieved one dream, it’s time to chase the next one.
CREDITS
Photographer: Claire Boshell
Stylist: Megan Fox, assisted by Conor Leavy
Makeup: Paula Callan
Hair: Fiona Sexton
Assistant: Amy Marie Dodd
Assistant: Zara Brennan
OUTFIT DETAILS
Cover look: Earrings, Betty and biddy, €18; Sunglasses, Primark; Necklace, Dylan Oaks; Pink blazer dress, Pretty Little Thing.
Look two: Hot pink dress, Ali’s own (Pretty Little Thing).
Look three: Earrings, Parfois, €12.95; Necklace, stylists own; White sequin blazer, Nadine Merabi, €342.95; White sequin trousers, Nadine Merabi, €237.95.
Look four: Earrings, Betty and biddy, €18; Sunglasses, Stylists own; Necklace, Alis own; Pink blazer dress, Ali’s own (Pretty Little Thing).
Look four: Kendra in Odd Muse; Ali – Pink blazer, Karen Millen, €285; Black top, River Island, €25; Pink trousers, Karen Millen, €155.
