{"id":391369,"date":"2026-04-10T09:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/391369\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T09:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:21:08","slug":"running-will-always-be-part-of-my-routine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/391369\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Running will always be part of my routine’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entrepreneur Aimee Connolly has big dreams. In 10 years\u2019 time, she wants her cosmetics firm, Sculpted by Aimee, to be \u201cin the top-10 beauty brands globally\u201d and her track record suggests she\u2019s on schedule.<\/p>\n

In the first 10 years of the business, the 33-year-old Dubliner parlayed \u20ac10,000 of savings in to a vegan, cruelty-free cosmetic empire, with revenues of \u20ac32.6m in 2024. Sculpted by Aimee often outperforms legacy brands, such as Maybelline, Rimmel, and L\u2019Or\u00e9al in retail outlets, and its CEO, a make-up artist and business graduate, is only getting started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am someone who\u2019s very ambitious and always driven by the goal,\u201d Connolly says, explaining that \u2018the goal\u2019 can be anything from unlocking a new retailer to achieving a target or feeling like she\u2019s progressing personally.<\/p>\n

Ticking off \u201csmall, sustainable actions\u201d has been her modus operandi: Achieving the big goals by breaking them in to small, manageable tasks.<\/p>\n

This focus on the micro to achieve the macro has been \u201creally important\u201d in keeping her \u201cfuelled for the journey\u201d, because there are, she says, \u201ca lot of ups and downs along the way\u201d.<\/p>\n

Connolly was 22 in 2016 when she started Sculpted by Aimee with a three-in-one palette, and now that she\u2019s older and has huge responsibility \u2014 the company employs 91 staff and has no outside investors \u2014 she\u2019s developed a self-awareness around what she needs to do to show up at work as her best self, \u201cwhich actually sounds really cringe, but it\u2019s so important, because you can\u2019t do all the hours\u201d, she says. \u201cI\u2019ve definitely learned the hard way, at times, that you just can\u2019t keep all the balls juggling, as much as you\u2019d like to think you\u2019re superwoman.\u201d<\/p>\n

When going global is the goal, prioritising self-care is a must, because the alternative is burnout, which doesn\u2019t serve anyone. Along the way, Connolly has teased out certain self-care strategies.<\/p>\n

Optimising sleep has been game-changing. \u201cI got a Whoop,\u201d she says. \u201cI am a classic type A who needs facts. I need to be told, \u2018This is what\u2019s happening\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Whoop, a wearable biometric tracker, helped her understand \u201cthe impact sleep was having, but also what kind of sleep I was actually getting\u201d, and that information allows her to give herself grace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I know I\u2019ve got a few late-night events, I\u2019ll be kinder to myself the following morning,\u201d Connolly says. \u201cInstead of scheduling a 6am call with Korea, I\u2019ll be like, \u2018No, Aimee, don\u2019t do that, because you\u2019ll need the extra hour\u2019.\u201d She adds, \u201cPrioritising sleep is something I\u2019ve done in the last six months. I never really looked at how badly I was sleeping or how little I was sleeping, until it really became apparent to me that I needed to focus on it, and that\u2019s made a huge difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working it out<\/p>\n

Exercise is also a non-negotiable and \u201cplays a huge role in how I manage my day to day; having a good, healthy routine\u201d. It\u2019s \u201can integral part\u201d of her week and \u201calways features\u201d, regardless of what kind of week she\u2019s having, and she always feels better for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cExercise,\u201d she says, \u201cis definitely something that keeps the head in check, as much as anything else.\u201d She doesn\u2019t have a personal trainer and plans her own training schedule for the week: \u201cI try to do a mix of things and just move my body, basically\u201d.<\/p>\n

Connolly is a proud ambassador for this year\u2019s Vhi Women\u2019s Mini Marathon (and is the personification of this year\u2019s theme, \u2018Because You Can\u2019). Vhi commissioned research on 500 female runners, highlighting the positive impact of movement on women\u2019s health and wellbeing; Connolly was one of those surveyed. She sits in the 64% of women for whom running or walking helps them manage their PMS symptoms.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Running] will always be part of my routine, but, depending on how I\u2019m feeling or how my energy levels are, I might end up going to a Pilates class, instead of a really high-intensity class. I think, having that awareness about yourself and saying to yourself, \u2018It\u2019s OK that you don\u2019t push 150 miles an hour today\u2019 [is important]. And if you need to have one or two more teas and treats, which I often do, to help with the symptoms and the energy, that\u2019s OK, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her beauty routine is simple. She likes to \u201cfeel good and have no fuss\u201d. When she wears make-up \u2014 there are lots of days when she doesn\u2019t \u2014 the Sculpted five-minute face is her go-to (a light face tint, a brow product, mascara, cream blush, and lip liner).<\/p>\n

And she will always have Sculpted\u2019s Beauty Base Protect SPF 50 Primer on, \u201cparticularly when I\u2019m out running\u201d.<\/p>\n

Connolly says she rarely has a duvet day, although she will \u201cabsolutely\u201d let herself \u201cchill out\u201d on an occasional weekend morning with a leisurely breakfast, or \u201cwatch a show, listen to music, read my book\u201d, but, as a rule, \u201cbeing busy and doing lots of things\u201d is what brings her \u201chappiness and joy and fulfilment\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n Even when I go on holidays, my husband\u2019s always exhausted, because he says it\u2019s a military bootcamp trying to get around to everything that I want to do\n <\/p>\n

\u201cI love living life, I love all that comes with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Husband John Greene is also an entrepreneur, so understands the demands and ad hoc hours of self-employment.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s a \u201cchallenge for anyone who runs their own business to carve out time for themselves, let alone those around them\u201d, you \u201cjust get really good at prioritising\u201d, Connolly says.<\/p>\n

The two, who are buying a house, \u201cdebate the business a lot together\u201d, go for evening walks, and talk about the day or troubleshoot. \u201cBut also, because he works for himself, we have flexibility, where he might be able to travel with me on some of the trips I have to go on.\u201d They make it work.<\/p>\n

Connolly attributes her confidence and entrepreneurial drive to two things: A part-time job at a make-up counter when she was 16, and her mother. \u201cThat [job] was pivotal to building my confidence, because I was dealing with customers, and you\u2019re meeting all sorts of personalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really had to back yourself and be confident when you were speaking to people. I really got comfortable with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that she was \u201csuper shy\u201d before that, she says, but that job helped her tap in to her confidence and resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom has always backed me to believe in myself, but sometimes you need, like, real, practical life experience to top that up.\u201d<\/p>\n

A role model mother<\/p>\n

Connolly is an only child and very close to her mother, Clare Connolly, who brought her up single-handedly. \u201cIt\u2019s just my mom and me. We\u2019re very lucky, I think, with the relationship we have. That comes with great times and also stressful times, where we kill each other like sisters, but all in good jest,\u201d Connolly says, laughing.<\/p>\n

She describes Clare, who runs her own estate agency in South Dublin, as \u201cthe epitome of someone who has unlimited energy, unlimited willpower, resilience, discipline\u201d, and it\u2019s clear the apple didn\u2019t fall far from the tree.<\/p>\n

As a young female founder, Connolly is a role model for girls and women and takes that responsibility very seriously.<\/p>\n

Even before she started the business, she was \u201cfilter free\u201d on socials \u201cand that was so important to me to show the actual reality, and not just these crazy standards that really impact people, or don\u2019t show the real life of how things are\u201d.<\/p>\n

With Sculpted, she\u2019s always been \u201chonest when things don\u2019t go right or how things are behind the scenes, and I hope to always be like that\u201d.<\/p>\n

Authenticity is at the core of who she is and she\u2019s happy to show the journey, warts and all, and hopefully inspire others to be creative or start their own business (she has an entire shelf of letters from girls who\u2019ve written to tell her how she\u2019s inspired them).<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a real responsibility that I carry with great pride, and one I\u2019d never take for granted\u201d.<\/p>\n

Connolly is a visionary who thinks big, but even she is a little bit gobsmacked at the degree of success she\u2019s achieved in the last decade. People stop her on the streets of Dublin and London to tell her that they love her products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have those moments, you go, \u2018God, this is actually insane, what\u2019s happened\u2019. So as much as I wanted it all to happen and I believed that we could reach great heights, I think we\u2019re still only at the beginning of where we\u2019re going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AimeeAimee Connolly, ambassador for the Vhi Mini Marathon, encourages women of all ages and abilities to walk, jog or run the 10km event Picture: David Fitzgerald\/Sportsfile
\n The 2026 Vhi Women\u2019s Mini Marathon will take place on in Dublin City centre on Sunday, May 31 at 12.30pm. Register now at: vhiwomensminimarathon.ie.\u00a0
\n This year, Vhi is running a three-part training initiative designed to support women in the lead-up to the 2026 Vhi Women\u2019s Mini Marathon. Each event is hosted by Vhi Women\u2019s Mini Marathon ambassador and by fitness expert Nathalie Lennon.
\n The next event is the 5km at Porterstown parkrun on Saturday, April 18, which Aimee will attend with fellow ambassadors, Vhi Women\u2019s Nathalie Lennon and Cl\u00f3da Scanlon. There will also be an 8km run in Kilkenny Castle on May 13.
\n Register: Vhi Run Series at Eventbrite<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Entrepreneur Aimee Connolly has big dreams. In 10 years\u2019 time, she wants her cosmetics firm, Sculpted by Aimee,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[33970,501,26054,499,103,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-391369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-health-body","9":"tag-health-fitness","10":"tag-health-life","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}