When Catherine Fulvio walks into the parlour at Ballyknocken House and Cookery School, she brings along a flurry of excitement. After an enthusiastic greeting and a peck on the cheek, she is poised and ready for our interview. The thing is; I’m a bit dazed by the whole experience. Coming from Canada, I have lived in Ireland since 2013 and she has been a part of my Irish television experience since my arrival.
More recently, my fellow North Americans have become similarly enchanted by Catherine and her easy-going television manner – her North American debut series entitled A Taste of Ireland has been nominated for four Taste Awards (considered to be the “food Oscars” in the United States): Best Food Programme, Best Travel Series, Best Food Travel Series and Best New Series.
In addition, the programme has already won a preliminary award for Best in Europe. These nominations come on the back of her 2019 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Culinary Host (where she says she had great fun attending; making sure she wore Irish designers for the red carpet).
While few other Irish personalities could lay claim to such accolades, I’m surprised to learn that Catherine still prefers to stay close to home in Glenealy, Co Wicklow, and only visits the US once or twice a year for promotional purposes and media appearances.
“It’s been an absolute bonus having the opportunities to have TV shows in the US and Canada,” she says. “But isn’t it amazing and interesting that you can make a name for yourself in a totally different country that you – maximum – visit twice a year? My business is here, my family is here and I’m all about keeping Ballyknocken for the next generation.”
So, while most would be practising their red carpet walk, Catherine is instead focused on her upcoming cookery classes.
“Experiential holidays are very popular [now] because people like to think, ‘Well, if I’m spending my money and my time, wouldn’t it be great if I could learn a new skill and bring something back with me that I can actually do?’,” she says of her clientele. “A lot of the themes [of our classes] are keeping up with current trends. People are particularly interested in Italian food, because many of our guests would have either already been to Italy or are planning a trip [there].”
As we talk, I’m taking in the quaint country surroundings and traditional home furnishings at Ballyknocken House. Even the “newest” building on the premise – the cookery school building – was transformed from the old milking parlour. I am getting the sense that, while Catherine is comfortable entering new territory within her business, she is even keener on respecting the past.
I love the idea of a family business in Ireland; it’s fundamental
“[This is] very much a family enterprise; my two kids work here,” she explains. “This house was my grandparents’, originally, then my parents’, and now it’s mine and my kids’. I love the idea of a family business in Ireland; it’s fundamental. When guests come – especially international visitors – they love to meet the family and have that connection.”
Like her business, Catherine likes her food to be family-focused and achievable. Using home-grown ingredients, where possible, and sourcing the remainder as locally as possible, with A Taste of Ireland she hopes to change the way the North American market perceives Irish food.
“I don’t mind if [A Taste of Ireland] isn’t on the Irish screens, because it’s heavily geared toward the American market,” she says. “I think it’s a style of television that North Americans would watch; but not so much the Irish. For example, in the last series we filmed, my daughter is in an episode and we’re baking together. The producer says, ‘OK, now, turn to the camera and say ‘I love my mom’.’ My daughter looks at me and says, ‘Am I getting paid for this?’”
“The producer (Lisa Rene Ramirez) is absolutely amazing; she’s full of character and she has that Hollywood vibe going,” Catherine continues. “She knows her market and her viewers, and the viewers [generally] have a preconceived notion of Ireland. I will say that my food is modern Irish – I use local ingredients and we go around to local farms. I’m going to be myself, so I’ll cook my kind of food. I’m not going to cook the kind of food [Americans] think we eat – no corned beef and cabbage in this series.”
With a thriving family business and roster of successful television series under her belt, having confidence in her abilities has been what’s kept Catherine going throughout her career. As many will understand, though, you can still have confidence in yourself while struggling with feelings of inadequacy.
Imposter syndrome – the feeling that you aren’t as qualified for your role as others perceive you to be – is common among women, regardless of profession, and Catherine admits to suffering from it as well. The key to overcoming, she insists, is to use those feelings of inadequacy to stay humble and work hard.
“What I’ve learned from imposter syndrome; what it’s done for me is, it’s kept me sharp,” she says. “It’s kept me focused; it’s kept me humble and, because of that, it’s worked out fine. You try a lot harder; you’re never complacent and that’s the difference. Imposter syndrome keeps you in check. It’s helping me drive myself forward and keeping me at the top of my game.”
Much like her business, Catherine likes to keep her food family and locally focused, using home-grown ingredients where she can. \ Philip Doyle.
Between shooting her television series and running her business at Ballyknocken House and Cookery School, Catherine also spends time visiting other Irish counties – exploring the food, the producers and speaking at events. She regularly works as a motivational speaker and she enjoys this aspect of her career; helping women and entrepreneurs with similar feelings of imposter syndrome improve their confidence.
“In the bigger scheme of things, in business, we still have this idea that we are ‘self-employed’ as opposed to entrepreneurial,” she says. “If you say to a woman starting out in business, ‘You’re being an entrepreneur’, they start to panic. We have that [innate# humility, which is fine so long as we use it to our advantage.”
At Ballyknocken House, Catherine keeps the memory of her mother (from whom she inherited the bed and breakfast business) alive through her genuine approach to food and hospitality; always ensuring the recipes taught in the cookery school are not only delicious, but approachable, so that when her guests return home they’ll be able to recreate what they learned. She feels that Irish food has been through a regenerative process and that farmers and food producers are creating something really special for Irish consumers.
“It’s a full circle; when I was growing up here, times were tough in farming – my mom sold turkeys as a side business, then she started the bed and breakfast for extra income,” she reminisces. “She made jams, bread and collected eggs that we sold at the local country market. The supplementary income helped my mom grow her business into a hillwalker’s paradise – we had to be innovative to earn an income. Today, we’ve expanded on that. We’re back to making our farm tourism businesses more sustainable and we’re a lot more creative because the demands of the customer are greater.”
I am going to New York for work to promote Irish dairy produce
Catherine’s father keeps sheep, which graze in the fields surrounding Ballyknocken House, and they continue to grow many of the vegetables used in the kitchen themselves. Catherine says that while her “happy place” is with her dogs on the mountain-hiking trails around Glenealy, she will indeed be spending awards show time in the US – it may not be possible; however, for her to attend the actual awards ceremony.
“I am going to New York for work to promote Irish dairy produce.” She laughs. “So I’ll be there; which overlaps with the awards. I’m not sure if I’ll actually make the ceremony or not, but I don’t mind.”
While her US television show has had massive success, Catherine Fulvio is keen to remain in Ireland. \ Philip Doyle
Sharp, focused and, yes, completely humble, Catherine continues to forge the path for her business and her future at Ballyknocken with absolute grace and, above all, respect. Respect for the history of her home, for her clientele and for the ingredients she uses in her incredible roster of recipes.
When Catherine Fulvio walks into the parlour at Ballyknocken House and Cookery School, she brings along a flurry of excitement. After an enthusiastic greeting and a peck on the cheek, she is poised and ready for our interview. The thing is; I’m a bit dazed by the whole experience. Coming from Canada, I have lived in Ireland since 2013 and she has been a part of my Irish television experience since my arrival.
More recently, my fellow North Americans have become similarly enchanted by Catherine and her easy-going television manner – her North American debut series entitled A Taste of Ireland has been nominated for four Taste Awards (considered to be the “food Oscars” in the United States): Best Food Programme, Best Travel Series, Best Food Travel Series and Best New Series.
In addition, the programme has already won a preliminary award for Best in Europe. These nominations come on the back of her 2019 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Culinary Host (where she says she had great fun attending; making sure she wore Irish designers for the red carpet).
While few other Irish personalities could lay claim to such accolades, I’m surprised to learn that Catherine still prefers to stay close to home in Glenealy, Co Wicklow, and only visits the US once or twice a year for promotional purposes and media appearances.
“It’s been an absolute bonus having the opportunities to have TV shows in the US and Canada,” she says. “But isn’t it amazing and interesting that you can make a name for yourself in a totally different country that you – maximum – visit twice a year? My business is here, my family is here and I’m all about keeping Ballyknocken for the next generation.”
So, while most would be practising their red carpet walk, Catherine is instead focused on her upcoming cookery classes.
“Experiential holidays are very popular [now] because people like to think, ‘Well, if I’m spending my money and my time, wouldn’t it be great if I could learn a new skill and bring something back with me that I can actually do?’,” she says of her clientele. “A lot of the themes [of our classes] are keeping up with current trends. People are particularly interested in Italian food, because many of our guests would have either already been to Italy or are planning a trip [there].”
As we talk, I’m taking in the quaint country surroundings and traditional home furnishings at Ballyknocken House. Even the “newest” building on the premise – the cookery school building – was transformed from the old milking parlour. I am getting the sense that, while Catherine is comfortable entering new territory within her business, she is even keener on respecting the past.
I love the idea of a family business in Ireland; it’s fundamental
“[This is] very much a family enterprise; my two kids work here,” she explains. “This house was my grandparents’, originally, then my parents’, and now it’s mine and my kids’. I love the idea of a family business in Ireland; it’s fundamental. When guests come – especially international visitors – they love to meet the family and have that connection.”
Like her business, Catherine likes her food to be family-focused and achievable. Using home-grown ingredients, where possible, and sourcing the remainder as locally as possible, with A Taste of Ireland she hopes to change the way the North American market perceives Irish food.
“I don’t mind if [A Taste of Ireland] isn’t on the Irish screens, because it’s heavily geared toward the American market,” she says. “I think it’s a style of television that North Americans would watch; but not so much the Irish. For example, in the last series we filmed, my daughter is in an episode and we’re baking together. The producer says, ‘OK, now, turn to the camera and say ‘I love my mom’.’ My daughter looks at me and says, ‘Am I getting paid for this?’”
“The producer (Lisa Rene Ramirez) is absolutely amazing; she’s full of character and she has that Hollywood vibe going,” Catherine continues. “She knows her market and her viewers, and the viewers [generally] have a preconceived notion of Ireland. I will say that my food is modern Irish – I use local ingredients and we go around to local farms. I’m going to be myself, so I’ll cook my kind of food. I’m not going to cook the kind of food [Americans] think we eat – no corned beef and cabbage in this series.”
With a thriving family business and roster of successful television series under her belt, having confidence in her abilities has been what’s kept Catherine going throughout her career. As many will understand, though, you can still have confidence in yourself while struggling with feelings of inadequacy.
Imposter syndrome – the feeling that you aren’t as qualified for your role as others perceive you to be – is common among women, regardless of profession, and Catherine admits to suffering from it as well. The key to overcoming, she insists, is to use those feelings of inadequacy to stay humble and work hard.
“What I’ve learned from imposter syndrome; what it’s done for me is, it’s kept me sharp,” she says. “It’s kept me focused; it’s kept me humble and, because of that, it’s worked out fine. You try a lot harder; you’re never complacent and that’s the difference. Imposter syndrome keeps you in check. It’s helping me drive myself forward and keeping me at the top of my game.”
Much like her business, Catherine likes to keep her food family and locally focused, using home-grown ingredients where she can. \ Philip Doyle.
Between shooting her television series and running her business at Ballyknocken House and Cookery School, Catherine also spends time visiting other Irish counties – exploring the food, the producers and speaking at events. She regularly works as a motivational speaker and she enjoys this aspect of her career; helping women and entrepreneurs with similar feelings of imposter syndrome improve their confidence.
“In the bigger scheme of things, in business, we still have this idea that we are ‘self-employed’ as opposed to entrepreneurial,” she says. “If you say to a woman starting out in business, ‘You’re being an entrepreneur’, they start to panic. We have that [innate# humility, which is fine so long as we use it to our advantage.”
At Ballyknocken House, Catherine keeps the memory of her mother (from whom she inherited the bed and breakfast business) alive through her genuine approach to food and hospitality; always ensuring the recipes taught in the cookery school are not only delicious, but approachable, so that when her guests return home they’ll be able to recreate what they learned. She feels that Irish food has been through a regenerative process and that farmers and food producers are creating something really special for Irish consumers.
“It’s a full circle; when I was growing up here, times were tough in farming – my mom sold turkeys as a side business, then she started the bed and breakfast for extra income,” she reminisces. “She made jams, bread and collected eggs that we sold at the local country market. The supplementary income helped my mom grow her business into a hillwalker’s paradise – we had to be innovative to earn an income. Today, we’ve expanded on that. We’re back to making our farm tourism businesses more sustainable and we’re a lot more creative because the demands of the customer are greater.”
I am going to New York for work to promote Irish dairy produce
Catherine’s father keeps sheep, which graze in the fields surrounding Ballyknocken House, and they continue to grow many of the vegetables used in the kitchen themselves. Catherine says that while her “happy place” is with her dogs on the mountain-hiking trails around Glenealy, she will indeed be spending awards show time in the US – it may not be possible; however, for her to attend the actual awards ceremony.
“I am going to New York for work to promote Irish dairy produce.” She laughs. “So I’ll be there; which overlaps with the awards. I’m not sure if I’ll actually make the ceremony or not, but I don’t mind.”
While her US television show has had massive success, Catherine Fulvio is keen to remain in Ireland. \ Philip Doyle
Sharp, focused and, yes, completely humble, Catherine continues to forge the path for her business and her future at Ballyknocken with absolute grace and, above all, respect. Respect for the history of her home, for her clientele and for the ingredients she uses in her incredible roster of recipes.
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