RICHARD MURPHY - CEO & FOUNDER OF ZEVO HEALTH

Richard Murphy is the CEO & Founder of Zevo Health, a wellness company that aims to make companies healthier places for people to work in, physically and mentally. Zevo Health has successfully implemented various wellness programmes in organisations across the UK and Ireland. The comprehensive programmes are designed by 10 health coaches who deliver training in areas such as stress management, mindfulness, work-life balance tailor-made to the needs of the organisation. With such a keen interest in health and well-being myself, I was excited to speak to the man changing the way in which wellness is viewed in the workplace, one company at a time.

Where did your journey begin?

Richard: I’m from a totally different industry to the one I’m in now. My background is in the construction industry doing project management and quantity surveying. I lived in Melbourne for about 5 years before coming back to Ireland to start up the company I have now. In terms of ‘wellness’ in the construction industry, I found that it wasn’t a priority. I found that this kind of mindset needed to change and instead of working in the construction industry, I decided to set up a company aimed at wellness to provide accessible and comprehensive programmes to employees. So that’s my background, totally different to where I am now.

So, you saw there was a need for well-being to be brought into the workplace?

Richard: Yeah definitely, I felt that there was a need for it and it was a growing area. I have an interest in exercise, nutrition and wellness, so I was really keen to start something and see how far I can take it. The company’s been running for about 3 years now, it was launched in April 2015 and it has a team of about 15 people.

Did you always know that you wanted to run your own business?

Richard: No, not at all. When I was about 18, there was a construction boom so everyone was going towards that industry and that’s how I kinda got sucked into it. But I didn’t really know what quantity surveying or project management was really. My friends were doing it so I thought, I might as well do it too. I think its really easy to get swayed into an industry that’s doing really well. It wasn’t until I was 28 that I decided that the industry just wasn’t for me and something that I was focused on or passionate about, hence this opportunity kind of came to mind and I started the organisation I have today.

What are some of the lessons you have learnt along the way?

Richard: Yeah. I think its always good to have good mentors and advisors that have your first interests at heart and can build empathy with you because they’ve been in a similar scenario. Having the right mentors and guidance is important. I also think doing something that you thoroughly enjoy. Success is getting up in the morning and going to bed at night but making sure, in the middle of that you are doing something you love. That is something that I try and do.

What would you say has been your biggest achievement so far?

Richard: We have won a few entrepreneurial awards so that would be a good achievement and good validation.

Who inspires you?

Richard: I suppose well-known business people like Steve Jobs. I think he was fascinating in terms of how he used to build things before people needed them. So from a design perspective, he was a fantastic guy. A guy called Richard Reed who built Innocent smoothies for creating a very good culture within an organisation. Other people would be Richard Branson, who I definitely admire for being a massive risk taker and delving from one industry to another. So, I’d say there’s a number of people I find inspiring for a number of different reasons.

What does success mean to you? 

Richard: I would say success is getting up in the morning and going to bed and in-between all of that, doing what you love doing. I think it is as simple as that really. It doesn’t matter whether you are a businessman/woman, an electrician or a farmer.. as long as you are doing something you love doing then I think that’s success really.

What advice would you give to young people starting out?

Richard: Enjoy your life as much as possible. Travel because you learn so much in terms of experience. Work hard if you have an idea or if you are starting a career to get inside the mind of someone who has done it before by shadowing them if you can, getting them to mentor you or asking them questions.

I hope this inspires somebody out there.