Those who subscribe to the idea that birth order affects personality believe middle children are often independent, hard-working master negotiators. Sandwiched in between an older and a younger brother, Kathryn Thomas and her sister, Linda, certainly fit that description, ploughing their own respective furrows in the worlds of TV and marketing. Until now.
During a night of sisterly bonding in Powerscourt Hotel earlier this year, the two were discussing their career plans. Kathryn, already a regular presence on RTÉ screens, had last year branched out into new territory. Inspired by residential Beauchamp centres in Spain and Costa Rica, the Carlow-born presenter decided to launch a wellness venture of her own: a week-long diet and training experience designed by a battery of life coaches, trainers, nutritionists and Kathryn herself. And, despite a successful launch year, she realised there was room for improvement.
“I thought it would be all skipping in meadows down in Kerry,” she laughs. “I only started to realise when I launched it that it was going to be a business and a sales business and I was getting into hospitality. There was renting and staff and fish orders and spreadsheets and stock. I didn’t realise the size of the workload when you start up a business.”
Linda, too, was reaching a fork in her own road: after three years working in marketing and branding at Google’s California campus, she too was in a state of flux.
“For the past couple of years we talked about potentially working together,” says Linda. “I was super-proud of everything Kathryn had done with Pure Results, and over a few glasses of wine we started talking about what skill set I could bring to the table. I was interested in coming home after being in LA for three years. I was missing family and friends, the usual.”
As it happens, Linda’s three years at Google would provide her with the skills to being her sister’s fledgling venture to the next level. Whereas Kathryn is more of a front-of-house, on-site presence, Linda is busying herself with social media, digital marketing, strategy and brand development. She is the Bill Gates, she says laughingly, to her sister’s Francis Brennan.
“The whole [mantra] at Google is ‘Act like an owner and think like an entrepreneur’,” says Linda. “There’s a lot that I learned there that you can apply to a start-up.”
So far, so encouraging – but is familial closeness more of a hindrance than a help when it comes to running a business together?
“There were a few tense conversations that night, mainly because I didn’t want Linda to think that she was working for me, but with me,” says Kathryn.
Adds Linda: “We did kind of say that we will never fall out though. If it develops, and we have every hope it will, then great.
“I need to be mindful of not talking to her as my younger sister when I don’t agree with her,” says Kathryn. “I’ve had to check myself a couple of times for that. There are two other women that we work with in the office, and I’ve needed to apologise when I’ve said something older- sistery.
“I’m still figuring out what kind of boss I am,” she adds. “I’ve been a team player for so long, I’m a little uncomfortable being the boss.”
Sibling rivalry has never been their thing: “God, we sound a bit too perfect, don’t we?” laughs Kathryn. “The only tension there might have been as kids was travelling in the car. Sometimes we joke that we’re envious of each other’s physiques.”
Wellbeing and travel
It’s easy to see that the pair could make for a winning combination in business. Kathryn is known for her easygoing, gregarious nature, but Linda is every bit as sociable. Both sisters, with their love of fitness, radiate good health.
While they share a love of wellbeing and travel, their career paths have rarely crossed before now. Linda, a Trinity College Dublin graduate (of business and economics), backpacked around the world before taking a marketing/PR job in a Dublin agency. Five years ago, she took a job in Google’s Dublin headquarters before transferring to California, as had always been her dream.
“I always go into things headlong – I suppose we both do,” says Linda. “The brothers might be a little more cautious, but when we put our sights on something, we really go for it.”
"People always ask, was there ever any jealousy [in my family] when I was famous on TV, and there genuinely wasn't," says Kathryn. "There was no getting above my station. I got a bit of a pain in my rear end when I was presenting [RTÉ travel show] No Frontiers and the family were a bit 'You jammy cow', but only I and the team really knew how hard we worked."
“We were all just so proud of her, as she was of me,” says Linda.
Kathryn has been a near-constant presence on Irish screens in recent times, most notably on The Voice of Ireland and Operation Transformation. With the bulk of her presenting work front-loaded at the beginning of the year, there was the question of what to do in the fallow summer months.
Pure Results was conceived not as something to fall back on for the presenter but as a labour of love. Watching people struggle with their health at close range on Operation Transformation, in particular, had prompted Kathryn to consider a move into wellbeing.
“My TV career is first and foremost my career,” she says. “I flirted with the idea of going to the UK and the US, but I feel really settled here now.
“Usually during my downtime I’d slap a bag on my back and go travelling for six weeks, but these days I feel a lot more settled. I got the house, the dog and the boyfriend – in that order – so I wanted to stick a little closer to home.”
Last year Kathryn welcomed her first recruits. Although they ran the gamut in terms of age and occupation, the vast majority – 85 per cent – were women.
“A lot of them were business owners, or mums taking the time to invest in themselves,” says Kathryn. “They’re mainly terrified when they walk in, as the word ‘boot camp’ scares them. The amount of women who have cried on the last night and said, ‘I can’t remember the last time I took time out for myself’ – they feel so guilty about just being there.”
Anyone expecting a slice of VIP stardust is quickly brought down to earth, albeit with a gentle thud. “Some arrive down with the full make-up on – I call them the ‘I can’t’ crew,” laughs Kathryn. “ ‘Now Kathryn, I don’t run. I’ve had four children and have problems with my pelvic floor.’ A few days in, the make-up is gone and they’re right in under that cargo net.
“We have a gala dinner on the last night, when we get the hair and make-up done, and the emotional outpouring is something else. It reminds us of when we got sent off to Irish college. You’d be bawling going off on the train, and then bawling on the last night because you had to go home.”
The sisters have been in talks with Google about their digital output, are talking to Fáilte Ireland about making Ireland a dedicated fitness destination, and are also toying with the idea of running singles, LGBT or group events. In the midst of it all, the pair are still working out the intricacies not just of running a start-up but of working as siblings.
“Do I need to do it? No,” says Kathryn. “Is it something I enjoy? Yes. Is it a product I believe in? Oh God, 100 per cent.”
- Pure Results camps take place regularly until September in Parknasilla Resort, Kerry. For more information, see pureresultsbootcamp.com
NEW MINDSET: HOW PURE RESULTS WORKS
“Basically, it’s a summer camp for adults where you’ll get your ass kicked,” Kathryn smiles. “There’s about eight to 10 hours of exercise a day, including three to four hours of intense classes like boxing, circuits, cardio, TRX or aerobics. On the food front, it will be very similar to the detox programme in Spain, which means no wheat, no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol, no caffeine . . . no craic.”
Each participant’s timetable is tailored to suit their age, fitness levels and goals, but is designed to push people to their limits.
From 6am each day, participants can expect to get up close and personal with a number of new and varied disciplines.
The Pure Result “clean” menu is designed with moderation in mind, striking a balance between healthy and delicious. Think fish, stir fries, brown rice and plenty of green smoothies. “There are plenty of dishes on the menu, from chickpea frittatas and teriyaki salmon to porridge and scrambled eggs,” says Kathryn. “It’s not just lettuce leaves for an entire week.”
Come the evenings, Kathryn’s team aims to offer wellbeing coaching, mindfulness, motivational talks and even night kayaking. The aim is to equip guests with a new mindset that will last much longer than the bootcamp experience itself.
