Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed | Her Sport

Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed | Her Sport

UCD commerce graduates Niamh Tallon and Mohammed Mahomed founded the social enterprise Her Sport in 2020. They are on a mission to tackle the systemic barriers that discourage women and girls from participating in sport, and to create a world where every girl knows she belongs in sport.

Sport was always a positive force in Niamh’s life since childhood, and something that shaped her, she says. In college, she began to notice how many of her friends had dropped out of sport. This was reflective of a broader societal trend, and as she explored the issue more deeply, the idea for Her Sport emerged:

“I started considering how we’re marketing and advertising sport, health and fitness to women. Sports brands portray this picture-perfect world where women who are exercising never have a hair out of place, they’re never red-faced – and the sports that I came from certainly didn’t look like that. But women are made to feel like they should look like they’ve just walked off a catwalk and straight into the gym. It’s not inclusive or reflective of reality.

“There are a number of pieces to the puzzle as to why we are where we are when it comes to gender equality in sport, and I had a few ideas I wanted to explore. I’d done the Masters in Digital Marketing in Smurfit [Business School] and Mohammed had done the Masters in Accounting and was working in KPMG. We started Her Sport as a project initially, and were trying to keep it ticking along while we were in full-time employment, but we could see the potential to turn it into a commercially viable business.”

Creating culture change

Five years on, Her Sport is the leading voice for women’s sport in Ireland. The organisation’s dynamic digital media platform champions female athletes and shares their stories of triumph and challenge. Education and advocacy are also critical components of the team’s work. Last year they were invited to submit recommendations to government for inclusivity in sport, and meeting TDs and speaking in the Oireachtas is all in a day’s work for Niamh and Mohammed as they create real systemic change by influencing national policy. They also deliver workshops in schools, clubs and businesses to educate parents, teachers and coaches, not only about the barriers that girls and women face, but also about the many opportunities that are available in sport, from playing or coaching to developing tech wearables.

With Lidl recently signed as title sponsor for the annual Her Sport Awards ceremony – held for the past 4 years in UCD Astra Hall – and the launch of Her Sport Foundation in 2024 to support the development of the educational side of the business, it all adds up to an impressive list of achievements in a relatively short space of time. Mohammed reflects on the journey so far:

“I think if you told me in 2015 when I graduated that I’d be running my own business in 5 years’ time I would have thought you were crazy, because I took the common route for a lot of people – going into KPMG and doing accountancy. It was never a burning ambition of mine to run my own business and be an entrepreneur per se. But I saw the impact that we were having with Her Sport, as well as the commercial value, and went for it. When I was younger I didn’t know what a social enterprise was – that it’s possible to be commercially sustainable and create a social impact.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is leading the cultural change to make sport inclusive, so that women’s sport gets the same level of attention as men’s sport, and boys and girls can grow up with equal opportunities to thrive in sport. Her Sport exists because there is inequality in sport. Ultimately our goal is to continue to make an impact until Her Sport doesn’t need to exist anymore.”

Learning by degrees

Looking back on their time in UCD, Niamh and Mohammed appreciate the formative experiences, the learning, and the friendships and connections that gave them a strong foundation for success. They remain connected to their alma mater and acknowledge the great support they’ve received from Maeve Houlihan, Associate Dean of Quinn School of Business, and others involved in both sports and academics across the university.

Unsurprisingly, Niamh was actively involved in a number of sports clubs as a student. She also developed skills that serve her well in the world of work:

“I don’t think I realised at the time what I was learning. I felt like I’d learnt a little bit about a lot of things but I wasn’t an expert in anything specific. I was pleasantly surprised a couple of years later to discover that we had actually gained skills and knowledge in our academic studies that we were applying in the business. The investigative skills, the ability to figure things out and make well-educated decisions, the confidence to stand up and give a presentation in front of 40 or 60 people – we learned those skills during the degree. 

Doing commerce, you can be sitting in a lecture hall with 600 people. Being involved in sports on campus helped me to meet people and make friends within a smaller space. I was involved in swimming, rowing and athletics, and sport definitely helped me to integrate into the UCD community.”

For Mohammed, the personal connections were as important as the academic learning:

“Commerce is a huge course, but the connections that you make and the people that you meet are important. That bond is very strong. We’ve definitely come across people who weren’t in our year but who did commerce in UCD as well. It’s a common denominator that allows people to warm up to you a little bit more, even if they graduated in 1980 and we graduated in 2015.”  

A word to the wise

We asked Niamh and Mohammed what advice they would give to current students and recent graduates who are trying to figure out their own career paths.

“If you don’t put yourself forward you’ll miss out on opportunities,” says Niamh. “Whether it’s an internship or a job application, put yourself forward. Even if you don’t want the job, go and do the interview because you’ll learn something in every interview that you do. You learn that through sport as well – you’ll lose a lot more races or matches than you’ll ever win, but you have to be in it to win it in the first place.”

And for those who are unsure about their future, Mohammed has this reassuring advice:

“It’s ok to not know what you want to do. I know people who did commerce, qualified as accountants, went to the Big 4, and then decided they didn’t want to do accountancy anymore. They’re now yoga teachers, primary school teachers, people who’ve started their own businesses. Through our line of work we’ve met people who started their own business at 45, 50, 60. It’s ok to not know what you want to do and it’s ok to try things and figure out what you enjoy. The linear path of going into one career and staying in one career is not the norm anymore.

“So when we talk about a career, it doesn’t have to be one thing only. You can be an accountant and you can be a graphic designer at the same time or you can do both in the same lifetime. There’s so much opportunity and who knows what the future holds.”  

Her Sport was awarded a place on the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) Changing Ireland Accelerator Programme in 2023