Video QA with Nicole Dunphy, founder of Pandora Bell

Video QA with Nicole Dunphy, founder of Pandora Bell Video QA with Nicole Dunphy, founder of Pandora Bell Image Source: Nicole Dunphy / Pandora BellNICOLE  Dunphy founded the specialty confectionery company Pandora Bell in Limerick in 2009. It was a brave move to take at the time for someone with a degree in English and History of Art, and only a brief career in media. But inspired by her  early childhood memories of her father’s art dealership, and her grandmother, who ran her own business in Cork city, it was perhaps inevitable that Nicole Dunphy would end up running her own company.Pandora Bell’s starting point is the principle that the best confection is life’s most delectable pleasure. So it is, through using only the purest ingredients in its ranges of lollipops, jellies, nougats and other confectionery, that this small, artisan craft operation has ended up being stocked in some of the most prestigious foodhalls in Europe.What Nicole offers with her business  is more an experience than a commercial transactionâ€"a  child’s eye view evocation of a traditional sweet shop, as seen through the eyes of Pandora Bell, a 1930s girl from the Georgian City of Limerick on the banks of the Shannon in the Irish Mid-West. Nicole discovered the diary of Pandora Bell in her father’s Limerick antique shop many years later.The detailed journal documented Pandora’s experiences as she travelled Ireland and also took the Grand Tour of Europe on a steam train. The observations and vivid sensations of her diary were the spark for Nicole’s vision of fine food confectionery, which reflects not only the best Irish and European traditions,  but is sustainable and health conscious too.Nicole has won  Image Business Woman of the Year and the  company taken highly coveted honours  from   Blas nÉireann, and  The Bridgestone Guide;  garnered accolades in the likes of  Vogue,  Taste Berlin, and  Food Wine Magazine; and forged associations with Fortnum Mason; Dolce Gabbana; and Vivienne Westwood.  Among the company’s recent triumphs were taking two stars at Great Taste Lon don 2016 in London for its Honey Nougat  with Almond Pistachio, and winning a SIAL Shanghai Innovation Award.Nicole  spoke to AGENT and gave us an insight into life at the helm of her own growing business. She discusses her motivations, her personal and business inspirations, and the key experience and wisdom that she would  pass on to a young entrepreneur starting out in business today.Image Source: AGENT on YouTubeImage Source:  Nicole Dunphy, pandora bell