Feeding Johnny

Colm O'Brien's story could be your story. He started out sorting cutlery at Clerys Rooftop Restaurant in Dublin. Now he owns Carambola Kidz. Founded in 2003, the company had a turnover of GBP5 million in 2014 and now delivers more than 20,000 healthy lunches daily to schoolchildren across Ireland. In Feeding Johnny, O'Brien tells the story of his journey from polishing forks to running his own company. He offers lessons on how you too can build your own business and achieve your dreams, despite the inevitable roadblocks. This is not the story of one of the charmed few, one of those high-flying billionaires who make success look easy. This is the story of a kid from Dublin's Northside who sweated his way up the career ladder to a job managing Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street before deciding he didn't want to be an employee for the rest of his life, working weekends and holidays. O'Brien's first attempt at building his own business did not go well. He bought a Bewley's franchise in Limerick, which was eaten by the Celtic Tiger, leaving him with massive debts. But he refused to give up. Instead, he started Carambola Kidz with an order for twenty-seven lunches, and woke each morning before dawn to make the rounds in his old delivery van, feeding 'Johnny'.