Every week Brazen will shine a spotlight on someone by asking them a set of questions.
Those questions are
1) What are 3 things people don’t know about you?
2) How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
3) If you had to start your adult life over again, what would you change?
4) What’s the single best thing that has ever happened to you?
5) What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
Our second brazen spotlight is on Brazen co-founder Lou O’Reilly. Lou’s LinkedIn bio says:
By day I run a PR firm – Draper Cormack Group based in Wellington on The Terrace, and by night (and very early mornings) I’m a personal trainer and food coach helping people to get off the couch and eat well so they can live healthier for longer. That new-ish business is called “Sweaty Pals” and if you need help or motivation in the exercise and fitness space, I’m the right person to get in touch with.

1) What are 3 things people don’t know about you?
I wanted to be a dietitian when I was younger. It was my absolute dream. But then I lost my way with school, dropped out at 16, and missed the boat. I’m a personal trainer and nutrition coach as one of my jobs now, but it’s not the same. Helping heal sick people with food would be an amazing thing to do.
My dog potentially saved my life! When I was 18, I was about to be car jacked by two people, until they saw my dog (staffy/pitbull) asleep on the passenger seat. She woke up, saw these two unsavoury people, and barked with her best menacing grade 5 bark, and the people dropped their weapons and ran away. The police were amused.
I lived next door to a chapter of a well-known gang who were the sweetest, most protective group of people you would ever meet. They looked after the neighbourhood kids, helped our elderly neighbours with their housework, and I’ve never felt safer living alone.
2) How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
Eyes on the prize. So the prize has to be good otherwise nothing gets done.
3) If you had to start your adult life over again, what would you change?
At 22 I had a clear opportunity to travel with my friends, but a boy stopped me. Another opportunity came up again at 24 and a different boy stopped me. If I could go back to that time, I would not have allowed men to control my opportunities.
4) What’s the single best thing that has ever happened to you?
It might be a cliche, but having my children is the best thing to happen to me hands down. Largely because most doctors said that it wouldn’t be possible, and that I’d need interventions when I didn’t at all, but also, despite how hard being a parent is, when you get it right for once, instead of screwing it all up – and let’s face it, most of us are screwing it up – the reward is unlike anything else.
5) What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
If I were truly free, I’d go to university as a 40 year old and get that damned degree in dietetics.