Helen McNulty’s GRIT helps businesses sharpen their marketing through storytelling, strategy audits and customer insight after ACORNS support.
A freelance digital marketer, marketing and branding trainer, artist, storyteller and performer, Helen had spent more than 25 years working across marketing and the arts before bringing those strands together in one business.
GRIT is a marketing and story consultancy that helps businesses analyse and audit their marketing, their message and their customers’ response to it. It then reshapes the story, structure and channels so businesses can communicate more clearly in a changing world.
“A major milestone was being found by an ideal client through GRIT’s own website, proving the company’s positioning and digital marketing were working”
McNulty is a graduate of the ACORNS rural women entrepreneurship programme. Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, ACORNS supports women entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland through peer learning, mentoring and round table sessions led by experienced business owners.
The latest programme results show that the combined annual turnover of the 53 participants on ACORNS 11 increased from €4.1 million to almost €6 million during the six-month programme, generating 60 jobs. Nine entrepreneurs began trading for the first time during their participation, while four businesses became exporters.
Pearls of wisdom
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is Helen McNulty’s business? | Helen McNulty founded GRIT, a marketing and story consultancy that helps businesses improve marketing, messaging and customer engagement. |
| Where is GRIT based? | GRIT was established in Glendalough, Co Wicklow, near Clara Vale, in February 2024. |
| What services does GRIT provide? | The business offers marketing audits, branding strategy, storytelling, rebranding, website projects, naming work, training and communications consulting. |
| What is the main purpose of GRIT? | GRIT helps organisations analyse their marketing, refine their messaging and communicate more effectively with customers. |
| What inspired the creation of GRIT? | Helen McNulty saw businesses investing heavily in marketing tools without fully understanding their audiences and wanted to promote customer-focused communication. |
| What does the name GRIT represent? | The name is inspired by the idea that grit in an oyster creates a pearl, symbolising resilience and clarity emerging from challenges. |
| What is ACORNS? | ACORNS is a rural women entrepreneurship programme funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine that provides mentoring, peer learning and business support. |
| How did ACORNS help Helen McNulty? | The programme provided accountability, peer support and time to develop a clearer website and six-month business plan for GRIT. |
| What were the results of the latest ACORNS programme? | Participants increased combined turnover from €4.1m to almost €6m, created 60 jobs, launched nine new trading businesses and produced four new exporters. |
| What milestones has GRIT achieved? | In its first year, the consultancy secured rebranding, training and strategy projects and attracted an ideal client through its own website. |
| What major project is GRIT currently working on? | The consultancy is leading the full marketing and branding strategy for a new Dublin museum due to open later in the year. |
| What are Helen McNulty’s future plans? | Plans include expanding GRIT’s audit services and launching a storytelling and poetry publication called A Whirly Drift. |
| What marketing philosophy does Helen McNulty promote? | An audience-first approach that prioritises customer understanding, storytelling and community engagement over simply using marketing tools. |
| Why is this story relevant to entrepreneurs? | It highlights how strategic branding, storytelling, customer insight and entrepreneurship support programmes can help businesses grow. |
| What sectors does GRIT support? | The consultancy works with organisations requiring marketing strategy, branding, communications, website development and customer engagement support. |
Helen was prompted to set up GRIT after seeing businesses spend heavily on marketing strategies that understood the tools, but not always the audience. As a storyteller and performer, she is audience-first, and wanted to help businesses co-create with their communities and make their language more accessible.
The name grew from the idea that the grit in the oyster makes the pearl, reflecting Helen’s belief that resilience and clarity can emerge from challenge.
In its first year, GRIT worked on rebrands, website projects, naming work, Irish-language translation and training, and projects relating to Enterprise Ireland programmes. Helen now offers strategy audits, workshops and larger aligned projects, including the full marketing and branding strategy for a new Dublin museum opening later this year.
“A major milestone was being found by an ideal client through GRIT’s own website, proving the company’s positioning and digital marketing were working.
“ACORNS gave me peer support, accountability and the space to treat GRIT as my own client. During the programme, I completed a clearer website and six-month plan.”
Her future plans include growing GRIT’s audit offering and launching a story and poetry letter called A Whirly Drift, which will offer readers a slower, more considered space to think, create and stay connected to what makes them human in an increasingly fast-moving world.
Do you have what it takes to join ACORNS?
Applications have opened for ACORNS 12, the next phase of the programme for early-stage female business founders.
Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, ACORNS supports women entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland through peer learning, mentoring and round table sessions led by experienced business owners.
The latest programme results show that the combined annual turnover of the 53 participants on ACORNS 11 increased from €4.1 million to almost €6 million during the six-month programme. Nine entrepreneurs began trading for the first time during their participation, while four businesses became exporters.
ACORNS 12 will run from October 2026 to April 2027 and is open to early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland who have generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2023. Up to 50 places are available. Participation is free of charge, supported by funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the voluntary contribution of Lead Entrepreneurs from across rural Ireland.
This year’s Lead Entrepreneurs include Alison Ritchie of Polar Ice, Geraldine Jones of Skin Formulas, Karen Kerrigan of Kerrigan’s Mushrooms, Larissa Feeney of Kinore, Mary B Walsh of Ire Wel Pallets, Orla Leahy of Ireland Chauffeur Travel and Triona MacGiolla Rí of Aró Digital Strategies.
Applications for ACORNS 12 will remain open until midnight on September 18. To apply, click here
Eligibility Criteria for participation on ACORNS
To be considered for ACORNS, applicants must:
- Have set up a new business which has generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2023 or be actively planning a new venture and have made good progress towards getting the new venture off the ground. Indicators of actively planning a business would include organising the start-up team, sourcing equipment / facilities, money saved for the start-up, writing the business plan, etc.
- They must own or part-own the business and be living in a rural area, that is in an area outside the administrative city boundaries of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
- If selected, applicants must be available to attend the launch Forum and first round table session on October 19 and 20, 2026.
- They must expect to become an employer within three years.
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