Entrepreneur and Artist MJ, founder of the business Mad Jessie, two time winner of the Network Ireland Waterford businesswoman of the year award, and finalist in the 2021 National awards, lives on a boat in County Waterford.


After suffering herniated discs MJ spent two years bed bound, filling countless sketchbooks for her sanity with quirky illustrations, characters, animals and hand-drawn desi
gns. She started to get her designs printed onto fabric, and the business Mad Jessie came into being, and began to grow alongside MJ’s recovery. In Ireland. And she discovered that she just couldn't afford to rent unless she moved into shared accommodation.


So MJ came up with a mad idea. Why not live on a boat off the coast of Ireland? So she found an old sad abandoned sailboat, and as covid hit, she began to spend time restoring it and making it habitable. She has now been living aboard in the county for over two years, and the inspiration for so many of her designs is the water and the world that surrounds her.


Her Sustainable Snuzzles (aka multi-use tube scarves) are hand drawn and designed, and many of them reflect her surroundings, her neighbours the swans, otters, egrets and cormorants, and are made from recycled plastic bottles diverted from the sea. She spent time in Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School with the TY class working with them to design a Snuzzle in aid of the Waterford City River Rescue, and the final design includes artwork from each and every student who participated in the workshop.


Sustainability is at the heart of MJ’s life. Living on a boat means living more simply and often living without, and it is this simplicity and love for the outdoors she brings to her products.


To learn more go to www.madjessie.com or follow MJ's adventures on instagram (m.a.d.jessie) or facebook (madjessiemad4fun).
