Rowan Beg Design Studios is a small family run business based on the edge of Connemara. The idea for this business was thought up by Nicola McGuinness. Nicola’s first love has always been Art and Design and she studied Graphic Design in college. But as so often happens in life, she ended up working in corporate finance for 14 years while raising her son in New York.
Then a few years ago, she and her family got the opportunity to return home to Connemara and took it with both hands. Not only was this a chance to return to her childhood home. It was a chance to completely change paths and make her passion for design her new way of life. And that is exactly what she did. Her husband set to work building her a studio in the back garden of the house she grew up in (and now raises her own children in), while she took over the family kitchen for six months creating scents and testing candles.
Everything in Nicola’s life is somehow connected to the place she grew up in and the name of the business would be no different. Rowan Beg House is her home so it was only fitting that Rowan Beg Design Studios would be the name of her business. She now spends each day in the garden studio creating and designing with the whole family. Her Dad helps her pour the candles, her Mum does the labelling, her husband packs all the orders and her sister is her insta genie.
From humble beginnings in the kitchen in 2016 this little business has come a long way. Rowan Beg currently has two very different soy wax candle collections. The Classic Collection has all the scents of home, while the Urban Collection is fun and current made from concrete containers with different exciting scent combinations
What’s next for Rowan beg design studios?
As the business grows, so do the possibilities. The concrete candle line took the Irish market by storm, and have been so incredibly successful Nicola decided to expand her love of concrete by designing a new concrete home wares line. These products will bring something completely new and exciting to the marketplace.
But some things will always stay the same no matter how much the business grows. Every product is designed and hand crafted by Nicola and the team in the garden studio in Connemara.
Nicola, with the help and support of her family and friends, overcame adversity as a young adult with a small baby. It was a very difficult time but it helped mould her into the strong independent business woman she has become. In honour of those who helped her, Nicola has now vowed to help others in similar situations. A portion of every website sale will go to helping women overcome adversity. Keep an eye on our social media for further details.
