How a cancer diagnosis inspired this business adviser to redefine success

Maureen O'Callaghan is on a mission to fundamentally change the way we think about business, placing wellbeing, ethics, and sustainability at the heart of what it means to be a successful entrepreneur in the 21st century.

As the founder of Beyond Money Education and Training CIC, she is walking the talk, trying to leave the world a better place for future generations.

From charity work to founding Beyond Money

Maureen’s path to founding Beyond Money has been shaped by her life experience, values, and a moment that changed everything.

After building a career working with organisations including Save the Children and the British Red Cross, using her entrepreneurial skills to address unmet needs at local, national, and international levels, Maureen faced a health crisis in her early 30s.

She elaborated:

"After getting cancer, I decided that if I was going to die, I wanted to leave the world better for me being in it for future generations."

Justice has always been one of her core character strengths, and she sees Beyond Money as her legacy, her way of handing the baton on to others while still playing an active role.

The truth about business

Having recently completed her PHD studying entrepreneurship, Maureen came to the realisation that business owners were being encouraged to go it alone without adequate preparation for the very real challenges they would face.  

She explained:

“I saw the unfairness in encouraging people to run their own business and then not adequately preparing them for the challenges of being an entrepreneur in the 21st century.

"I saw burnout. I also saw a general lack of awareness of the connection between the individual, their business, others, society, and the planet.”

Her research became the foundation of a pioneering training programme that doesn't just teach business skills, it helps entrepreneurs understand their place in a wider ecosystem, and their responsibility to it.

This is embodied in the name itself, Beyond Money.

“The name isn't a rejection of profit, far from it,” Maureen continued. “It's about expanding what success looks like and thinking about a different way of doing business, one that recognises the importance of the entrepreneur's health and wellbeing alongside business viability.”

Mindfulness informed

Maureen also holds an MSc in mindfulness-based approaches, which she integrates in her work with business owners, not as a wellbeing add-on, but as a serious tool for better decision-making.

She elaborated:

“For those who are sceptical, I take a thoughtful approach. I find out what they already know or think, address the misconceptions, share the science, and then tailor my response to their specific interests and concerns.

“I don't overwhelm them and I don't try to 'sell' mindfulness. The conversations might focus on avoiding burnout, improving performance, or enhancing collaboration, whatever's most relevant to them.”

Walk the talk

With Beyond Money, Maureen “walks the talk” when it comes to the business’s social impact.

Beyond Money Education and Training CIC provides subsidised training to disadvantaged communities, young people, women and girls, and the long-term unemployed.

Maureen said:

“This wasn’t an afterthought; it was essential. We're not asking people to do something we don't do ourselves.

“Regarding the provision for women and girls, there are 129 million girls globally not in school and millions living in poverty, and I believe that access to quality business education is itself a social justice issue. The work I do through Beyond Money is my response to that.”

Next steps

Maureen has recently been accepted as an Ambassador for Refirement, an organisation supporting and campaigning for the fair treatment of women over 50 in business. She has also joined the advisory board of the British Association of Mindfulness-based Approaches (BAMBA), with a focus on making access to its practitioner register more inclusive.

She pondered:

“Beyond that, I want to keep making sure that fairness runs through everything I do, from my research to the training I develop, my leadership, and my advocacy.”

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