The egret soaring in my website header is a photo I took in Bali on our honeymoon back in 2010. There's a village called Petulu with a couple of massive trees which are home to about 5,000 of these huge white birds, and seeing them all converge to roost was a magical experience. The image always reminds me of a happy place and evokes feelings in me of freedom and the potential to go anywhere and do anything. This is something I try to inspire and bring out in all my dealings with people, be that teaching, coaching, mentoring or even in my photographic work. Anyone can do anything - you are your own biggest limitation - the sky really is the limit!
Home is in Lucan, where I live with Penny, my beautiful South African wife, and Danny and April who are turning 8 & 7 this month (April 2019), so the house is always busy! When I'm not on the school run, picking up lego or refereeing the littles, I currently wear a number of professional hats, having consciously opted into a portfolio career soon after completing my MBA.
Head of Learning & Development with Dublin based project consultancy The Project Foundry - here's one of my outlets into keeping my feet in the real world of business, offering project & programme consulting, as well as management coaching and mentoring. The website is at www.theprojectfoundry.com .
Associate with 2into3, a consultancy aimed at the non-profit sector. Here I offer Risk training and organisational evaluations to help non-profits set themselves and their staff up to manage risks effectively. Their website is at www.2into3
Managing Director of Houghton Consulting. I have a few clients who I have worked with for years who I consult with on various areas of management and risk. The website is at www.houghton.consulting - but I'm always interested in new opportunities, so do reach out if I might be able to help you or someone you know!
Owner - Houghton Photography. My creative outlet is photography, and as with all my other pursuits, teaching this wonderful and accessible craft is something I just end up doing naturally. I offer personal 1-1 tuition, longer-term mentoring/development, workshops to businesses wanting to up their own photography game, and talks to camera clubs. I've also dipped my toe into creating some online video classes around developing photos using Lightroom, and I continue to explore and develop my own skills in this endlessly challenging craft. My training website is at www.houghtonphoto.com and my Instagram feed is at www.instagram/com/totpics, where I post mainly black and white street photos shot with my beautiful little Fuji X100s.
As you can see from my timeline below, 2000 and moving to Ireland from the UK was a major change in my life, moving from a career working my way into more senior roles in various multi-national corporations after training as a computer programmer and analyst with the Co-op and Littlewoods in the UK. I followed that with 4 years working as a self-employed systems developer, before joining Dearborn Chemicals in 1992, who was snapped up by WR Grace, who was in turn bought by BetzDearborn and eventually they were bought by General Electric. But after 10 years of flying somewhere different in the world almost every week, when I moved to Ireland, I did the International Executive MBA in Smurfit to "plug in" to the Irish network, loved it there, and following Charles Handy's lead in his wonderful book "The Empty Raincoat". I decided to chunk my life and go for a portfolio career where I could have time at home with Penny & the children, as well as work with interesting and challenging people, and with charities such as Pieta House which are important to me.
