Chad Gilmer, Founder & CEO of iPLANiT
Chad Gilmer is the Founder and CEO of iPLANiT, a specialist Web Development company that he established in 2000. After graduating from Trinity College in 1996 with a degree in Engineering and Mathematics, he has worked with bluechip Companies such as Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Kerry Group before setting up iPLANiT.
Chad is passionate about technology and customer service, and keeps himself up-to-date on technology by lecturing in the evenings on web development technologies and project management.
He has spoken at national Cloud events in Ireland and has been Showcased by Microsoft for the work on DynamicRouteMaps.com for Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Manx2.
In 2007 he founded Vazumo.com, an Irish Business Search Directory ranked No.2 in Ireland after the Yellow Pages.
“Failure is not a word I consider as a bad thing. You cannot fail at something unless you try it - if you believe nothing is impossible, you should never fail. You have just simply learned that a particular approach or path is not working for you, and you need to change it.”
Chad Gilmer
As a technology evangelist, he has been quoted in a number of Newspapers and Magazines, such as The Sunday Business Post, The Daily Mail, ComputerScope, PC Live, Business & Finance, BizPlus. And he also spoke at the Search Marketing World Expo representing vazumo.com as part of a panel with Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.
Chad was a founding member of Sportsdelta.com, delivering a high-end Sports Team tracking, cloud-based software. Chad’s passion is in delivering super high quality and leading-edge software solutions that are truly ahead of the game.
He has recently founded The Glasshouses, which provides high-quality Co-Working and Office spaces in South County Dublin. He is Chairman of DigitalHQ and is passionate about helping enhance Dun Laoghaire to be the ‘Palo Alto’ of Dublin and highlight Dun Laoghaire as truly one of the best places to work in Ireland.
Tell us about your current role and what you like about your career/role or areas of focus.
I’m currently managing director of iPLANiT and The Glasshouses. iPLANiT is a digital agency and web development company which was established in 2000. The Glasshouses is a high-quality co-working and serviced office business with spaces in Dun Laoghaire.
What I love most about what I do is the opportunity to work with so many different types of business and to be able to deliver high-quality websites that reflect how great these businesses are with a truly awesome design.
It’s the same with the co-working business in The Glasshouses. It’s the opportunity to interact with so many great business owners and have such a great community of like-minded business people.
What inspires you, motivates you, helps you to make each day count?
It sounds like a cliche, but I really do get excited every day by delivering high-quality and above-average service and design.
I truly believe that when you deliver things of beauty - people want to interact or engage with it, whether it’s an office or website. However, with an appreciation for beauty, it does mean I have to work harder for the finer things in my life.
So outside of Covid times, I am motivated each day to work harder as I do enjoy getting away and travelling to nice places and eating in nice restaurants. 😃
Outside of your professional work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Lately, like many of us locked up during Covid, I am taking to sea swimming. This is truly invigorating, and it has really given me a new appreciation for what we can do right here in Ireland.
I’m also very passionate about cycling, and I am involved with BMX racing in Ireland and have taken up road cycling only last year. This is a great way to clear the head at the weekend and just focus on what’s ahead of you on the open road.
In the same vein, I also really love getting away to ski, albeit this year has proven difficult.
What’s of real importance is trying to do as much as possible with my two children; however, this is proving more challenging as they become teenagers who want to do things themselves. Although they tend not to say “Nooo Dad” to a ski holiday.
When it comes to your life chosen career, is there a phrase, quote or saying that you really like?
“Just do it!”
What are you most proud of in your life?
I am most proud of my two children. Every day they make me happy, whether it’s a result in an exam, a drawing that my 16-year-old daughter produces or a gaming YouTube video that my 14-year-old son publishes. It’s just great to see how they are getting on with things, particularly in these current difficult times.
As teenagers, I really feel sorry for them that they cannot get out and about with their friends and just have fun. Of course, I still force them to give me hugs and a kiss good night every day - which I’m proud of.
I am also very proud of the new business, The Glasshouses, that I recently set up, starting with two new offices in Dun Laoghaire. These bring new life into the town in a small way, but it has had an impact, which makes me proud.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Well, considering I thought I knew everything when I was younger, I do wish I had predicted or trusted my gut that the internet would have been so ubiquitous.
I guess I always knew it was going to be as important as it is now - hence I continued with iPLANiT. In hindsight, there could’ve been other areas that I could have embraced in order to have had greater success.
I was continually finding it difficult to work with e-commerce payment gateway providers in the early days of the internet, and had I done more about it maybe we could’ve been there before Stripe.
But I have to say, looking back, I had a lot of good people around me (and still do), but taking all advice on board, I still believe going with your gut feel is the best approach.
Also, I believe it is important to know when something is not working and to ditch it early and either pivot or move on to something else.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles?
I am a fan of Elon Musk at the moment. I like his approach, determination and can-do attitude.
I like the fact that nothing is impossible for him, and this is something I believe in myself.
What drives or motivates you each day in a work environment?
It is really like another cliche, but it is actually making people happy and seeing new designs come to life or renovating an office and seeing something getting a new lease of life is what makes me really happy and motivates me to do more of it.
I am also motivated by the team I work with - both iPLANiT and The Glasshouses. Every day they go the extra mile for our customers Or members to make it that little bit better.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
As the managing director of a digital agency and our WiLDFiRE division promotes advertising on social media and other platforms, I would be expected to say that this future is strong and big for social media. However, on a personal note, I have disengaged from the likes of Facebook and Instagram. I think the situation we have all been put in by the Covid pandemic has made us all be more appreciative of more “real life” activities.
I have been irritated “in the past” (pre-COVID) when we were able to go to restaurants and would see groups of young people or even families with their heads on the phone on some sort of social media platform and not engaging with simple face to face conversation.
I do see a bigger uptake of platforms like WhatsApp as a communication and social media platform. I believe the future will be more focused on closed networks than open public networks that we see today.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I like WhatsApp because I actually have very poor mobile phone signals in my home, so I tend to use WhatsApp to call friends and family.
I also like the closed network approach and feel it is more private. I think we really only used Facebook in the past to make our friends jealous when on holidays, and it’s easy just to send a picture of your holiday to your friends on WhatsApp rather than posting it to people you really don’t know.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever been a mentor to anyone?
I’d like to think I mentor everybody I meet. My friends and colleagues would probably say I’m constantly “preaching”, but I’d like to think it’s “mentoring”. 😃
I also have very good people around me, whether that’s friends or family, who I talk openly with and get open answers from - which has really helped me over the years.
I truly believe it is very important for everyone to have good people around them that are like-minded and positive.
How do you network? What is your prefered way to network?
I currently attend the venture business network every Friday morning, which has been very good for my business over the years, and there is a great bunch of people in this group.
In the past, I would go to any relevant events for iPLANiT. I believe it’s very important to be open and approach others when networking and also to be approachable to others.
I am very involved with Dun Laoghaire town and the community, which has been a great network for the business and a pleasure to be involved with so many great business people.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work?
The best advice I can give to anyone going into any business would be to give 110% in everything they do.
As I say to kids, even if it’s a job packing bags in supermarkets, if they go the extra mile and are seen to do it consistently, they’ll soon be the store manager, and ultimately they will be the types of people who will end up owning the store or a chain of stores.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I guess some people do feel they have to give up on things. I actually do not like or use the term ‘giving up’ as it may be considered just a change of direction or trying something new.
As I said earlier, it’s very important to know when something is not working and move on to something that is, or can, work for you more successfully.
Also, ‘failure’ is not a word I consider as a bad thing. You cannot fail at something unless you try it, and as I mentioned before, if you believe nothing is impossible, you should never fail. Determination can make it happen if you believe it will be a success.
You have just simply learned that a particular approach or path is not working for you, and you need to change it.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience?
This is a really tricky one for me, to be honest.
I have always said that I am happiest being discontent. That contentment is stagnation. What I mean by this is that I always want more or to move forward or for things to be that little bit better.
With this philosophy, it’s hard to know when you have found success. For me, the fun and excitement is always moving forward.
What skills do you feel have helped you to become successful?
Confidence in yourself.
To grab every opportunity with both hands.
To be positive. Avoid negativity.
Also, as I say to my kids, study hard and always be learning.