My Commute: The Rolling Donut founder Lisa Quinlan on her daily routine

"I always try and arrange meetings for 10 onwards because I would get stuck in mad traffic otherwise"

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Christopher JonesCreative Content Writer

07:00, 20 JAN 2020

Lisa Quinlan in the Rolling Donut shop on South King Street (Image: The Rolling Donut)

Lisa Quinlan is the owner of The Rolling Donut, which was started by her father Michael in 1978, as well as Wildflower Café in Ratoath. She tells us about her usual drive from her Cherrywood home to the office in west Dublin.

Tell me about your usual journey to work

When I started working for myself I did lots of early commutes, and one of my goals was to not be in rush hour traffic. I feel like I've finally got to that stage and I do my best to avoid rush hour.

I live in Cherrywood and I'm not fixed - our shops are all over Dublin, Kildare and Meath - but generally I'm on the road by 10. I answer all my emails from home in the morning - I have an office there - and then I go to the office in the Western Industrial Estate off the Naas Road or one of the shops, depending on what's going on.

I always try and arrange meetings for 10 onwards because I would get stuck in mad traffic if I was to go in any earlier than that.

Lisa normally drives from Cherrywood to Western Industrial Estate via the M50 (Image: Google Maps)

How do you pass the time?

I do a lot of meditating so I listen to a lot of Insight Timer, which is kind of like a Headspace app - I feel like I outgrew Headspace. If I'm stressed I'd probably chill out and listen to that.

I also listen to Joanne Larby, she's brilliant. Her podcast is The Other Side Of Perfect - really good motivational stuff. And I'm really proud of myself, I've signed up for the One Year No Beer thing. It's only a 90-day challenge but I'm going to see how I feel after 90 days and [maybe] cut the alcohol for a year. They have amazing talks - kick-starting, motivational speeches.

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If I need to pump it up I'd listen to some dance music, electronic or I'm a big fan of 80s as well. I love New Jackson and Bicep, and from the 80s anything from Hall & Oates to Kool & The Gang and The Human League.

Do you eat or drink in the car?

Yeah, I have my extra large water bottle that I carry with me all the time to make sure that I drink enough water, and my little keep cup for tea. I try not to eat in the car because I'd absolutely wreck it.

What's the best commute you have ever had? And the worst?

When I was 19 or 20 I used to have to commute to Coca-Cola, which was beside where our office is now on the Long Mile Road. It was before the M50 came out to Cherrywood so I used to have to drive up the Dublin mountains and sneakily get on the M50 at Sandyford - it used to take me nearly two hours to get to work in the morning. I've always had the car, I've never had to use public transport much.

The other big one was when I opened up the café in Ratoath. It was quicker - it only took me half an hour - but it was 50km each way. But I got used to always being in the car - it's my little office and where I get most of my creativity and ideas.