Award-winning stylist and fashion broadcaster Emily O’Donnell reflects on the hard work, persistence, and passion that shaped her path in fashion and Irish television.
By Peace Okolo
When Emily O’Donnell was announced as Best Celebrity Stylist at the Gossies 2026 award show, her reaction was anything but rehearsed.
“I was genuinely speechless,” she said. “I rarely am.”
For someone who has spent over a decade in front of the camera, that moment was refreshingly human.
“I think this award meant so much because it was unexpected,” she said.
“I was just really grateful to win it and to stand there on the stage in the RDS is just a moment I’ll never forget.”
This was an unfiltered moment in a career that mostly looks effortless from the outside, but is built on years of uncertainty, persistence, and behind-the-scenes work that most people never see.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she said.
Now a familiar face on Irish television, Emily’s journey did not start in front of the camera, but in lecture halls and corporate offices.
“I started off doing a business degree and then a master’s in PR,” she said.
“But even then, I always gravitated towards fashion, but I didn’t know how to turn that into a career at the time.”
Armed with a business degree and a master’s degree in public relations, she initially followed what she describes as the “predictable” route into corporate PR.
But it didn’t take long for her to realize it wasn’t where she belonged.
“I was using the degree and the master’s that I had, you know, worked really hard for, but I just felt I wasn’t creatively fulfilled,” she said.
“I didn’t want to spend the next 40 years of my life staring at a computer.”
This realisation marked a turning point in her career, where she decided to explore styling, a role that wasn’t widely understood in Ireland at the time.
“At that stage, people didn’t really know what a stylist was,” she said. “This was many years ago in Ireland, where there wasn’t as much opportunity in the creative fields for women to a certain extent.”
Emily’s early career was defined by taking every opportunity she could find.
From writing for emerging online fashion platforms to working behind the scenes on shoots, she slowly combined her interests in fashion, media, and storytelling.
Instead of waiting for the perfect opportunity, she started where she could – assisting stylists, taking courses, and saying yes to anything that gave her experience.
“I don’t know anyone who works in television who just walked in and sat down on the stool or the couch and started presenting at, like, top level,” she said.
“Everyone has made coffee, carried equipment, or assisted in shoots. You learn every part of the business from the ground up.”
Then came the opportunity that would eventually change everything.
Emily got a call from a producer and was asked to take part in a television pilot, to which she said yes, even though she wasn’t fully sure what to expect.
“It was a pilot show for RTE about a cultural exchange between two generations. That show ended up winning an IFTA (Irish Film & Television Award) in 2008 for Best Reality Program,” she said.
“That’s when a producer told me I had the ‘gift of the gab’,” she said.
“But she said, to become a presenter, you need to be a presenter of something.”
For her, that “something” was always going to be fashion.
What followed was another pivot in her journey. She went back to education, this time to study television production and presentation, while friends around her settled into more traditional life paths.
“At the time, I was wondering, is this ever going to pay off?” she said.
“But now that I look back, I feel I was being guided in the right direction all the time, even though it was a longer road, it was the road to where I was meant to be.”
That moment marked the beginning of her transition into live television and broadcasting.
After completing professional training in TV production and presentation, Emily began combining freelance styling with media work, eventually landing a role on a regional TV show that would run weekly for over two years.
“I got a call from someone in the business about a new station called Irish TV. They were looking for presenters and asked if I could meet them at Johnny Fox’s,” she said.
“Now, my mom, I think, thought I was on my way to get murdered at this point.”
But determined to chase her passion, she went anyway.
Paired with a cameraman and director, she was tasked with producing and presenting a pilot about County Wicklow.
“They basically said, if the pilot is good, you’ve got the gig. If not, that’s it.”
The pilot was a huge success.
“For the next two and a half years, we had a weekly show at seven o’clock every Sunday,” she said.
“That was the moment I realized I could actually do this full time.”
She created, produced, and presented “The Hat Show Fashion Series” and co-produced “Wicklow County Matters,” both of which aired on Sky Channel 191 from 2014-2017.
The Hat show series was so well-received that the Irish Times named it one of their Top TV Shows of the Year in 2016.
Emily’s persistence eventually paid off when she secured another role as a Fashion Broadcaster with Virgin Media Television, a milestone she had been working towards for years.
“I had sent in so many showreels before that,” she laughed. “Some of them were so bad. But I was determined.”
Throughout her career, Emily has remained a strong advocate for Irish designers by using her platform to spotlight emerging talent.
“Some designers don’t get seen unless someone gives them that opportunity,” she said.
“One post or one TV feature can completely change their career.”
She recalls working with a Ukrainian designer whose work gained major attention after being featured on television.
“Her bags ended up in Vogue,” she said. “That’s the impact visibility can have.”
“Any time I get the chance to help or promote an Irish brand, I always try to do it because I want to give something back and help, particularly women in the fashion industry.”
While her job may appear glamorous on screen, Emily highlighted the realities behind working in the industry, particularly its instability.
“It’s not a career where you just walk into a permanent job,” she said. “You have to be comfortable with uncertainty.”
She talked about one of the most challenging periods of her career during the COVID-19 pandemic, when retailers were closed and productions halted, forcing her to adapt quickly.
“I would say that was the most terrifying time because before that, I felt I was sort of getting to the peak of my career, and things were so busy, and for all that work to just drop off was terrifying and challenging,” she said.
For those hoping to follow a similar path, Emily’s advice is simple: be patient, consistent, and self-aware.
“Every single thing you do leads to the next thing,” she said. “Even the small opportunities matter.”
She also stresses the importance of self-promotion: “If people don’t know what you can do, they can’t give you opportunities,” she said.
“Blow your own trumpet, essentially.”
Looking back, Emily sees her journey not as a linear path, but as a series of stepping stones that led her exactly where she needed to be.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she said. “But if you keep going, you’ll get there.”
More than a decade into her career, Emily O’Donnell’s journey is still evolving, but if there’s one thing her story makes clear, it’s that success in creative industries rarely happens overnight.
Instead, it’s built in layers; through resilience, perseverance, and the willingness to keep going, even when the path isn’t clear.
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