Brewing business success: Double celebration for entrepreneur Evelyne as she graduates from UL

Having just marked a milestone six months in business, Evelyne Mancassola, owner of local coffee spot The Poppy Cup, is celebrating again this week after graduating from University of Limerick.

Evelyne, 22, from West Limerick, graduated from the BA International Business at Kemmy Business School, joining over 3,600 students being conferred as part of UL’s autumn ceremonies.

Graduating with first class honours from UL was no mean feat for Evelyne, who launched her first business during her final year of college. The daughter of Luigi and Helen, well-known names in the industry, Evelyne grew up immersed in the world of hospitality and always dreamed of opening her own place.

“I’ve been around hospitality, from food to customer service, all my life – I’ve seen it all,” she explains.

At 16, Evelyne went to work in her parents’ coffee shop, Stacpoole Coffee House, where she learned the day-to-day of running a successful business. Six years later, when she was notified of a unit for lease in Adare, expertise met opportunity, and she knew the moment was right to make her dream a reality.

“Because it was October of my final year, it was bad timing – but the perfect opportunity … I was like, ‘I’ll just go for it – what’s the worst that can happen?’”

“I had the experience; I know exactly how to run a place. My parents were like my eyes and ears; they really helped me, and I've seen what they've done the last six years. And their place was so much bigger – I knew I could run a little coffee shop.”

With the support of her parents, Evelyne signed the lease and leapt into action. Receiving the keys in January was a stroke of luck – with a five-week break until the next semester of college, she had just over a month to get her business off the ground.

“I utilised that five weeks!” says Evelyne, who named her dog-friendly café after Poppy, one of her two beloved pets.

The Poppy Cup was fitted and furnished in January, and Evelyne – its sole owner and CEO – put her college learnings into practice as she developed everything from branding to marketing strategies.

Evelyne designed her logo and applied it to The Poppy Cup’s signature baby-pink cups to match the bright interiors of the café. With her menu already chosen (“I knew exactly what I wanted – a couple of breakfast items, sandwiches, sourdough toasties and bagels”), the next step was to meet with food and coffee suppliers to bring her vision for the catering to life.

Incorporating sustainability into the business was a key consideration for Evelyne, who says it was a core competency of her college modules.

“In today's world, sustainability is everything when it comes to setting up a business. I knew I had to lead through sustainability from start to finish, through my product and my service,” she says.

“I went with Green Ocean Coffee because of its sustainability. Oysters are a natural purifier of the ocean floor, and [the producers] reintroduced oysters into the seabed up in Dublin. For every kilogram of coffee I buy, they restore one square metre of seagrass bed. So, even getting a coffee that makes a difference but also tastes great was really important for me.”

The same thought extends to Evelyne’s packaging: her signature pink cups, from Cork-based supplier Down to Earth Materials, are fully recyclable; while she has also introduced a line of keep-cups to encourage customers to make more sustainable choices.

For Evelyne, who was always set on studying International Business at UL, the knowledge she garnered from her degree has been invaluable in establishing and running The Poppy Cup. From creating an entire marketing campaign in her Marketing Leadership module (“it was like a real-life simulator, I learned so much about how to run campaigns for my own business”) to learning how to strategically position a business in the market in her Brand Management classes, her curriculum has informed her every step as an entrepreneur. 

While final year may have been challenging in terms of balancing her studies with The Poppy Cup, Evelyne enjoyed every minute of her time at UL. Having started college during the pandemic, she enjoyed the connection and cameraderie she experienced during her study abroad in Jönköping University in Sweden, in third year. As well as experiencing all that the University’s International Business School had to offer, Evelyne embraced the opportunity to experience Swedish culture, along with trips to Lapland, Copenhagen and Finland.

For her co-op, Evelyne opted for a placement in Luxembourg, where she interned as a client accountant with the Maples Group. Joined by many of her classmates in “the hub for financial services”, this experience is among her favourites from her time at UL.

Evelyne says she will always be grateful for the opportunities given to her as a KBS student – something which she is keen to pass on to the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs: “I’ve told people: ‘if you’re doing business, go to Kemmy Business School – it’s the way to go. It’s in the top 1%, it’s triple-accredited – where else would you be going?!’”

Looking to the future, Evelyne is excited to see what lies ahead with The Poppy Cup, and beyond.

“I know a lot of people think ‘oh, start that when you’re 30 – it’s your time to live now’. But what’s for you won’t pass you. What’s for me, right now, is The Poppy Cup. I feel like it was the perfect time for me, coming out of college fresh with that knowledge and this opportunity I have. 

“If this is not what I'm doing in the next three years, so be it. At least I've tried it; it could only grow from here. It could stop in the next two years, I don't know; but I'm excited to see what happens.”