Chapter 1: What inspired Maeve Madden to start her fitness journey?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance. I'm joined now by the founder of Queen's Don't Quit, fitness entrepreneur Maeve Madden, who's returned to Ireland after living abroad both in the UK and in Dubai. Hello, Maeve. Hello, how are you? I'm very well. I feel like a bit of a fangirl. I'm a big follower of yours on Instagram where you are so active for years and years now.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Yes, it is years now.
Chapter 2: How did living abroad influence Maeve's fitness business?
I think it's probably well over a decade.
So listen, back in Ireland now and you were in Dubai when the conflict between Iran and the United States broke out. What was that like for you?
That was a very surreal and terrifying moment. Obviously, very out of the blue. We just got these alerts on our phone and were then told to shelter. The hotel that I was in whilst I was there had created kind of like this makeshift bomb shelter, you know, in those big kind of ballrooms that they would have in the basements. Yeah.
And all we could hear were missiles, you know, being intercepted above us and fighter jets. So definitely a very terrifying and unsure moment. I was lucky enough and privileged enough. to be able to get the second flight out of Dubai and back to our gorgeous green island. I was never so happy to land in Dublin Airport.
You got out of there pretty quickly. So is that you back now? Is this where you're going to make your base?
Yes, we have. We recently bought a home here after, actually we've been, we were house hunting for quite a number of years. So we've recently bought a home and I'm so, so happy to be back in Ireland. People think the grass is greener elsewhere, but the grass is greenest in our country.
Always lovely to come home. And with a business like yours, Maeve, you can kind of do it from anywhere, can't you?
That's right. So that's why we were lucky enough to travel and still do. My husband still works in Dubai, although hasn't been back since the troubles have all began over there.
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Chapter 3: What was Maeve's experience during the Iran-US conflict in Dubai?
And we do, we tend to travel around a lot. We're still very much in London a lot of the time, but our base right now is just outside Dublin, which is great.
And listen, I mentioned Queen's Don't Quit, which has just become a massive community since it all started, I think about six years ago now. Am I right? That's right.
It's funny to think back that that lockdown was six years ago. Where has that time gone?
Yeah. And you made a post recently saying, you know, I look back at myself and I look at you, you know, you're sort of mocking yourself for your workout gear and what you were doing and so on. But it just clicked with something. I mean, can you define what it was that made it work?
I think when we all went into lockdown, a lot of people like myself would struggle with not having routine and not being able to work out. And I feel before lockdown, we very much all paid for these super expensive gyms and you know, and went to all of these classes. And I knew that from my experience as a trainer, that I would be able to create a home method.
But what I did was I created a very nostalgic to kind of boost endorphins, aerobic style workout, because I knew that not everybody would have equipment at home. And it just really took off. And I'm now fitter and stronger than I ever have been. And I'm now in my 40s.
And which is truly amazing all from working out at home and having this incredible community of women all across the world of all ages and all abilities. And it is it's really amazing. I'm really proud of myself and my team.
Do you and so you should be. But do you find that you have to constantly think about the balance between how much of myself do I share and how much do I hold back? Is there a dividing line in your mind?
Yes, there is. And I feel it's probably with anyone who's on social media and really right now, everybody's on social media. So I'm sure everybody holds back on things. For example, moving into my new home, a lot of people want a house tour and that's something I'm not willing to share. And And I think just kind of, you know, your everyday life.
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Chapter 4: How did lockdown impact fitness routines for Maeve and her community?
Maeve, it's great to talk to you. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Maeve Madden, founder of Queen's Don't Quit There. Maeve will be at Wellfest 2026 in Dublin.