About
Hello, I'm Dee
I started W2 Partners for the people I kept meeting: founders and leaders carrying far too much on their own, and teams that needed someone to help them step up. W2 exists to give them a senior, experienced person in their corner.
Why I started W2 Partners
Over 25 years in the technology sector, I watched two things happen at once.
I saw experienced peers, people with twenty years of building teams and businesses, face redundancy in the middle of their careers rather than the end of them. So much hard-won skill, and nowhere obvious for it to go. When we talked, the same thing kept coming up: they did not want another full-time role, but they very much wanted to keep using what they knew and to add real value.
At the same time, starting a business had never been easier, and surviving one had never been harder. Thousands of new companies are formed in Ireland every year, and the ones that fail rarely fail on the idea. They fail on everything around it: management capability, knowing what to fix first, being ready for funding, all resting on a founder who is stretched and often on their own.
W2 Partners is my answer to both. Today that starts with coaching and leadership training, giving founders, leaders and their teams senior, experienced support exactly when they need it. Over time, it will also bring in experienced leaders who want meaningful, flexible work that fits the life they want now.
Where I've come from
I've spent 25 years building and leading teams, from sales floors at Dell, eircom and O2 to senior leadership roles at FTI Consulting, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft. At AWS I led 68 people supporting 87 of its largest global customers. At Microsoft, as Director of Security Engineering, I built a $20 million support offering for top global customers and cut resolution times for critical issues from 16 hours to under 3.
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But what I'm proudest of is the people. 43% of my Microsoft team were promoted over four years, I led the Women at Microsoft network, helping raise €27,000 for charity, and I've mentored on STEM inclusion. I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Executive and Business Coaching from UCD Smurfit and a psychology degree from UCD, so I bring both the operational 'how' and the human 'why'.
What that means for you
When I sit down with a founder or leader, I've usually already been in the room you're describing: the stalled hire, the messy handover, the decision that's hard to make on your own. I'm not here to hand you a report and leave. I'm here to help you think clearly, make the call, and build the capability to keep going, so that in time you need me less, not more.
If you're an experienced leader
W2 works through a small, vetted bench of senior people who step into scaling businesses for the hours that suit both sides. If you're an experienced operator, coach or specialist who wants to keep doing work that matters, on your own terms, I'd love to hear from you. It's a way to keep using everything you've built, share it with founders who genuinely need it, and never go back to full-time unless you want to.
Interested in joining the bench? Email hello@w2partners.ie →
Let's talk
Whether you're a leader who could use someone in your corner, or a team that needs to step up, the first step is the same: a conversation.