Irish artist Catherine Owens has lots of experience making important pitches to hesitant investors.

Speaking on stage at Inspirefest 2017, New York-based Catherine Owens described her experience working with U2 on five of their tours as a “technical adventure”, with the band giving her and the team significant creative freedom to forge wonderful art through stage performances.

But to get there took a lot of hard work and dedication, and she maintains that staying calm is key.

“When you find yourself in the room and your brain is saying, ‘Oh no’ or ‘I’m not sure’, [you need] to be able to close off that conversation and push forward on what you can bring.”

Words by Colm Gorey