Irish woman in NYC: ‘The Irish don’t celebrate our wins like New Yorkers’

Amie Wiley has learned Irish people are not very good at ‘talking about ourselves or our achievements’Amie Wiley has been living in New York for almost three years. In one of Amie Wiley’s latest social videos, she lifts weights in the gym, takes an early morning run in her baseball cap, attends an exclusive New York nightclub event in a stylish dress and wakes up looking refreshed to a bowl of granola and berries.She could be another NYC wellness influencer, except in this reel the Co Clare woman cycles in the shadow of skyscrapers wearing her jersey and O’Neill’s shorts with a hurl sticking out of her tote bag. In a “Commute to camogie training with me” video, we see her taking the subway to Harlem and a bike to Randall’s Island. She tells of the confusion her hurl causes locals, some thinking it’s a giant spoon. On her way home, an Irish voice shouts at her, “Do you play hurling?”, turning out to be a random Irish man from Carlow.The young entrepreneur has been living in New York for almost three years, and one of her businesses is online personal training for women. She began online training from her college bedroom in 2020, when she was in her final undergraduate year at the University of Galway and paying her way through college. READ MOREWiley’s degree is in psychology, so she takes a “holistic approach to fitness”. She grew up playing sports, including camogie at county level, gaining her qualifications in personal training and sports nutrition while still studying for her degree. “I saw a gap”, she says, noting how the messaging of much of the fitness industry can be “harmful”. She wants women to focus less on what they look like but more on how they feel. “The physical changes they want will come as a byproduct.”“Your mind and your body have to coexist together for wellness and harmony,” says Wiley, who practices yoga for its mindfulness and physical benefits. But her social media content is far broader than fitness. With more than 130,000 followers between Instagram and TikTok, being a content creator/influencer has become part of her business. “So my whole business is spun off the back of me being really into photo, video, sharing my life online. I build businesses and opportunity on socials.”She has “day in the life” and “Irish girl in New York” reels which share snapshots from going for coffee to moving apartments. But Wiley also has more reflective reels: “Five things moving to NYC has taught me about home (you realise home isn’t something you return to, it’s something you carry)”, or “Things that are hard about living in NYC (loneliness, the pace, the weather, the constant hustle, the noise)”. This deeper side resonated when Wiley posted a poem she wrote called “homesickness”, clocking up almost 2.5 million views. The connection with other Irish people in New York “who understand how hard it is to be away from home” has been helpful, Wiley says. They are “very up to paying it forward and giving back”. She’s been struck by how Americans are “the opposite” of the Irish when it comes to how they speak about themselves. “We’re not very good about talking about ourselves or our achievements; we’re very humble,” she says. “We don’t celebrate our wins as much as they do.” She has loved learning from their confidence: “that’s how things come to them”. This way of American culture “is very foreign to us Irish people”, Wiley says. “There’s a lot of power in learning how to do that, albeit uncomfortable as an Irish person, it’s a muscle that needs to be built up.” It’s something she feels she wouldn’t have learned in Ireland. [ ‘I’ve been very lucky in life but leaving Ireland broke my heart’Opens in new window ]The “incredible” opportunities need to be mixed with hard work. “You need to very much be in the mindset, to put yourself in the room and ask people what you need help with.”Wiley says her humble background is why she has her business in New York. When she worked in the US for her J1, it was a “light bulb moment, something I couldn’t describe ... but I knew I needed to come back here”. And it was her business and socials that helped her get her work visa to New York. Wiley loves to return home frequently, pointing out that the flight is a similar length to a return drive from Dublin to Clare. She recently documented her renovations of a cottage in Co Clare on social media. But for now she’s staying firmly stateside, enjoying what she loves about NYC: the energy and the opportunity. “You could walk out your front door, and you never know what’s going to happen.”Amie Wiley is from Co Clare and is on Instagram @Amie_Wiley. She lives in New York where she runs Active With Amie and a new lifestyle brand Tonnta. Are you Irish and living in another country? Would you like to share your experience in writing or by interview? You can use the form below, or email abroad@irishtimes.com. Irish Times Abroad submission guidelines here. Follow us on Instagram to keep up with the latestSign up to The Irish Times Abroad newsletter for Irish-connected people around the world. IN THIS SECTION