60 Seconds with Stephanie McKittrick

Monday 21 September 2026

Tell us about your role and your organisation

I’m the Founder of Not My Grain, a Northern Ireland-based wellbeing brand born from my own lived experience of chronic migraine and an extraordinary medical journey that has included 18 brain surgeries.

My role spans everything from product development and brand strategy to partnerships, marketing and business growth. I’m passionate about combining lived experience with research and innovation to create thoughtful, beautifully designed wellbeing products for people who often feel overlooked by the mainstream market.

Our first product is the Not My Grain botanical roll-on, a soothing topical blend created with migraine sufferers in mind. However, the vision extends far beyond a single product. I’m building Not My Grain into a wider wellbeing brand, developing new products, exploring research collaborations, and pursuing opportunities in retail and international markets.

At the heart of the business is a simple idea: taking some of the hardest experiences of my life and transforming them into something that might make someone else’s day a little easier.

Give us a brief overview of your career journey so far

My career journey has been anything but conventional. After navigating years of serious health challenges, including 18 brain surgeries, I began looking for ways to turn my lived experience into something that could help others.

That journey led me into entrepreneurship and the creation of Not My Grain, a wellbeing brand inspired by my own experience of living with chronic migraine. What began as a solution born from personal necessity has evolved into a business with ambitions far beyond a single product.

Over the past year, I’ve immersed myself in the start-up ecosystem, participating in business support programmes, building relationships across research, retail and innovation, and being selected as a Northern Ireland winner of Heathrow Airport’s World of Opportunity programme.

I’m still relatively early in my entrepreneurial journey, but I’ve learned quickly. For me, building Not My Grain is about transforming lived experience into innovation and demonstrating that an unconventional path can become the foundation for something with real purpose and potential.

What is one skill that helps you most in your role and why?

Resilience, although perhaps not in the traditional sense.

Through everything I’ve experienced personally, I’ve learned how to adapt when things don’t go to plan, find alternative routes when opportunities don’t work out, and keep moving forward even when I don’t have all the answers.

That mindset translates incredibly well into entrepreneurship. Building a business involves constant learning, problem-solving, hearing “no”, changing direction and trying again.

I’ve come to realise that resilience is not simply about overcoming challenges. It’s about finding ways to turn difficult experiences into something meaningful and useful. Ultimately, that mindset is what led me to create Not My Grain in the first place.

What advice do you have for women in your sector, industry or role?

Don’t wait until you feel qualified enough, experienced enough or ready enough.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that you don’t need to know everything before you begin. Ask questions, seek out people who know what you don’t, take the meeting, apply for the opportunity and be willing to learn as you go.

I’ve walked into many rooms feeling like the least experienced person there, but I’ve learned that lived experience, curiosity and determination have value too.

My mantra is: “You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the next step.”

Some of the best opportunities in my journey have come simply because I was willing to take that next step, send the message or put myself forward.

Most importantly, never underestimate the power of your own story. The thing you once thought held you back may ultimately become the thing that sets you apart.

Are there any exciting plans in the year ahead that you can share?

Absolutely. The year ahead is shaping up to be an exciting one for Not My Grain.

A key focus will be expanding the brand beyond our first product and developing a wider range of wellbeing products inspired by lived experience. I’m also exploring opportunities to collaborate with researchers at Ulster University, helping to bring an additional research and innovation dimension to future product development.

International growth is firmly on the agenda. We’ve already welcomed customers beyond Northern Ireland, and I’m beginning to explore what expansion into markets such as the United States could look like.

Alongside this, I’ll be focused on growing our retail presence, developing new partnerships and collaborations, and introducing Not My Grain to many more people.

We’re still at the beginning of the journey, which is what makes the future so exciting. There’s a great deal happening behind the scenes, and I have a very ambitious vision for where this Northern Irish brand can go.

Who has been your biggest career inspiration and why?

One of my biggest career inspirations is Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx.

I admire the fact that she didn’t come from the industry she eventually transformed. Instead, she identified a problem from her own experience and believed strongly enough in her solution to persevere when others didn’t immediately see the potential.

That resonates with me. I didn’t enter the wellbeing sector through a traditional route either. Not My Grain grew from my own experiences, and I’ve had to learn about product development, retail, business and entrepreneurship along the way.

I’m inspired by women who are willing to enter unfamiliar spaces, ask questions, learn quickly and create something because they genuinely believe it needs to exist.

She reminds me that you don’t need permission to enter an industry; sometimes you simply need the courage to begin.

What’s the best way for our members to connect with you?

I’m always happy to connect. You can find me on LinkedIn, where I share the realities of building Not My Grain, including the successes, challenges and lessons learned along the way.

I’d particularly love to connect with fellow founders, retailers, researchers, and anyone interested in collaboration, innovation or the wellbeing sector.

Please do say hello. Some of the most valuable opportunities I’ve experienced so far have started with a simple conversation.

Describe how your membership with Women in Business has helped you in your career

I’ve been a member of Women in Business NI for many years, and when I look back, I can clearly see how much the organisation has influenced my journey.

I’ve always enjoyed attending events, meeting other women and hearing their stories, but one of the most significant milestones for me was completing the Centre of Learning | Women’s Returners Programme. At the same time, I was beginning to explore entrepreneurship and apply for start-up support, without fully knowing where that path would lead.

Women in Business provided a supportive community, helped rebuild my confidence and introduced me to women doing things I could begin to imagine myself achieving too.

Today, I’m building my own brand, developing exciting opportunities and stepping into spaces that I would never have imagined for myself back then.

Women in Business wasn’t simply a networking organisation I joined as a business owner. It played a role in shaping the woman who eventually became one.

I’ll always be grateful for the events, connections, encouragement and opportunities that have been part of that journey.

Monday 21 September 2026