Jill Carolan is some woman for one woman! She is the founder of ‘SOLO Food and Wellness’ and we have watched her journey grow from strength to strength. Summer 2023, Jill ran the extra mile for an Electric Picnic ticket and this summer marked 4 years of ‘SOLO’. We were very excited to catch up with Jill so discover all about it here…..
A Mayo woman with a passion for food and wellness. Jill’s grá for all things nutrition and exercise began back in her early sporting days. Jill tells us, “I always loved sports in school. I was very active, even watching sports. I used to get so excited and I was fascinated by it all”. Jill is a superstar footballer and plays for Mayo club - Shrule Glencorrib GAA and LGFA Club. Jill particularly loves the community aspect of sport. She says, “there is a real sense of community with teamwork and you’re growing up playing with your neighbours, cousins, sisters, friends and I was fascinated by looking up to people that were already in this industry”.
When Jill was a teenager, her mom Fiona, bought her cook books by fellow foodies Joe Wicks and Daniel Davy. These cook books ignited a fire within Jill to experiment with new recipes and learn more about the connection between food and exercise: “I was reading those and different meals that I cooked and prepared myself, [there were] high carb meals like homemade pizza and there was a sweet potato recipe”.
“The moment I realised [I wanted to do this] was when I was playing football and I got called up to play on the junior team of my club and it was obviously a big moment at the time and I was only 16…I made one of the Joe Wicks high carb recipes before going out and I ended up having a brilliant game and I came on and scored a point. I was on cloud 9 after it, that’s when I realised there is a connection between the foods that you eat and the exercise and energy you carry out”, says Jill.
It captivated Jill how “there’s certain nutrients and certain types of foods that you eat that can improve your athletic performance so much”. Jill tells us that, “There's also different types of foods like high protein foods that you can eat as well that can help you recover more when you’re tired and fatigued after exercise or even after a long week of work that can help improve your mood and bring your energy levels up again”.
Four years ago, Jill founded ‘SOLO Food and Wellness’. SOLO is an instagram page about all things food, recipes, wellness, nutrition. Jill tells us that SOLO “started on the 4th of July 2020. On Independence Day, which was a complete coincidence. I remember being in the kitchen with my family and we decided on the name, we had the account set up and that was our launch day”. Fun fact, to remember the day, Jill has held onto the bottle of prosecco that they popped in celebration’.
SOLO’s story begins whilst Jill was studying her degree in Public Health Nutrition in ATU Galway. Jill says, “my lecturers were encouraging us to set up a LinkedIn page or an Instagram page to promote that you are studying in this area and that you are working in this area, that you’re interested in health nutrition and wellness so I decided that I wanted to make one”. Speaking about creating SOLO Jill explains that she wanted to focus on the basis of nutrition and getting those right: “I feel like a lot of people skip the general daily stuff like getting a good night's sleep or getting your portion of fruit and veg in, having a balanced diet and exercising regularly. I feel like a load of people skip those”.
There is a really lovely meaning as to why Jill called her social platform SOLO: “I called it ‘SOLO’ because as a Gaelic football player and former camogie player when you first start playing GAA the first thing you’re taught is how to solo the ball. It’s one of the basic things to do, like nutrition, it's getting the basics right and then building up from it”. SOLO also means that we are all unique and beautiful in our own ways. Jill believes that; “there is no one size shoe that fits all when it comes to health and nutrition. We’re all unique in our own way and that’s what SOLO is about. It’s about finding what works for you and how you can incorporate that into your life”.
As a hard-working and driven individual, Jill never fails to put her 100% into everything she does! Jill used to hate running but fast forward to summer 2023 and Jill ran 17km for an Electric Picnic ticket. “I used to hate running with a passion, I did not like it at all. The reason why I didn’t like it was because I was doing it all wrong. I was setting myself unrealistic goals and I was putting pressure on myself to run way too fast”, says Jill. This hatred ran away when Jill was coming to an end of her undergrad degree: I was finishing up college and I had no money to my name, me and my friend Masie wanted to go to Electric Picnic but tickets were sold out and any ones that were available were going for ridiculous money so we decided to do the Tour de Picnic which is an event held by Electric Picnic where you either run 17km or cycle 80km on the Friday of Electric Picnic in the morning time”.
Jill was up for the challenge and carried it out superbly, raising money for three different charities along the way: “We had to raise 500 euro each for 3 charities. It was the Jack and Jill foundation, the ISPCA and the children’s foundation. It felt really good that we had done a bit of work for charity, we were getting ourselves fit and healthy, we were very consistent and went out training. We met up every Wednesday at the local soccer pitch and went running and onto the main roads. We had the absolute best day ever that Friday of EP”. Jill reflects on that day saying, “It was tough I won’t lie it was really hard but we crossed the finish line”.
If you’re thinking about getting into running ahead of the new year or if you are looking to set some 2025 goals, Jill has come to the rescue with her tips and tricks: “If anyone would like to get into running in the new year one thing I would say is to invest in a good pair of shoes, take your time with it and have fun. There are so many social running clubs around the country now and it’s encouraging everyone to enjoy running. It’s a great way to be healthy and active”.
Jill says, “advice I would give to someone starting out running is baby steps completely, take one day at a time, don’t be setting yourself high standards, remember to enjoy it as well. Even when you’re running on the road by yourself you shouldn't be in a competition with yourself just starting off you should gradually build it up”.
Jill has had a phenomenal 2024 describing it as “one of the best years ever!” Jill is immensely grateful for all the opportunities she has gotten this year. She is also incredibly thankful to everyone who has both supported her and reached out to her page throughout this journey: “I’ve been so lucky with the opportunities that I’ve gotten. Kind messages when you get that one nice message to say ‘I learnt a lot there’ or ‘I really enjoyed this thing that you did’ or even general congratulation. Honest to God, it means the world!”
Jill is currently pursuing her masters in Applied Sports and Exercise Nutrition at ATU Galway. This is Jill’s main focus for the coming year. Jill says it’s a “lot of hard work ahead of me but I’m up for the challenge”. In 2025, she hopes to continue to help and educate more people on nutrition and wellness.
Instagrammer, nutritionist and sporting success- is there anything Jill can’t do? We love Jill’s content and if you are interested in learning more about food, nutrition, wellness you should definitely check out her page! She is always happy to answer questions that anybody has! Huge congratulations to Jill on her wonderful content, we are looking forward to seeing what is to come for Jill Carolan and ‘SOLO Food and Wellness’ in 2025!
