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The Yachting Ventures Startup Spotlight series goes beyond the pitch decks and press releases to share the real stories behind early-stage startups.
We sit down with founders in our community to explore their journeys, from the first spark of an idea to the realities of building a company in leisure marine.
This week, we sat down with Niamh Farrell, founder of Galley Table.
Galley Table was built on a simple observation: some of the most capable, resilient, and disciplined professionals in the world are leaving yachting without a clear pathway to what comes next.
Yet when it comes time to transition ashore, their experience is often misunderstood, undervalued, or difficult to translate. Galley Table exists to change that.
We believe that yacht crew are not just employable, but they are uniquely equipped to become founders, operators, and leaders across a wide range of industries. The challenge is not capability, but clarity, connection, and opportunity.
Galley Table brings together community, practical guidance, and real opportunities to support that transition properly. We support crew while they are still at sea – helping them build confidence, focus on self-development, and prepare for what comes next.
This proactive approach is not just beneficial for individuals it also strengthens the longevity and resilience of the crew as a whole.
When succession and exit planning for heads of departments is considered in advance, it creates space for knowledge transfer, leadership development, and smoother onboard transitions, ultimately enhancing team stability.
Then, as they move ashore, we provide structured support through skills translation, CV development, training, coaching, and access to opportunities.
At its core, Galley Table is about turning experience at sea into meaningful opportunity on shore, all focused around a community that continues to support that journey long after the first step ashore.
The idea for Galley Table came from personal experience and seeing firsthand how fragmented and isolating the transition process can be: Informal advice, disconnected networks, trial-and-error career moves and without the structured support they deserved.
The yachting industry produces exceptional people, but it does not yet provide a structured system to capture, develop, and retain the value of that talent across a full career lifecycle.
As the industry continues to grow globally, with new vessels entering the market and demand for skilled professionals remaining consistently high, it also faces a structural challenge: crew attrition in certain roles can exceed 50%.
This creates a continuous cycle of turnover, where experienced individuals leave operational roles and transition ashore without a defined pathway to carry forward their skills and value.
A key, often overlooked opportunity lies in proactive succession and exit planning for heads of departments and senior crew. When this is embedded early, it strengthens onboard continuity, enables structured knowledge transfer, and improves leadership development pipelines.
Rather than creating gaps when senior crew depart, it builds resilience within teams and enhances long-term operational stability across vessels.
Every year, thousands of highly skilled crew transition from roles requiring leadership, operational excellence, and consistent performance under pressure. However, their experience is often difficult for land-based industries to interpret, creating a disconnect between capability and recognition. There is a clear gap between what yacht crew can do and how that value is understood ashore.
At the same time, businesses across multiple sectors are actively seeking exactly these qualities: resilience, adaptability, leadership, accountability, and high-performance execution under pressure.
Galley Table sits at the intersection of this gap. We translate experience into opportunity.
For the industry, this creates a more sustainable and intelligent career ecosystem — one where succession planning is supported, leadership transitions are smoother, and talent is retained in a broader sense, rather than lost at the point of transition.
For individuals, we provide the structure that has been missing: clarity on how their skills translate ashore, support in building compelling CVs, access to training and coaching, and connection to meaningful career opportunities.
Just as importantly, we provide a community that understands the journey and supports long-term success at every stage of it.
Being able to take my own experience and challenges and turn them into something that genuinely helps others has been the most rewarding part.
There is a real sense of purpose in building a community that I know will have a meaningful impact. It is not just about solving a problem, it is about supporting people through a transition I understand personally.
It has also been incredibly rewarding to reconnect with and rediscover others who have been so willing to give their time and share their experiences to help others succeed.
Each of them has faced their own challenges, yet they all share a belief that there is a real need here. This has reinforced my conviction that the skills and capabilities built in yachting are both unique and highly valuable.
The hardest part was taking the first step. Moving from idea to action brings uncertainty, and there is never a perfect moment to begin.
Overcoming that hesitation and committing to starting, without having everything figured out, was the biggest early challenge.
Build a strong support network around you early. Surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking, share honest feedback, and genuinely want to see you succeed.
Entrepreneurship can be isolating, and having the right people around you makes the journey more resilient, more informed, and ultimately more sustainable.
Clarity comes from action, not the other way around.
