Made In Chaos with Ryan Curtis

He Grew Up in the Flats Obsessed With Money. Now He Runs 55 Properties Across Four Countries — Without Owning a Single One.
Adam McEnroe grew up in Dolphin's Barn, obsessed with money from the age of four — selling toys off the step, hustling card games, always looking for the next way up. What he didn't have was anyone around him who'd built real success, or the belief that someone from his area could. This episode is the story of how he built one anyway.
Ryan sits down with Adam for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about money, mindset, business and the reality behind the highlight reel.
What we get into:
Growing up money-obsessed in the flats, and what poverty really looked like
Why "the poorer the area, the bigger the brand" — and the trap of going broke to look rich
The boss and mentor who gave him one-on-one business lessons and changed everything
How he discovered the rent-to-rent Airbnb model everyone laughed at
The day he found out he was having a son and his mam had cancer — and why it lit the fire
Building the business from Dubai, the early losses, and getting scammed out of thousands
Airbnb and the housing crisis: genuine cause or easy scapegoat?
Why he believes most people buy houses for the wrong reasons
The reality of business nobody sees: the losses, the pressure, the day-to-day grind
Endurance, hardship and why not everyone is cut out for business
Taking accountability, ego, and what religion taught him about handling hard times
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

People Are Quick to Judge the Flats. Very Few Ever Stop to Listen. Richie Power Is Changing That.
Richie Power grew up in the Liberties and created Chats in the Flats — the Instagram page showcasing a side of working-class Dublin that rarely makes the headlines: the humour, the talent, the grief, the pride and the sense of community behind the concrete. In a media landscape built on clicks and the worst-case story, Richie set out to show the everyday people instead.
Ryan sits down with him for a warm, wide-ranging conversation about community, identity, the power of the mind and the Dublin we're at risk of losing.
What we get into:
Growing up in the Liberties and only realising later how different it was
Why he built Chats in the Flats one authentic take at a time, against the hook-and-chop grain of social media
How the local credit union helped him get it off the ground
Why the media only seems to notice the flats when something bad happens
The accent as identity — and why he'll pronounce his words but never change how he speaks
Old Dublin, and the fear that we're losing it block by block
Why he keeps his focus local — self, family, community — before anything else
The doctor's throwaway comment that changed how Richie's guest on the show, Ryan, thinks about the mind forever
His late mother's words: "Let yesterday's news get you through this journey. Don't let this journey ruin yesterday's news"
Why being Irish, and being proud of where you're from, is a kind of superpower
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis | and Chats in the Flats on Instagram
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

Why Do You Keep Repeating the Same Patterns Even When You Desperately Want to Change? One of Ireland's Best-Known CBT Therapists Explains.
Most people think their problems are stress, anger, anxiety, bad habits or overthinking. But what if a lot of the chaos in your life is coming from patterns you don't even realise you're repeating?
Enda Murphy is a psychotherapist, author and one of Ireland's best-known CBT therapists. He's spent decades helping people understand the emotional mind — why we react the way we do, why we avoid uncomfortable feelings, why we sabotage ourselves, and why so many people get stuck in the same cycles even when they want out.
Ryan sits down with Enda for a genuinely eye-opening conversation about how the mind actually works.
What we get into:
Why the way you describe yourself is almost never who you really are
ADHD, neurodivergence, and why Enda calls it a difference, not a disorder
How the emotional mind works, and why your feelings aren't facts
Why you keep repeating patterns you consciously hate
The real reason people avoid uncomfortable feelings
Why trying to force happiness often backfires
What anxiety actually is, and how to relate to it differently
How to actually break a cycle instead of white-knuckling it
Why self-awareness is the starting point for real change
Practical ways to interrupt the patterns running your life
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
This conversation is for information and reflection, not a substitute for professional support. If you're struggling, help is available in Ireland — Samaritans are free, 24/7, on 116 123, or text About It on 50808.
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

A Working-Class Poet Who Can Perform for Thousands But Struggles to Say How He Feels. Emmett O'Brien on Grief, Masculinity & Finding a Voice.
Emmett O'Brien is a poet, actor and storyteller from Cabra who's built a reputation for putting into words what so many people feel but never quite know how to say. He started writing at 13, after a 14-year-old friend was killed in a hit-and-run and a counsellor suggested he find a way to express it. What began as rap became spoken word, and it's carried him from ten people in a basement to stages across the world.
Ryan sits down with Emmett for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about creativity, class, masculinity and mental health.
What we get into:
Growing up in Cabra and why he was the "outlandish" kid
Starting to write at 13 to deal with the death of his friend
How rap became spoken word, and the artists who shaped him
The working-class accent as identity, and being paid to write but not to speak
Why he can perform for thousands but can't talk about his own feelings
The one-man play about hitting rock bottom that nobody knew was about him
Grief, his ma's passing, and the moment his emotions finally opened up
Masculinity, the manosphere, and what a man actually is
Why it's good men capable of violence, who choose not to use it, who matter
Imposter syndrome, Damien Dempsey, Kelly Harrington and self-doubt
Calculated luck, the 10,000 hours, and why sacrifice is the whole game
Surrounding yourself with genuine people, not yes-men
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
If anything in this episode resonates with you, support is available in Ireland. Samaritans are free and available 24/7 on 116 123, and Text About It can be reached by texting 50808.
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar, Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory

He Built One of Ireland's Best-Known Estate Agencies, Lost Almost Everything in the Crash, and Came Back. Ray Cooke on Housing, Money & Sacrifice.
Whether you're trying to buy your first home, stuck renting, investing, or you're just convinced the whole system is broken, you have an opinion on the housing market. Ray Cooke has watched it all from the inside. He built one of Ireland's most recognisable estate agency brands, survived the 2008 crash when he couldn't afford to feed himself, and has seen firsthand how policy, interest rates and supply shape thousands of lives.
Ryan sits down with Ray for an honest, no-spin conversation that goes well beyond house prices.
What we get into:
Growing up in Rathcoole, dyslexia, and why hard work became his "superpower"
Working in the pub at 11 and the money habit that shaped everything
Setting up his business in 2005, then watching the 2008 crash nearly destroy it
Viewing one house 82 times before it sold, and living on beans on toast
The bank manager who ripped up his business plan three times and saved him
Why 2008 won't happen again, and how lending has completely changed
The truth about estate agents, ghost bidding and why they get so much abuse
Whether the housing crisis is really the agents' fault, or the government's
His honest, blunt take on sacrifice, saving and getting on the ladder
What he'd change first if he woke up as housing minister
How to build wealth starting with 20 grand
The biggest money mistake ordinary people make without realising
Ryan Curtis is a former Irish MMA fighter who was paralysed from the neck down and told he would never walk again. Made in Chaos exists to platform guests who've turned adversity into hard-earned wisdom worth sharing.
Follow: @madeinchaospod | @chaoscurtis
🖊️ Sponsored by The Ink Factory, Temple Bar — Ireland's highest rated tattoo studio. theinkfactory.ie | @theinkfactory