TJ Hegarty

TJ Hegarty is the founder and CEO of Breakthrough Maths. He is from Cork and set up Breakthrough Maths in September 2020 in a small hall in Glenmire.

TJ now runs the company teaching over 3,500 students every week in Ireland and the UK with 20+ staff.

Founder of Breakthrough Maths

TJ founded Breakthrough Maths in September 2020. He set it up to fill a gap for the recognised need of having more maths support for students.

The philosophy of the company was no boring teachers. TJ’s line is “A boring teacher is a bad teacher.” From day one, that was the philosophy. The classes are engaging, fun, and having a charismatic, well-trained tutor is step number one in the philosophy of Breakthrough Maths.

My Story

I am from a non-maths background. I actually studied agricultural science in UCD, and farming was my first love. I struggled with maths in school, and that’s kinda why I want to set up Breakthrough Maths, because so many people struggle with maths and no one breaks it down. I felt no one would break it down simply and it’s engaging enough as I would have liked it.

I set up Breakthrough Maths after working in Kerry Group for a number of years, and it just scaled from there. The effects of Covid, the growth, the trust, the reviews – everything kept coming, and the business just grew and grew and grew. My dreams now are building this towards something that’s teaching 50,000 plus students maths every single week

Media & Press

I’ve been lucky enough to be featured in all the top press in Ireland. I was featured on RTE, Virgin Media TV twice, the Two Johnnies podcast, the Laura Dowling Experience podcast. News talk multiple times commenting on leave-ins at results and due-ins at results. I’ve often commented on articles and stuff around girls and maths anxiety, which is a hot topic in the press.

I’ve also featured on the Business Post multiple times, The Currency for a profile piece, the Irish Examiner and the Irish Times for Innovator of the Year 2025.

Podcast Appearances

I’ve been on multiple podcasts, including the Two Johnnys podcast, The Laura Dowling Experience and The Function Room.

Social Links

You’ll find a link to all my socials here on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn. I’m always active on my socials.

Contact

You can contact me by email or message me on LinkedIn as well (direct contact).