Fifteen years ago, a dyslexic with no A ‘Level’s, was growing up in poverty in a dysfunctional environment, with no self-belief and parents with mental health issues – and then a physical injury closed the door on my only hope of escape through semi-professional sport. It would have been very easy at this point just to give up. However…
Fifteen years later, my passion for blending advocacy, law and wellbeing in order to make a difference has lead me to be running two complementary activities which allow me to fulfil that passion in a way that helps others improve their own lives:
§ iKan Health is my start-up which focuses on creating socially intelligent companies through work-place wellbeing. After my own experience of burn-out and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I was spurred on to become an advocate for awareness and change in the way people behave both in and out of the office. While our experts at iKan Health take a holistic view of wellbeing, my specialism is in mindfulness.
I am working in legal practice in litigation while working towards qualifying as a barrister so that I can use those advocacy skills (previously recognised in four scholarship awards) to further the things I believe in.
So what happened in those fifteen years? Well.. overcoming PTSD and vastly improving my reading and writing lead on to work in Marketing and Psychology. As my life started to move in an upward trajectory, I set myself the goal of using my learning and personal journey to help others by writing the book “One Minute Miracles”, with the aim of empowering a million lives through the simple, inspiring and liveable ‘one minute messages’ that it contains. This book has sold well and has led to my speaking internationally as well as on Sky News and BBC Radio.
This, in turn, resulted in me becoming a ‘voice’ for Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global, a member of Afrika Tikkun’s ‘Emerging Leaders’ Board and a wellbeing expert advisory member on the Women’s Economic Forum U.K. Board. This lead to working with and helping individuals and companies to train in resilience and wellbeing. These companies have included Oxford University, Realys, Red Bull, HMRC, A.L.L (India) and the Entrepreneurs Organisation.
By now I recognised that I should not simply focus on building a legal career but that I should seek to develop and formalise my wellbeing work by starting a company to allow me to combine the skills of experts holistically in a way that would be easier and more effective for companies and individuals to engage with – which brings us up to date.
Looking back at the sixteen year old me, it is hard to believe that I am doing what I am now and the journey that I have had to date. I feel very lucky but I also know that, with enough commitment, effort and support if I can overcome seemingly impossible hurdles, anyone can.