Why I founded The Disability Force:

I founded the Disability Force because I believe that everyone that wants to work should be able to do so. I believe there is an important role for all of us in society to work together to make this a reality.

I acquired my ow disability 12 years ago and it severely altered my way of living and working. My life’s motto was dream big, work hard, play hard, and try absolutely everything!

Then, all of a sudden, my health privilege I had been unaware of was gone. I had acquired a disability. I struggled to stand, and I was crawling up the stairs at home for around two years. I had to think really carefully about every single decision I made, to ensure I had the energy and stamina to do what I needed to do. What I wanted to do became irrelevant, as I struggled to survive in a world no longer build for me. A new world of barriers.

I am very open about my conditions because I think this helps to raise awareness of my conditions. I have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Chronic Vestibular Migraines and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome… yes, they all roll off the tongue don’t they? Oh, and I also gave Stage 3 Breast Cancer a go in my early 30s too. Thankfully, I have been in remission for the past 8 years.

So why do I share all that you ask? So you can see how someone can have a heady mix of medical conditions and still craft a business and career that is meaningful and rewarding.

Why I chose to train as coach and work in the disability space.

If I could go back to the period when I first became disabled, and change one thing about how I managed the transition, I would have found myself a coach that understood disability. A coach to help me clarify, identify, and work to overcome new barriers that appeared to me as a result of my medical conditions. That is what inspired me to coach, train with the University of Cambridge, and specialise in coaching that aims to make life better for disabled people.

The Disability Force is a Profit and Purpose Business.

This means I earn my living doing this work, but I am also socially-motivated as well. This is reflected in our pricing structure, because we believe coaching should be accessible to everyone.

At the moment The Disability Force is just me, but my goal is to scale to a team as soon as I can. I want us to be for disabled people, and also run by people with lived experiences of disability.

What I did before I became a coach.

Before I retrained to work as a coach, I worked in the media industry. First as a News & Current Affairs Radio Producer in Australia, and then as a Picture Editor at the Financial Times in London.

These roles gave me much experience with working accurately and creatively, in fast-paced and dynamic working cultures. It also helped me to understand what is like to work in commercial and organisational structures.