My work is shaped by lived experience — not as an abstract idea, but as daily reality.
I am mum to twin sons, Oliver and Harry. I have been a carer to Harry for over 20 years, while also holding down a full-time teaching career for 16 of those years. During that time, I lived the emotional, physical and professional reality of juggling caring responsibilities alongside work — often carrying exhaustion, worry, guilt, grief and fierce love all at once.
I also know, first-hand, the strength and sanity that work can offer. Having a role outside of caring — a sense of purpose, identity and contribution — mattered deeply to me. Work was not something I needed “less of”; it was something I needed to be supported to keep.
That experience gave me a clear understanding of how much difference leadership, flexibility and simple human understanding can make. A supportive employer can be life-changing. A lack of understanding can quietly push even the most committed employee out.
Over the years, I came to recognise what many carers don’t always see in themselves: the extraordinary, transferable skills caring develops. Resilience, problem-solving, adaptability, emotional intelligence, prioritisation, crisis management. These are not soft extras — they are assets. Assets that 5.8 million unpaid carers bring into workplaces every single day.
While using LinkedIn, I began to notice how little unpaid caring in the workplace was being talked about — despite its scale, complexity and impact. I started sharing my experiences, reflections and insights honestly. Not polished. Not theoretical. Just real.
The response was overwhelming.
What followed was an organic, demand-led business. Organisations reached out not because of a sales pitch, but because they recognised the gap — and the value of lived experience translated into practical, credible workplace insight.
In 2024, I made the decision to leave teaching and focus on this work full time. Today, I work with organisations internationally — including across the UK, the USA and Australia — to help them better recognise, support and retain unpaid carers. My work supports managers to have confident conversations, helps carers feel seen and valued, and helps organisations build cultures where people don’t have to choose between caring and working.
Alongside my consultancy and training work, I am also the founder of Our Altered Lives CIC, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the emotional wellbeing of SEND parents and carers through community, connection and practical support. This direct work with families ensures everything I deliver to organisations remains grounded in real, current lived experience — not assumptions.
My work is shaped by lived experience — not as an abstract idea, but as daily reality.
I am mum to twin sons, Oliver and Harry. I have been a carer to Harry for over 20 years, while also holding down a full-time teaching career for 16 of those years. During that time, I lived the emotional, physical and professional reality of juggling caring responsibilities alongside work — often carrying exhaustion, worry, guilt, grief and fierce love all at once.
I also know, first-hand, the strength and sanity that work can offer. Having a role outside of caring — a sense of purpose, identity and contribution — mattered deeply to me. Work was not something I needed “less of”; it was something I needed to be supported to keep.
That experience gave me a clear understanding of how much difference leadership, flexibility and simple human understanding can make. A supportive employer can be life-changing. A lack of understanding can quietly push even the most committed employee out.
Over the years, I came to recognise what many carers don’t always see in themselves: the extraordinary, transferable skills caring develops. Resilience, problem-solving, adaptability, emotional intelligence, prioritisation, crisis management. These are not soft extras — they are assets. Assets that 5.8 million unpaid carers bring into workplaces every single day.
While using LinkedIn, I began to notice how little unpaid caring in the workplace was being talked about — despite its scale, complexity and impact. I started sharing my experiences, reflections and insights honestly. Not polished. Not theoretical. Just real.
The response was overwhelming.
What followed was an organic, demand-led business. Organisations reached out not because of a sales pitch, but because they recognised the gap — and the value of lived experience translated into practical, credible workplace insight.
In 2024, I made the decision to leave teaching and focus on this work full time. Today, I work with organisations internationally — including across the UK, the USA and Australia — to help them better recognise, support and retain unpaid carers. My work supports managers to have confident conversations, helps carers feel seen and valued, and helps organisations build cultures where people don’t have to choose between caring and working.
Alongside my consultancy and training work, I am also the founder of Our Altered Lives CIC, a not-for-profit organisation supporting the emotional wellbeing of SEND parents and carers through community, connection and practical support. This direct work with families ensures everything I deliver to organisations remains grounded in real, current lived experience — not assumptions.
My Book
Our Altered Life is an account of our journey, an amazon bestseller and, behind my boys, my greatest achievement in life. It's helped hundreds of mothers who have felt the shame, sadness, guilt and grief that I experienced but didn’t feel that they could ever voice it. It will make you cry; it will make you laugh out loud but most of all it will make you realise that a life you may never have chosen can still be a fantastic one.
‘Our Altered Life’ is also our social handle on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube if you’d like to keep up with the random madness of our lives.
