MY EARLY LIFE & INSPIRATION
For as long as I can remember, social care has been part of my life.
​
Growing up in a fostering family from the age of four, I saw first-hand that every child has a story and that behaviour is rarely "just behaviour". I watched children arrive having experienced trauma, loss and uncertainty, and I also watched what happened when they were given the right support, patience and opportunities to thrive.
​
Living alongside this from such a young age shaped who I am and ignited a passion that has never left me.
MY CAREER JOURNEY IN CARE & EDUCATION
That passion became my career in 2007, when I began working in specialist education supporting children with additional needs. Over the years, I progressed through a range of roles across education, residential childcare and adult social care, including teaching assistant, residential support worker, home manager, transition lead, trainer and training manager.
​
Throughout those roles, one thing became increasingly clear to me - the greatest difference wasn't made by policies or paperwork. It was made by confident, knowledgeable staff who understood the people they supported.
THE POWER OF PERSON-CENTRED SUPPORT
One experience, in particular, has stayed with me.
​
I supported a young person whose behaviour had become so complex that they could no longer live safely with their family. They moved into residential care after seriously injuring people close to them. Through consistent, person-centred support and a genuine understanding of what was driving their behaviour, things gradually changed.
​
Today, that young person lives in their own annex next to the family home with their own support team. They have meaningful relationships with their family again, and their family have their son back.
​
That experience reinforced something I have always believed.
​
When we invest in understanding people rather than simply managing behaviour, lives can change.
WHY I FOUNDED EMPOWER TRAINING & CONSULTANCY
In 2024, I founded Empower Training & Consultancy with a simple aim: to provide training that genuinely improves practice rather than simply meeting compliance requirements.
​
Too often, training becomes a tick-box exercise. Staff attend because they have to, complete the course, receive a certificate and return to work with little changing in practice.
​
I believe training should do much more than that.
​
It should build confidence.
It should develop skills.
It should challenge thinking.
​
Most importantly, it should improve the quality of life of the people we support.
​
Whether I'm delivering Positive Behaviour Support, Autism, Learning Disabilities, Physical Intervention, Mental Health or Leadership training, my focus is always the same: helping staff understand the person behind the behaviour and giving them practical tools they can use from the moment they return to work.
MY PERSONAL APPROACH TO LEARNING
My own journey has also shaped how I train.
​
Growing up with undiagnosed ADHD, education wasn't always easy. I struggled academically and often felt misunderstood. Looking back, many of those experiences make sense now, and they continue to influence the way I teach today.
I understand that people learn differently, so my training is designed to be engaging, practical and accessible to everyone.
​MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE
The greatest reward in my job isn't delivering a course.
It's seeing that moment when a member of staff suddenly says,
"I hadn't thought about it like that before."
Those moments lead to greater confidence, better support, fewer incidents and, most importantly, better lives for the people at the centre of everything we do.
Because that's what Empower is really about.
HELPING PEOPLE SUPPORT PEOPLE BETTER
Call Empower now to discuss our training and courses.