The success of every women is the inspiration for another

Today I will be presenting at the Aspire: Resolve unconference, organised by the amazing Dr Sam Collins of Aspire for Equality The title for this article is the title of my talk (adapted from a Serena Williams quote). The talk will be virtual of course. No slides required. But as a visual learner I created a vision board. Some of the items on it can be seen in the image above.

I want to use this article to prepare me for the talk. Not what I am going to say but how I will feel. Yesterday one of the talks, the last one of the day, was extremely triggering for me. This year has not been kind. My talk will be reflecting on the year - but saying very little about the impact of covid on it.

Rather, this. A year ago I was trying to finish my book (it's circled in green on the above image). I was sitting in a house that wasn't my home as our home had been flooded and we were in temporary (turned out to be a year) accommodation whilst repairs were undertaken. No matter, I can work in other people's houses. Then we had Christmas at my son and daughter-in-law's house (as we could not host) and on Boxing Day got ready to go for a drive, to take the family and the dogs to a lovely place in the country for a long walk. We got no further than 5 minutes from the house. My son (32 years old, fit as a fiddle, GP) had a seizure at the wheel of his car. We avoided an accident but had no idea what was to come. 24 hours later we discovered he had a brain tumour.

Fast forward to April. My son had by this time undergone awake brain surgery (January), gone through radiotherapy (March/April) and by his 33rd birthday had trained enough to be able to run a 5k on his 33rd birthday. His positive approach had spurred me on. I had carried on writing the book but on 10th April fell ill and ended up in hospital for a week. It turns out I had a viral infection (possibly shingles) which left me with facial palsy (Ramsey Hunt Syndrome) and resultant nerve damage. I have deafness, tinnitus and balance problems still.

BUT??? - the book is finished. I sent the edited version to the publishers last week and we should meet the April 2021 publication date. Moreover this year I have received a National Teaching Fellowship award, been conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and become the co-founder of a group called 'Equality Starts at Home'.

I've embraced my adversity. I have drawn on my networks to give me strength. The amazing Marie Hall set up Empowerment House in January and I joined the first cohort. The indomitable Carol Ann Whitehead has invited me onto panels to speak about Women Like Us. I've organised and chaired events on resilience. I've found a coach and she's helping me scale up my internship programme, so more young people can benefit from what I write about in the book. I've drawn strength from my family and we have pulled together to get through this. Huge thanks especially to my equally strong female family members.

I don't know what the future holds. My son's brain tumour is described as incurable. But he's been such an inspiration to me in the way he has dealt with it I owe it to him to be an inspiration too - and in my case where I can make the most difference is to be an inspiration to other women.