Values, Privileges & Practices-

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 and also falling pregnant in the same year, I have started to look seriously at my privileges. I want to be more aware of how the privileges I live with and that my daughter is being born into impact what I and she can and will achieve in life and business. I never want to take for granted, overlook or ‘erase’ their importance when I coach others.

I wish I’d done this sooner, but the point is that I’m starting. And I will continue to learn, accept and acknowledge where what I can do and achieve in my business and life is different from those who don’t have the privileges I have.

As Maggie Patterson points out in her own disclosure of privileges, we all too often see coaches with a zero to hero journey: making millions in a matter of months. Yet they don’t disclose the bigger picture and the hidden privileges that have helped them achieve their goals. I have been sucked into these stories myself time and time again, comparing my own journey to others and know that my own audience are susceptible too. 

So with that in mind, I think it’s important that as a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual woman, that I’m clear and transparent about my privileges. (Thank you Maggie Patterson for showing me how to do this. She in turn thanked Brittany Berger for modelling for her.)

I grew up middle class in a single-parent household, however fully supported by maintenance and never with insecurity about the roof over our heads. I attended a grammar school and I had access to financial support to continue my learning beyond secondary school – my parents paid my University fees (which were ‘low’ back in 2004!) and I had access to student loans to get me through third-level education.

My education and the financial support of my parents to enable me to undertake unpaid internships allowed me to land jobs in the arts and earn my own money straight from graduating. Where I started on lower paid jobs that didn’t quite cover the bills living in London, I was supported financially by my parents to plug the gap so I could work up the experience to step into higher paid roles. 

When I moved from London to Dublin I was able to quit my job and take on freelance work whilst I started to explore how I could run my own business. I always had the possibility to go back to my old career and industry, though in a limited way since I had moved from a city with plenty of opportunities in the field, to a city where there were considerably less. However, I had the benefit of having a husband with an established career, his own home and a pension, which allowed me to take on this risk as I pivoted and changed career.

I’m agnostic but was brought up, christened and confirmed as a Church of England Christian. 

I am white. I’m a ‘normal’ BMI and pre-pregnancy and postpartum conformed to the socially acceptable UK size 10-12 average and never experienced weight phobia. I now sit at a UK size 12-14 and whilst I have experienced a small amount of negative comments online about my shape and size, it is not something that has impacted or held me back from being visible.

Overall, my mental state is solid. I have never been diagnosed with or medicated for mental health problems nor have I ever needed to attend therapy or counselling.

I am healthy and have no underlying health issues that curtail my ability to work. I’m British but live in Ireland. I have access to free public healthcare and also can afford to pay for private cover. 

I will never use my story without highlighting this context so that you always have the full picture when drawing parallels with your own journey.