I thought I would explore the day to day work that I do. I title myself a Management and Training Consultant and have been self-employed for many years. The largest area of my work is designing and delivering training in the area of Equalities, Inclusion and Valuing Diversity. This means that I work with groups/teams/management boards/managers on how to create an environment in the workplace where everyone feels welcomed, accepted and free to be themselves. The end result of working in this way is that the staff members feel more motivated, respected, valued and can achieve more. Win-Win for everyone.
It sounds simple and in some ways it is, but I have had to go through a long and sometimes painful journey to come to the point where I believe I can do this work in a positive way. It wasn't always the case and in the early days of my training I burnt out regularly and I believe it's because I thought there was only one right way and it was mine.
When I arrived in the UK in 1970 I was recently married, had a baby on the way and had no support network or friends. I knew my husband and was beginning to know my in-laws. I also had no qualifications - a university background in history of art and fine arts was not exactly in huge demand. I had also left my on-going therapy group when I left New York; a group I had relied on to keep me in balance for the previous three years. I was adrift in a sea of Shakespeare and Marmite.
When my daughter was in nursery I decided that I had no choice but to learn to type. I'd vowed never to do this since young women all over the world were being pushed into admin or secretarial jobs, but needs must and I went to secretarial school. I learned shorthand, typing, office skills (huh?) and audio-typing. Sounds prehistoric now, but it got me a job. I worked as a part-time admin assistant in the University of Westminster for a few years.
At the same time as this I was participating in and training in running encounter/therapy groups. This meant that at least one evening a week and most weekends I was away doing groups. This was what I loved doing and where my heart was - working directly with people.
I hardly remember what order things happened in, but after my son was born I went to work in a local city housing department, again doing part-time admin work, mind-numbing, boring work, but the hours and the money kept me there. At some point I decided to go back to university and I did a two-year part-time post-graduate degree in human resources. I focused on training and development and bang! found a way to combine working with peoples' emotions and relationships with the world of business.
At that time a remarkable thing happened. I participated in a group on anti-racist practice in the workplace run by a woman named Mavis Clarke. I was absolutely rocked to my roots by the exploration of racism, attitude and behaviour in this group and was viscerally affected by this. At the end of the workshop Mavis put a piece of paper in my hand and left. It said 'call me, you need to work with me' and her phone number.
I called Mavis, she started to train me as her assistant in anti-racism work and eventually I developed my own work and also graduated from my degree course and set up an independent consultancy. I cannot believe how wonderful it was to have someone literally discover me in a course, see my potential and offer to nurture me and help me to develop.
The work I now do has helped make me feel more comfortable in the world. It makes the world feel smaller and differences between people seem so matter-of-fact and normal that I am grateful for what my work continues to give me.
I meet all sorts of people in many different organisations. I am less dogmatic than I was and I give my course participants more space to be themselves. I continue to love what I do, even though I'm pretty tired at the end of a day. I am still grateful for what Mavis gave me. I haven't seen her for over 25 years and can't trace her. I'd love to find her and thank her again.
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