I’ve just delivered my first solo lived experience talk. It was for Wigan Borough Community Safety Partnership, which brings together the council, police, fire service, health and probation to tackle crime, antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol misuse and reoffending.
I grew up in Wigan. Three years ago I was part of the problems that partnership exists to deal with. Now I’m the one standing at the front, talking about how I got out.
This is what I shared, and why I’m going to keep sharing it.
Three years ago, this was my normal
Three years ago, all I thought life had to offer was drink, drugs and crime. I didn’t see it as a bad life. I saw it as normal, because it was all I knew.
I went through the addiction, the cells and jail. I’m not proud of it and I don’t dress it up. I’m not going to hide it either, because hiding it helps nobody.
Getting out was the hard part
People sometimes think change happens in one moment. For me it was a decision followed by a lot of hard days.
I had to get clean. I had to deal with my past instead of running from it. And I had to rebuild my life from nothing.
What got me through was routine. Training, showing up, doing the next right thing and then doing it again the day after. That’s where “discipline builds freedom” comes from. It’s how I got my life back.
When people bring up your past
There will always be people who bring up your past to try and bring you down. I used to let that bother me.
Now I look at it differently. I can’t change what happened. What I can do is use it. If my story stops one person making the mistakes I made, then the worst years of my life are worth something.
So these days I bring my past up myself, in front of a room full of people.
Why a lived experience speaker lands differently
There’s a difference between hearing about addiction and crime second-hand and hearing it from someone who has lived it.
I’m not there to lecture anyone. I’m there to be straight about what that life is like from the inside: what it looks like when you think it’s normal, what gets through to you and what doesn’t, and what it takes to turn it around.
That matters to young people who are close to making the choices I made. It also matters to the people working with them in schools, charities, prisons, the police and local authorities.
Book a lived experience talk, workshop or group session
Iron Minds Academy is how I put my experience to use. There are three ways I work with people:
- Talks and speaking: my story, told straight and shaped around your audience and what you want them to take away.
- Workshops and group sessions: boxing, circuits and fitness alongside honest conversation, so people are doing something together while they talk.
- One-to-one mentorship: time with a young person to listen, set goals and build habits that last.
I work with schools, charities, prisons, local authorities and the police. Every enquiry starts with who will be in the room and what you need the session to do.
This is only the beginning
It’s taken a lot to get here, and I feel like this is only the start.
If you want to change your life for the better, do it. Don’t live your life worrying about what people think or say about you. Chase your calling. Turn your past into something that can help someone else.
Your past doesn’t define your future.
If you’d like me to speak to your pupils, your team or the people you support, get in touch and we’ll start with a conversation.