Throughout the various stages of my career, there has been one constant – supporting others. Leaving school having done pretty poorly in my GCSE’s, I reluctantly went to college to study Childcare [the honest truth is, I wasn’t interested in continuing in formal education but with the push of my family and a good friend I went along with it] thankfully the course I chose was practical, with lots of placements, no exams and a whole heap of written assignments – which meant that by some small miracle I made it to the end of two years of studying and passed.

At 18 I knew there was absolutely no way I would be convinced by anyone to follow the formal academic path any further and decided not to go to university – instead I chose “The University of Life” … I packed my bags and hopped on a flight to go and see some of the world beyond my beloved hometown of Brighton. I wasn’t 100% sure of my plans, but I was sure that I would succeed in fully funding my adventures away from home independently and was determined I wouldn’t ever need to be bailed out by the “bank of Mum and Dad”. I had a blast for a couple of years and when it was time to come home I did so with my head held high as I had managed to achieve my goal of independence.

My career in HR really began a few years later when I learned I had a passion for helping people in learning new skills and knowledge. I was fortunate enough to do this in the travel industry which allowed me to learn more about the world while I was at the same time educating others. As my career developed I knew HR was absolutely the path for me and despite my fears and poor academic achievements I decided to embark on a degree in HR. This decision accelerated my career more than I could have ever anticipated and no sooner as I had accomplished completing my degree, I decided to go straight into a Masters.

In 2018 at the age of 37 I graduated with an MSc in Human Resources Development, it may have taken me longer than most, but I got there in the end. My passion for my profession leads me to want to share the experiences I have in the work I do, and so I have bravely taken to the stage at various conferences to share stories of my work – this doesn’t come easily to me but I stay focused on the idea that for us to grow we must learn, and sharing allows others to learn.

In recent years I have given my time to mentoring young adults who are early in their careers. This is work I adore – it gives me energy knowing that I can help to encourage people to be brave in their ambitions. The joy I get from this led me to the creation of DREAM BIG : BELIEVE BIGGER a blog which I hope brings confidence to anyone who is looking to achieve something great – whether it’s big or small.

I hope you enjoy. Nebel

All photography credited to https://chanellejade.com/ @neljadephoto