Over the last few years I’ve learned that nothing in life is permanent; uncertainty is the only certainty.

Like many teenagers, I had failed to grasp just how true this statement was. I'd had a conventional upbringing, I was on track to secure the grades that would map out my future, and I could see the life that lay ahead of me.

That was, until I became pregnant at 18. 

The result was that my life became unrecognisable. Within a few short months I was homeless, I faced my A levels 7 months' pregnant, and I was forced into adulthood overnight. 

Looking back, I often wonder how I did it. 

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My past experiences had proven to me that I was capable of anything I set my mind to.

I was frightened, I was unprepared, but importantly: I persevered. It taught me today that we are always stronger than we think, and capable of so much more than we can imagine. I only wish I had known that then as deeply as I do now. 

Faced with a new life and an uncertain future ahead of me, I threw myself into my studies. I scraped through my exams and secured a spot to study Sociology at Bath University.  I worked hard, knowing everything I did now was not just for me, but to build abetter life for my daughter. 

This led me to a career in HR, which gave me and my daughter the stability we needed to undergo another change. When Lydia was 7, I realised my heart wasn't really in my career, and I really wanted to be a solicitor. This new goal came with a host of challenges: financial, emotional, and the simple luxury of time. But my past experiences had proven to me that I was capable of anything I set my mind to. I felt emboldened, and now, I was no stranger to change. 

I fought tooth and nail and found a law firm willing to offer me a training contract and sponsor me to go back to Uni. Two years later I qualified and began my career in the legal industry. 

But, it wasn't as I had imagined. While I found the work intellectually stimulating, I struggled to find a firm where I could truly be myself. I found myself drowning in age-old traditions, archaic attitudes, and stifling environments.

I wanted more, and I couldn't accept that my career had to come with sacrificing who I was. 

This eventually led to me discovering what I really wanted to do: creating a business that embraced difference, diversity, and importantly: change. The sum of my experiences had brought me here. I had gone from a teenager, facing the future with fear, to a woman who understands that the unexpected twists and turns of life are the things that makes it great. 

Now, the prospect of a new challenge, and an uncertain future, doesn't fill me with fear: but assures me that an important adventure lies ahead.