http://www.beyondthebarriersacademy.com/

Beyond the Barriers Academy, London (2025)

04/12/2025

Why Inclusion Is Good for Men Too

One of the biggest misconceptions
about DEI?

That it’s “for women”
or “for minority groups.”

But the truth is this:
When women advance,
men benefit too.

Happier.
Healthier.
More engaged.
Better relationships.
Stronger teams.

Inclusion raises
the standard of leadership
for everyone.

Most men I work with
want to help
they just don’t always see
the invisible barriers.

As Stephen Covey says:
“We see the world not as it is,
but as we are.”

Allyship starts with awareness.
Impact comes from action:

Using your voice.
Challenging bias.
Championing talent.
Changing how decisions
are made.
Creating equitable access
and opportunity.

Inclusion isn’t a zero-sum game.
It’s a rising tide.

And when men join the work
genuinely, consistently,
and courageously
everyone rises with them.

03/12/2025

Sponsorship: The Most Underrated Leadership Accelerator

If I could recommend one intervention
to accelerate equity, progression,
and leadership pipelines?

Sponsorship. Every time.

I’ve seen its impact
in global professional services,
and with clients across law, finance,
insurance and tech.

Mentoring helps people navigate
the system.
But sponsorship opens doors
into the system.

It shifts visibility.
It shifts opportunity.
It shifts outcomes.

And it engages leaders
in the work of equity
not as observers,
but as active participants.

Sponsorship isn’t about fixing people.
It’s about fixing systems
that reward proximity,
not potential.

People who are sponsored rise faster.
Sponsors become better leaders.
And organisations build
sustainable, diverse,
future-ready pipelines.

As you plan for 2026, ask:
Who are you sponsoring?
Who are you advocating for
when they’re not in the room?

Because this is where
real change begins.

02/12/2025

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion isn’t disappearing.

It’s evolving and needed now more than ever.

Over the past year,
anti-DEI rhetoric has grown louder.
Leaders are questioning the work.
Teams are confused.
And many are wondering
if inclusion still matters.

Here’s what I shared recently on a podcast interview:

The backlash isn’t proof that DEI doesn’t work.
It’s proof that we haven’t explained
why it matters clearly enough.

Too often it’s framed as a zero-sum game
the myth that advancing one group
disadvantages another.
It simply isn’t true.

When DEI is done well:
performance rises,
innovation accelerates,
retention improves,
trust deepens,
and leadership standards rise
for everyone.

This is strategy,
not symbolism.
This is culture,
not compliance.

And as organisations prepare for 2026,
the real question is:
Are we building workplaces
where people can thrive
and perform at their best?

This is why we do the work we do
to help leaders understand
how workplaces really work,
and how inclusion strengthens
both people and performance.

DEI isn’t a trend.
It’s a competitive advantage.

Are you taking full advantage of the opportunity?

28/11/2025

MIND THE GAP WEEK Why It All Matters

As this week draws to a close,
one message is clear:
these gaps are connected
and they are systemic.

The gender pay gap.
The investment gap.
The health gap.
The leadership gap.
The emotional load gap.

They show up differently,
but they stem from the same roots:
systems built around a male default,
assumptions about women’s capability,
and a long history of underinvestment
in women’s work, bodies and ideas.

And the cost is not just personal
it’s organisational, social and economic.

When women are paid fairly,
economies grow.
When women receive investment,
innovation accelerates.
When women’s health is understood,
workplaces retain talent.
When women lead,
teams perform better.

Closing these gaps isn’t “nice to have.”
It’s one of the greatest opportunities
of our time.

This is why I do the work I do:
to help organisations see
the full picture
not just the symptoms,
but the system.

To support leaders
men and women
to understand the hidden barriers
shaping performance.

To help high-performing women rise
without burning out
or minimising themselves.

And to create cultures where people
feel safe, seen and supported.

Progress isn’t automatic.
It’s intentional.
And it starts with leadership,
awareness and action.

If you’ve followed
Mind the Gap Week,
my invitation is simple:

take this conversation
into your workplace.
Ask the hard questions.
Look beneath the surface.

Because when we close these gaps,
we all move forward.

Let’s keep going together.

Because we ALL stand to gain when we do.

27/11/2025

MIND THE GAP WEEK | - The Investment Gap

Everyone loves the story of the
“self-made entrepreneur.”
But we rarely talk about the structural
barriers shaping who gets funded.

Here’s the truth:
Women are not underperforming.
They are underfunded.

In the UK, only 2% of VC funding
goes to all-female founding teams.
Mixed-gender teams receive around 15%.
All-male teams receive the rest.

And female founders receive
less than 1% of total deal value.

Yet when women do secure investment?
They deliver 35% higher ROI
and generate more revenue per pound
than male-led businesses.

Imagine what would be possible
if funding aligned with performance
not with outdated perceptions
of who looks “credible,” “scalable,”
or “investable.”

More innovation.
More jobs.
More diverse problem-solving.
More economic growth.
More representation in the sectors
shaping our future.

But right now, the pipeline is leaking
talent, ideas, and opportunity.

I see brilliant women every day
leaders, operators, visionaries
holding back not because of
a lack of ambition,
but because the ecosystem
was never built with them in mind.

This is why I do the work I do.
To help women step into rooms
not designed for them
and to help organisations, investors
and leaders redesign those rooms
so they work for everyone.

The entrepreneurial gap won’t
close itself.
Progress is intentional.
Investment is a choice.
And bias is a habit that can be changed.

When we back women,
we all rise.

Change doesn’t just happen in boardrooms or investment committees.
It happens in our everyday choices.
And Christmas is full of them.

So as you shop for gifts this year,
consider backing women-led businesses.
Support the founders creating jobs,
driving innovation,
and building products that make our lives better.

This is how we close the gap
one intentional act at a time.

26/11/2025

MIND THE GAP WEEK | The Health Gap

Following the fabulous .co event last week, one statistic has stayed with me - haunting me, in fact.

Only 5% of overall health investment goes to women’s health.

Remove oncology… and it drops to 1%.

One percent.

Melinda Gates has been vocal about this -and she’s right.

We cannot close gender gaps if we continue to overlook the fundamentals of women’s health.

Here’s the truth:

Women are not “small men”

Our bodies function differently.

Our symptoms present differently.

Our risks and needs are different.

Yet research funding, clinical trials, diagnostics, medication, and even workplace expectations still centre the male “default body.”

For decades, women were excluded from clinical trials entirely.

Even now, many drugs are tested primarily on men… then prescribed to women with little understanding of how they actually work for us.

This isn’t a gap.

It’s a structural blind spot.

And it’s why Melinda Gates’ recent commitment to invest $1B into women’s health innovation matters so much. She’s funding solutions for menopause, maternal health, gynaecological conditions, AI diagnostics, and redesigning clinical research so women’s bodies are no longer an afterthought.

This is the kind of leadership that changes systems.

Because when women’s health improves, societies improve.

Families stabilise.

Workplaces retain talent.

Economies grow.

I see the impact every day: women pushing through pain, burnout, and shame because they don’t feel permitted to prioritise their health - or fear being seen as “less committed.”
This gap isn’t a women’s issue.

It’s a leadership issue.

An economic issue.

A societal issue.

And it reinforces why inclusion must always begin with the lived realities of the people we expect to perform, lead and thrive.

Closing the health gap isn’t optional.

It’s essential.

We all have a role to play - as leaders, colleagues, and citizens.

Share the data.

Challenge the defaults.

Advocate for investment.

A fairer future for women is a better future for everyone.

25/11/2025

What if your gender pay gap
is actually a leadership gap?

The data tells one story
but the culture tells another.

A gender pay gap doesn’t just show
what women earn.
It reveals who gets seen,
sponsored, and stretched.

Who’s trusted with visibility.
Who’s chosen for leadership.
Who’s still proving, performing, perfecting - instead of progressing.

Behind the numbers are patterns:
📉 Fewer women in stretch roles
📉 Fewer sponsorship opportunities
📉 Slower progression after career breaks
📉 Lower bonuses despite high performance

This isn’t about capability.
It’s about opportunity and access.

When we frame the pay gap
as a leadership gap,
The solutions start to look different.

We move from:
❌ Adjusting pay to close optics
to
✅ Redesigning systems to close inequity.

At Beyond the Barriers Academy,
we partner with organisations
to translate pay transparency into
leadership accountability.

Because transparency without action
builds mistrust.
But transparency with accountability
builds culture - and credibility.

💡 Gender equity isn’t a cost centre.
It’s a performance strategy.

And closing your leadership gap
is the smartest investment you’ll make.

💬 What story does your pay data tell?
And what might it reveal about your culture?

24/11/2025

This week, we’re sharing Mind the Gap Week - a series where we unpack the gender pay gap, the entrepreneurial pay gap, the women’s health gap, and what these disparities really look like in practice.

“I just thought it would sort itself out.”

That’s what a senior leader said to me at a conference last week when we were talking about the barriers women still face in organisations today.

And he wasn’t being dismissive.

He was being honest.

But that honesty is exactly the problem.

If the people with power, influence and access to resources still believe gender inequality will ‘sort itself out’ - we’re nowhere near where we think we are.

Because nothing in inequality sorts itself out.

Not systems.

Not culture.

Not the lived experience of women who are still navigating structures that weren’t built with them in mind.

What it showed me - again - is this:

We don’t just have an awareness problem.

We have an accountability problem.

There is still so much work to do.

Not in theory, but in practice.

In leadership rooms, in everyday decisions, in who gets sponsored, supported, stretched and seen.

Progress doesn’t happen by accident.

It happens because leaders choose to notice, to question, and to act.

And until that becomes the norm, conversations like the one I had last week will keep reminding us why DEI work is not ‘nice to have’ - it’s necessary.

19/11/2025

Still reflecting on yesterday’s .co Health event.
So much wisdom. So much connection. So much care.

Grateful to Tamara Gilan for creating a space
where women can pause, breathe, and be real.

We weren’t just talking health we were living it.
In our stories, our questions, our truths.

Every speaker brought something powerful to the table.
Deep thanks to each of you for your energy & insight.

The biggest takeaway?
That women’s health and well-being is not a luxury.
It’s a leadership imperative.

When women prioritise their health and wellbeing, everything shifts.
Not just performance, but perspective, power, peace, pleasure.

And when we listen to our bodies, and to each other
we remember just how wise and capable we are.

Grateful to be part of the FFinc community.
Proud to be in rooms like this.

Here’s to more of this. More truth. More change.
More women leading in ways that feel good, not just look good.

I invite you to follow these speakers; you won’t be disappointed.

18/11/2025

Your mind never sleeps.
Even when you do.

Before you drift off,
your brain moves into a theta state
a frequency where your subconscious
becomes wide open to suggestion.

This is the window where your mind
is most receptive to new ideas,
beliefs, and emotions.

Whatever you tell yourself
in that state,
your mind accepts as truth.

It doesn’t argue.
It doesn’t rationalise.
It simply creates.

That’s why late-night overthinking
is often self-sabotage.
You’re feeding your subconscious fear —
and it starts looking for proof of it.

But the same mechanism
can create powerful change.

If you feed your mind peace,
it creates calm.
If you feed it possibility,
it creates momentum.

This is how hypnosis works
it helps you consciously communicate
with the part of your mind
that drives 95% of your behaviour.

So tonight,
instead of replaying worries,
try giving your mind new instructions.

🧠 “Tomorrow I’ll wake with clarity.”
🧠 “I am ready for what’s next.”
🧠 “I am safe, capable, and enough.”

Your subconscious doesn’t judge.
It simply obeys.

And that’s not magic.
That’s neuroscience.

💬 What’s one thought you’ll feed your mind
before sleep tonight?

13/11/2025

Action doesn’t have to be big to be powerful.

So many of my clients tell me,
“I wish I’d started this work sooner.”

They wish mindset and subconscious work
was part of their leadership development
not something they found in a moment of crisis.

Because by the time they reach out,
they’ve already been working so hard
to push through self-doubt and “not enoughness.”

They’ve been holding it all together,
over-delivering, over-compensating,
and quietly burning out in the process.

And then comes the realisation,
you don’t have to wait for breaking point
to start doing the inner work.

That’s what makes this work so powerful.
When you finally release what’s been holding you back,
it’s not just freeing it’s transformational.

Confidence stops being a performance
and starts becoming your natural state.

The Beyond the Barriers™ Experience
is about that exact moment
when you stop surviving success
and start feeling safe in it.

Because when you take aligned action
from a place of belief rather than fear,
everything changes.

So don’t wait for the next crisis.
Start the work now.
Your future self will thank you.

12/11/2025

The best investment you’ll ever make is in people.

This photo makes me smile.
Because it captures one of my favourite things
connecting great people with other great people.

When you spend time with those who lift you higher,
you spark new ideas, fresh energy, and real possibility.

This night reminded me that connection is currency.
The kind that compounds through generosity,
collaboration, and joy.

Every meaningful conversation, shared laugh,
and moment of encouragement adds up
to more than opportunity.
It builds community.

Whether in business or life, the power of connection
isn’t just in what you get, but what you give.

So spend your time wisely
with those who inspire, challenge, and celebrate you.

Because when you surround yourself
with people who want to see you win,
you rise together.

Beyond the Barriers Academy

04/12/2025

03/12/2025

02/12/2025

28/11/2025

27/11/2025

26/11/2025

25/11/2025

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19/11/2025

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12/11/2025

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