The Ascent and The Cost
For over 12 years, I immersed myself in the fast-paced, high-stakes world of business leadership. As a Director of Building Surveying, I managed teams, built a successful company, and navigated complex corporate structures. On paper, I was the very definition of Black Excellence.
In reality, I was paying an exorbitant, invisible tax. The emotional labour of constant code-switching, the hypervigilance required to exist in rooms not designed for me, and the persistent need to be 'twice as good' slowly eroded my well-being. My success was built on a foundation of severe identity suppression.
The Breaking Point
The human body keeps the score. After more than a decade of this sustained, systemic extraction, my body finally said, "No more." I experienced a burnout so profound and severe that it led to hospitalisation. It was a terrifying wake-up call that forced a complete halt to the life I had built.
It was at this exact moment I stopped asking, "Why aren't I resilient enough?" and started asking, "Why did this system require so much from me in the first place?"
A Year of Restoration in Jamaica
To truly heal, I had to disconnect entirely. I spent over a year in Jamaica, reconnecting with my roots, my environment, and most importantly, my own body. During this restorative period, I realised that intellectual understanding of burnout wasn't enough; the trauma of corporate extraction was stored physically. This revelation led me to deeply study somatic healing, eventually qualifying as a trauma-informed, somatic resilience coach.
Building Liberation Infrastructure
Driven by my own recovery, I expanded my studies into organisational psychology to understand the systemic mechanics of what had happened to me—and what was happening to thousands of other BAME professionals. This culminated in The Cost of Black Excellence™ research, documenting the lived experiences of over 1,000 UK professionals.
Today, I seamlessly combine my 12 years of corporate leadership and business coaching with my expertise in emotional healing and nervous system regulation. I do not teach resilience—because you are already resilient enough. Instead, I provide the strategic and somatic infrastructure required for true professional liberation.
