I was embarrassed. Ashamed, actually.
At 18 I walked out of a bank with two credit cards and a hefty overdraft. Nobody checked if I knew what I was doing. I certainly did not.
What followed were years of debt, stress, and shame I never spoke about. I walked 90 minutes each way to university three times a week just to save the bus fare. Eventually the weight of it broke me. I had to quit.
For years after that I worked my absolute hardest. I was praised, I was told I was valuable, I made my bosses look good. And I never got a pay rise.
Then in 2004, sitting on a beach in Turkey, I said out loud: something has to change. My phone rang.
Two weeks later I sat down in the hardest interview of my career. When it was over I walked home not knowing how it had gone.
My phone rang as I reached my door. I had the job. Then she went through the offer. At speed. And I said yes before I had even fully processed the number.
My circumstances had not changed. The market had not suddenly decided I was worth more. What changed was what I believed I deserved.
The ceiling was never out there. It was in here.
And that is why I built this course.