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Tell us about your journey
I was diagnosed late with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS), a genetic connective tissue disorder. Connective tissue is found throughout the body, including the eyes, lungs, heart, and blood. For me, it means living with chronic pain and fatigue. Because you cannot immediately tell just by looking at me, it is also an invisible condition.
Living with chronic illness has completely changed my understanding of resilience. I used to think resilience meant pushing through, finding a way to keep going and not letting things stop you. I now experience it rather differently. Sometimes resilience is knowing when to stop, adapting, asking for help and letting go of the idea that there is only one “right” way to do something. I have had many experiences making plans and having lots of ideas, only for my body to take the lead and force those plans to change. I have felt very frustrated when this happens, but it has taught me a great deal.
With chronic illness, your mental health becomes part of your whole health strategy. When your physical capacity is unpredictable and pain takes the lead, it can really affect your confidence, identity, relationships and sense of what is possible. Plans have to change, events get cancelled and lots of times, you have to grieve the version of life you thought you were going to have. Because of all this, I have become very aware of how closely our physical and mental well-being are connected. It is vital that we create environments where people do not have to hide the reality of what they are experiencing.
I feel that living with chronic conditions has taught me empathy. Because you cannot always tell what someone else is dealing with, I have learnt to become much more interested in asking, listening and staying curious, rather than making assumptions about what a person should be able to do.
You co-founded CEMS ACCESS to support students and alumni facing chronic health challenges. What inspired the initiative, and why is having a community like this so important?
Back in December 2023, I was looking forward to the CEMS Annual Events at the LSE. In my first year at the LSE in 1999, I heard about CEMS and volunteered to help at that year’s CEMS Annual Events, not knowing much about it as a first-year student. So it was special to go back again after so long.
I had also been due to interview Leo Lotto during the 2023 events as part of the CEMS 35th anniversary celebrations. However, I ended up in hospital having emergency surgery for a detached retina a week before. I then had another two surgeries and my sight changed.
I felt really low about missing the Annual Events, but I was so pleased to watch the graduation ceremony livestream. When Leo took the stage and I heard his words, I suddenly realised I could put the skills I learned during my CEMS experiences into practice as I recovered. Leo reminded me what being a CEMSie is all about, and how much strength lies in that, and in our fabulous community.
So when I finally managed to interview him, I told him about that moment and wondered whether, as a community, we could create a source of connection and support for people experiencing something similar. CEMS ACCESS grew out of recognising something that many people living with chronic health conditions experience: you can be surrounded by people and still feel incredibly alone. This can be especially challenging when you are also coming to terms with a new identity and a different way of living.
When we co-founded ACCESS, we wanted to create a space where students and alumni could talk openly about health challenges, disability, and the realities of navigating education and careers without having to explain or justify themselves first. For me, community matters because being understood and feeling part of something can be transformative. Sometimes, what is needed is not a solution but simple kindness: “I see you.” That can reduce the isolation that comes with invisible illness and create the confidence to ask for support.
I feel CEMS ACCESS exists to support our talented and ambitious CEMSies whose health may change or whose needs may not be immediately visible. Our community is about creating a space for that reality. And that makes CEMS even stronger.
As a chronic illness and workplace disability coach, what is one piece of advice you would give corporations to better support employees navigating mental health challenges and invisible disabilities?
Over the last few years, I've been creating a new identity and finding ways to make my invisible conditions visible. My health has made me rethink what work, identity, and contribution can look like, and that is OK. I've started developing my workplace disability coaching practice and learning even more about what meaningful support can look like.
So my advice would be: avoid trying to design support around an “average” or “typical” employee.
One thing I have realised is that our capacity changes from day to day. Our circumstances change. Our health changes. And just because the person sitting in front of you, presenting or talking to clients, can look completely fine, they can be using a huge amount of energy simply to get through the day.
When we talk about good inclusion, it is not about having a perfect list of policies and practices. It is more about creating a world where people have enough trust and flexibility to say, “This is what I need to do my best work,” without fearing they will be judged as less capable or less committed.
Listen to the person rather than making assumptions based on a diagnosis. Ask what would help. And understand that an adjustment that works brilliantly today may need to change tomorrow.
Flexibility is not a lack of standards; it is often what enables people to meet them.
How has the CEMS community influenced your approach to inclusive leadership and creating spaces where people feel safe to ask for support?
I feel so incredibly lucky that I went to that CEMS talk in 1999, years before I was eligible to apply. I was already captured by its spirit and purpose. So being accepted onto CEMS was a real dream for me.
I learnt so much during my CEMS studies, and what stood out was that leadership is fundamentally about people. My experience within the community, including serving on the Student Board and as Student Board President, showed me the value of bringing together people with very different experiences, perspectives and ambitions.
CEMS ACCESS has now added another dimension to that. It has reinforced for me that psychological safety is not created simply by telling people, “You can ask for help.” People need to believe that there will be no penalty for doing so.
Inclusive leadership means paying attention to who is speaking, who is not, what assumptions we are making and what barriers might be sitting underneath the surface. It also means being willing to say, “I don’t know. Tell me what would help.”
I think that is particularly important when talking about invisible disability and mental health. You do not need to understand someone’s experience completely in order to take it seriously.
On World Mental Health Day, what message would you like to share with future leaders about caring for themselves and supporting the well-being of others?
We are humans and so are the people you lead. They are people with real lives, real loves, real losses. And all of those things co-exist together in a very real way. I see ambition and wellbeing not as opposites, but as part of the same whole. Looking after yourself isn't an afterthought after everything you achieve; it is baked into the foundations of a sustainable life and career.
My experience has shown me that being adaptable all the time is amazing, but adapting to unrealistic expectations is draining and comes at a huge cost. I think that is one of the biggest lessons chronic illness has taught me: people do not necessarily become less capable because their circumstances change. Sometimes we simply need to change the environment around them so they can continue to contribute, participate, and belong.
As a future leader, take this opportunity to redefine what success looks like. It is not about doing more and more and more. It is about creating environments where you and the people you lead can do meaningful, purposeful work without having to drain yourselves to do it. Remain curious. Listen. Notice when you or someone else is struggling, even if they have not said so.
Make asking for support the norm, not the unusual. And perhaps most importantly, give yourself the same compassion you would readily give to someone else.
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Published 09.10.2026
