Creating my own Blockbuster Life

However, 2025 has got off to a great start.

I’m fortunate to work for a people-centred organisation, The Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB), which exists to help victims of uninsured and hit-and-run driving. I have to admit to being sceptical when I first joined them about whether their principles extended to their own staff. I’m really happy to confirm that they do.

It was important to me not to lose sight of the things I’m passionate about even though I have a demanding role.  One of my biggest passions is to reduce the prevalence of domestic abuse.

Just before Christmas I launched MIB’s first Domestic Abuse Support Network (DASN), and at the end of January, I spoke at their regular all-staff meeting about the importance of every workplace being a safe place, and how employers need to safeguard their staff, particularly those who are victims and survivors of Domestic Abuse, but also to support the perpetrators who also need help.

I asked my gathered colleagues to look around them and to imagine that 1 in 4 of the women, and 1 in 7 of the men they work with daily, are hiding a reality that no-one speaks of. I reminded them that domestic abuse is indiscriminate. It doesn’t care about job title, salary, ethnicity, culture, gender, age or any other characteristics that differentiate us.

Myself and two very brave colleagues stood up and shared our stories, clearly demonstrating how indiscriminate domestic abuse can be.

The next steps for the Domestic Abuse Support Network are to create a Domestic Abuse Policy, and provide safe spaces and trained colleagues who can support those living with the reality of Domestic Abuse in the present or past without ever asking “Why don’t you just leave?” because those of use who have gone through it, or who are going through it, know that it’s never that easy.

I have been overwhelmed by the number of colleagues who have contacted me to ask how they can help, but perhaps more importantly, I’ve felt a sense of pride in those colleagues who reached out to me and my fellow speakers to express how our stories have helped them, and how they feel a little less ashamed about their ‘secret’.

I’m looking forward to the next part of my chapter with MIB, and watching the DASN grow to support the needs of my colleagues who keep turning up to work to ensure MIB delivers on its promises, despite what they’re going through themselves.

Rewriting my script has been just what I’ve needed.  I’m still doing all the things I love, still coaching clients, but doing them in a way that works for me.  You could say I’ve created my own Blockbuster Life.