We were recently delighted to welcome swimming Paralympian and apprentice lawyer Amy Marren to a Totum knowledge-sharing session. Here, we share some of the highlights of the conversation: Amy’s experiences pursuing sporting success and how she found the transition from a hugely inclusive world of para sports to a working world that in 2017 was only just waking up to the idea of diversity.
Amy Marren is only 24 years old but she’s already achieved more
than many manage in a lifetime. A double Paralympian and World and European
champion para swimmer, Amy had already hit peak performance as an elite athlete
before she decided to retire from swimming aged 21 to focus on a whole new
life: a career in legal. Her entry into the professional world from the
sporting limelight provides an invaluable perspective on disability diversity in
the workplace: one that is both inspiring and insightful.
Amy was born without her right hand in east London in 1998. Her
family were instrumental to the development of Amy’s self-belief. From a young
age, they sent her on summer camps run by Reach, a charity for children with
upper limb disabilities, which surrounded her with people like herself, with
whom she undertook numerous activities from rock climbing to dry-slope skiing. Nothing
seemed impossible. Swimming lessons built on the back of this early confidence boost
and from 10 years old, she describes life as a whirlwind of swimming training
and competitions.
‘I saw Ellie Simmons on the TV winning the Paralympics in
Beijing and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,’ Amy says. ‘I told my parents
and they were hugely supportive.’ At just 14, she competed as part of the
British team at the London Paralympics, before going on to win medals at both
the European Championships and the World Championships at 15, and then winning a
bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics when she was still only 18. ‘The
whole journey is my proudest achievement – there were peaks and troughs along
the way and getting through them all was massive for me,’ she says.
Onto law…
After all this, you’d be forgiven for thinking this wasn’t
time to start all over again. As a Paralympian she’d enjoyed access to
Paralympic villages where she says she was surrounded by people with every disability you can imagine
in a venue where every adjustment had been made to meet all athletes’ needs. ‘There
were many people like me as well as lots of people needing far more adjustments
than I did. It taught me that society puts limits on those with disabilities
but this doesn’t need to be the case,’ she says.
The environment was so inclusive, says Amy, that on the
village buses, there were more wheelchair spaces than seats. ‘It was amazing
and it made it so clear that disability is an umbrella term under which there
is a hugely wide spectrum of individuals whose varied needs could be considered
and met,’ she says.
So why shift to a business world, which was only just waking
up to the idea of diversity when Amy started her first apprenticeship in 2017? Even
now, many businesses can seem to prioritise every other aspect of diversity over
disability, despite the fact that over 20% of working-age adults are disabled.
In a sign of the positivity ingrained into her by her
sporting background, however, Amy describes the transition to the working world
as ‘seamless as it could be’. She describes the most shocking element of the
change as going from an environment where she was joking with people about
disability all the time, and where it was totally normal for everyone to have a
disability, to a professional working environment where there was no-one like
her and conversations on disability can feel awkward.
She also had to experience the odd shocker. When she was first
applying for apprenticeships at business-administration level, a firm invited
her into the office to take a spelling/grammar test but on noticing she only
had one hand, said she would have to do a typing test too as they were
concerned her typing would be too slow.
‘This had never been mentioned to me before and I asked if
everyone had to do it, and they said it was just me,’ Amy explains. She felt
singled out and embarrassed. ‘I immediately felt like they were putting limits
on me when they had no idea what I was capable of,’ she says. ‘I withdrew from
the process because I felt they wanted a one-size-fits-all for their workforce
and I wanted to work somewhere that could see the potential for a disabled
employee to make an extraordinary contribution.’
Thankfully, her experiences since then have been far more
positive and she says her current employer, the education provider BPP, has
been fantastic. ‘They couldn’t have done enough for me. I had an assessment early
on, in which I felt I could be very upfront about what I needed – from a
slightly different keyboard with more widely spread keys to a left-handed mouse.
They were very willing to do whatever was needed – they have a reputation for
giving every employee the best opportunity to be themselves.’
And for whatever BPP has given, Amy offers massive potential
in return. Her sporting background means that she brings a determination to the
professional world and a high level of productivity due to her experience of
working hard to achieve success. ‘I’m a stickler for routine too – because of
my sporting background I have no problem with the office routine and I am much
more considerate because I have experienced all of those peaks and troughs in
sport. I know life isn’t always easy!’
Advice for firms and recruiters
Amy advises businesses to prioritise asking questions about
adjustments that employees might need to do their jobs to the best of their
abilities. ‘Some disabilities may require different or more adjustments over
time too, so don’t forget to regularly check in and ask again,’ she advises.
‘Also ask someone if they’re comfortable to talk about their disability. In my
experience, nine out of ten people will be happy to talk about it, but everyone
is an individual and we must respect those who would prefer not to. We need to
stop disability being the elephant in the room; it’s just another aspect of
life.’
Amy is incredibly positive about her disability – for
obvious reasons: it has been her superpower, as she describes it. But she sees
that possibility for others as well. ‘To parents, try and find people with your
child’s disability. Going on the summer camps with Reach was such a big moment
for me. The sooner parents can find that kind of safe space, the better. It’s
so important.’
She dreams of a time when all workplaces are completely accessible.
‘It breaks my heart to see someone struggling off a bus in town then having to enter
their office through a back door because the main entrance doesn’t have
disabled access. Or someone with cerebral palsy who can’t use the stairs
because there’s no handrail. All lift button panels should have brail. I know
it’s difficult in some of our old London buildings but every business should be
considering the things they can do to open up opportunities for disabled
employees,’ she says.
Of course not everyone with a disability is going to be able
or willing to enjoy the sporting success that Amy has achieved. But when you
think of the superhumans that have competed at the Paralympics – athletes that
have blown away many of our preconceptions of disability – you realise that
there really isn’t any excuse any more. We must work to make the changes to our
businesses that accommodate our disabled working community, allowing everyone
to contribute fairly to the betterment of our businesses.
Huge thanks to Amy for spending time with us to share her
perspectives on disability and diversity in the sporting and professional
worlds. We wish her all the best in her legal career and look forward to
hearing her next success stories.
Find
out more about Totum’s approach to diversity and inclusivity in
recruitment.
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