Celebrating Your Authentic Self

Being your authentic self is how we all wish to live our lives, but what does authenticity mean when it comes to self? This practice is living as who you truly are, an honest representation of you.

Every day, many individuals live in fear of being their true self, worrying about lack of acceptance and support from those around them (amongst other worries) if they were to lead with authenticity.  These social anxieties can surround many different aspects of people’s lives; causing individuals to become verbally quieter in larger groups or changing the way an individual dresses to ‘fit in’ more with those around them. For those who struggle with gender dysphoria and identify as transgender, these social anxieties and uneasy emotions go as far as living in a body whose biological sex does not correlate to their identified gender.

November 13th– 19th marks Transgender Awareness Week UK - a time that is dedicated to raising the visibility of transgender individuals; bringing awareness to, and addressing the discrimination this community faces on a regular basis.

We are incredibly fortunate to work with some exceptional individuals who promote inclusion, adversity, and LGBTQ+ rights in a wide variety of industries; all of whom share their experiences, stories, and ideas on how society can move together towards inclusion – so everyone can live their most authentic self.

We felt that it was important to highlight Transgender Awareness Week this year, as allies and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community. We are specialists in finding the best speaker for your LGBTQ+, diversity and inclusion event; we are actively dedicating more of our time to educating ourselves further on these matters. We hope that by doing this, we can further share our knowledge with others! Having conversations and discussions with them that has allowed us to further our own education, understanding knowledge on the issues surrounding the community.

Charllie Martin's moving story represents a paradigm shift within the sports industry; her incredible success being a transgender racing driver has led her to win multiple awards and discuss her journey on national television. She shared her entire transition via her YouTube channel to help inspire transgender people worldwide to understand and begin their journey! Charlie now works as Sports Champion for Stonewall, Patron for Mermaids and Ambassador for Athlete Ally.

Kellie Maloney managed the iconinc boxing legend, Lennox Lewis, for over a decade until her retirement from the sport in 2013. She has furthermore become a much sought after player on the motivational speaking circuit since her reassignment surgery in 2014, which became a huge media storm! Kellie now works to encourage LGBT individuals around the world to visit the Great Fort Lauderdale area in Florida, of which she is an ambassador for. Kellie's inspirational, resilient and sincere story acts as a boost for many.

After suffering from gender dysphoria, depression and addiction from holding in a secret that almost tore her life apart and pushing her to the brink of suicide, Dr Sophie Cook made the extraordinary decision to become the woman she felt that she was born to be. Following her transition came bounds of success, including becoming the first transgender woman to work in football's Premier League as a club photographer for AFC Bournemouth! Sophie is a true inspiration who speaks to organinsations about mental health, diversity and inclusion.

Along with Charlie, Kellie and Sophie we have many other fantastically moving diversity and equality speakers who encourage and motivate audiences to live and celebrate their authentic self. Why not book one for your diversity and inclusion event?

If you, or someone you know is transgender and needs support, resources, or simply wants to find out more information about the transgender community, please see below for helpline links:

http://mindlinetrans.org.uk/

https://switchboard.lgbt/

https://www.transunite.co.uk/

https://www.gires.org.uk/

Call us: +44 (0) 20 7607 7070 or Email us: info@speakerscorner.co.uk