In October 2024 I had the great privilege of saying a few words to West Lothian College graduates at an uplifting ceremony. Here’s an excerpt about who inspired me.

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In past graduation speeches I’ve quoted famous inspirational people – Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Maya Angelou.

This year, I’ve reflected on who inspired me most in my life. And, although I would never have acknowledged it as a young person, I’ve come to realise that my biggest inspiration was my mum.

She had five kids by the time she was 26 and had to drag them around Scotland every couple of years to live wherever my dad could find work – a family of seven living in a one-bedroom house in the highlands, a caravan in Lanark, and a one-room single-end tenement in Glasgow. I was ten years old when my parents finally got a council house and settled down in the town where they spent the rest of their lives.

As children, we thought this was normal. As an adult, I was able to understand how tough it must have been for my mum and the sacrifices she made to keep us together, fed and clothed. My dad worked hard, but it was my mum that got us through lean times when there was no money for the basics.

In the last fifteen years of her life she worked for the council as a night cleaner and was hugely proud of how clean she kept the public toilets. In those days, groups of teenagers who had nowhere to go and nothing to do used to hang out at the toilets. Many saw them as trouble – and sometimes they were – but ‘wee Betty’ as they called her, built relationships with them, listened to them and shared her chips with those who were hungry. There were never any problems at the toilets when wee Betty was on duty!

Why am I sharing this?

Because inspiration often comes from those around us – even when it’s not obvious!

My mum left school at 15 with no qualifications. But, without either of us knowing it, her grit, determination, deep sense of fairness and empathy seeped into my bones and shaped the person, the partner, the parent, the student, the employee and the manager that I became.

Think about who inspired you and, if you ever get the chance, tell them.

Your success is inspirational. You inspire me. I’m sure you inspire your friends, families and people you’ve learned and worked with.

It’s 33 years since I graduated and walked across a stage like this. Since then, there have been twists and turns in my career, even the occasional dead-end. But they all led to me gaining new skills and insights into what was important to me, which led me to the next step in my career. Eventually, they led to this job – the best job I’ve ever had, working with the best people and supporting the best students!

And, it all started when I went to college at the age of 25.

Thanks mum ❤️