“I treated my MS diagnosis as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. I wanted to do things I wouldn’t have done before”

Some people with MS prefer not to tell anyone. But I’ve always favoured being open about it with my employers and have found having a support network to be crucial.

The value of a professional support network is often overlooked. We usually talk about networking in a career progression and personal development sense, but it should be so much more than that.

I treated my diagnosis as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. I wanted to do things I wouldn’t have done before. I learnt to tap dance. I took up rowing again, which I had loved at university.

I stepped up my running training and ran my first half marathon in London’s Royal Parks in October 2018. I looked for new opportunities afforded to me by my MS diagnosis, and after a rigorous British Rowing classification test I competed as a para-rower in the British Rowing Indoor Championships.

I always talk about having a ‘life-work’ balance rather than a ‘work-life’ balance because life should come first. It’s so important to have downtime, particularly if you are managing a chronic condition which can be exacerbated by high stress levels. If you put work first, at some point it's going to catch up with you and could leave you burnt out.

But my diagnosis also stopped me from putting off the things I wanted to do from a professional perspective. I moved to News UK to work in-house. Now, I’ve been at real estate services firm CBRE for just over five years, and recently became senior director and head of strategy, in the firm’s international advisory legal team.

I enjoy the interactions I have with people across our international team. The work is so interesting because there are differences, culturally and legally, but so many similarities. As lawyers, we are often more aligned in the law than we think. It’s also fun to walk down the street and see a CBRE sign on a building and think, “we worked on that!”

My first reaction to being nominated as an ‘in-house lawyer of the year’ finalist for the Women in Law awards was “was this email meant for me?!” It was definitely a very proud career moment.

Making the legal profession more inclusive

I have been representing disabled solicitors on the Law Society Council for over two and a half years. I got involved after attending meetings and events with the Law Society’s Disabled Solicitors Network.

I absolutely love it. I make sure everything that is discussed at Council is considered through the lens of how it will impact disabled solicitors in the profession.

So, if there’s a Law Society event, it means making sure it is accessible for all. That doesn’t just mean in terms of access to the building – it includes things like reserved hours that are quieter for people with neurodivergent conditions.

Today, I think more people feel comfortable having conversations about disabilities than in the past. But there is still work to be done to remove any actual or perceived stigmas altogether. Everyone should be encouraged to bring up what they need and what would help them at work.

There can still be a damaging perception at some organisations that when someone asks for ‘reasonable adjustments’ – which are legally defined – they somehow want to take advantage of the system. I’ve never seen that being the case. People just want the same career opportunities and a chance at progressing in the law as their non-disabled counterparts.

Another key issue for the Law Society and the DSN in 2025 is monitoring the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) and making sure the examinations are accessible for all candidates who ask for reasonable adjustments. Many instances we’re hearing of suggest it can be otherwise.

Some practising solicitors are still reluctant to declare a disability worrying that it might jeopardise their career.They don’t feel comfortable because the culture of their organisation isn’t open or supportive. The focus on the billable hour doesn’t help. I’ve heard of cases where people are worried about being labelled lazy if they share details of a disability.

I think companies who get diversity and inclusion right show a commitment to driving change and inclusivity, rather than just giving unsubstantiated soundbites. It could be taking part in the InterLaw Diversity Forum UK Model Diversity Survey, for example – that's a metric to help organisations hold themselves accountable.

Being an inclusive profession is not something that should just be a competitive advantage. Everybody has a role to play, and we can achieve more by collaborating on shared inclusion goals within the wider profession. Change should involve law firms, those in receipt of legal services and the media too, as well as people who are impacted by disabilities themselves.

Learning about MS

My message to all employers is not to make assumptions about MS – it encompasses a huge spectrum of experiences. If you’re a manager of someone with MS, be curious. Make sure you learn what that person needs and how they want to refer to their disability. Involve them in conversations about how the workplace is set up, as well as team and office structures.

Symptoms such as fatigue can be brought on by stress or temperature changes. People should be able to say to their line manager when they are fine and when they’re not. For example, some people may prefer to avoid the rush-hour commute or adjust their working hours when their symptoms are particularly bad, but everyone is different so managers should create safe spaces for impacted individuals to discuss what works best for them.

And MS changes day-to-day. So if somebody doesn't ask for a reasonable adjustment for weeks, months or even years of being in a new role or a new company, it doesn't mean that won't change.

Everybody with MS is different. But one thing that unites us all is the flexibility and adaptability to deal with uncertainty and unexpected symptoms. If you've got resilience and the positive mindset, and a drive to turn adversity into an opportunity, that’s always a good base to start from. That’s certainly helped me in my career.