Hi, I'm Izzy.

I grew up in a seaside town in Essex with my brother and parents. I was really into sports especially hockey, netball and athletics. I have many great memories of my childhood, but I did suffer with a lot of tension. I picked up on unresolved friction easily and learned to put other people’s challenges before mine, which made me a bit of a people pleaser. At the age of 11 I was diagnosed with moderate but untreatable scoliosis. This had a big impact on my mental health, and I experienced negative comments because of the curve in my spine. During my teens I began drinking to cope, especially in social situations where I felt self-conscious. It wasn’t always the healthiest relationship with alcohol. After school I went to university to study philosophy, followed by an MA in management. I started working as a business development lead for an apprenticeship provider focusing on social mobility, which I really enjoyed. However, I wanted to work for a larger company, so I joined Deloitte’s graduate scheme, working in systems engineering, as I was fascinated by new tech.

I’m now the Wellbeing Lead for Deloitte’s consultative business: Technology & Transformation in the UK, helping to build a sustainable, ‘people-first’ culture at the firm.

My role is to communicate with people in our business and showcase where they can find supportive materials for any help they may need. We want our people to feel safe sharing any challenges they’re having, weaving wellbeing into the way we work, to support our sustainable high-performance culture.

Before this role I was a consultant, helping public sector clients to implement new technology and improve processes. In November 2021, I was doing really well at work, but I wasn’t resting properly or managing my workload. As a result, I suffered from a major burnout. I felt exhausted all the time and struggled to get out of bed. I’d lost my sense of humour and felt very low. My scoliosis had also progressed without me noticing, leaving me in chronic pain.

With the support of Deloitte and my client, I took five months off work to recover.

Despite several setbacks, I was able to make huge progress with both my mental and physical health. I did a lot of physiotherapy for my scoliosis and went to therapy for my mental health. During this time, I also addressed my relationship with alcohol, developing more mindful drinking habits.

Before taking time out, I’d been supporting women’s wellbeing as a side of desk project. I also ran painting sessions for my clients during covid lockdowns. When I returned to work, I took a secondment in Flourish, which is the Wellbeing and Inclusion events programme for Technology & Transformation. This move led me to my current role. I get a serious buzz from helping people work through challenges and seeing teams improve their communication skills.