John Powell shares the inspirational story of his career in care and health, from leaving school with no qualifications to becoming the managing director of his own domiciliary care company. This is his story:
Hi, I’m John.
I grew up on a troubled estate in the south east of England, surrounded by violence, drugs and alcohol addiction.
After leaving school aged 15 with dyslexia and no qualifications, I wanted a better life for myself, so I moved away to a different area and left my old life behind. I worked as an estate agent and doorman and whilst this paid the bills, it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.
I wanted to make a real difference.
After a decade, I found myself living in Devon with my two beautiful children. It was at this point I realised that I wanted more. I do care; I wanted to make a real difference to people’s lives and be a good role model for my own children. I started working at the local hospital as a healthcare assistant on the emergency medical unit. It was so different to anything I’d done before, I found it really rewarding. I was making those final moments in someone’s life better. It was tough, but a real privilege. The role was fast-paced and exciting, every day was completely different.
The hard work is worth it.
I wanted to learn more and develop my career, so I became a moving and handling trainer for the department. I really enjoyed helping other staff with their training and supporting them to develop their career. This is what prompted me to research setting up my own company; using all my knowledge and experience of health and social care from my three years working at the hospital.
It was a challenging time starting my own business, especially trying to balance this with family life and two young children, but the hard work was worth it. I progressed my own career by undertaking all the training I could access, and I eventually became the registered manager of my own domiciliary care company.
Seven years later I still love my job, it’s been challenging at times, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Every day is rewarding, from enabling people to live independent and healthy lives in their own homes, to supporting a fantastic staff team to develop their career and do a job they love.
I would encourage anyone interested in a career in care and health to go for it! If you have the passion and determination you can have a rewarding career that makes a positive impact on people’s lives every day. It doesn’t get better than that!
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