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Ten Minutes with Paralympian Businesswoman LIZ JOHNSON
Interview & Words Mollie Davies
Liz Johnson is a gold medal winning Paralympian, respected businesswoman and disability campaigner, a true leader in her field. The UK’s disability employment gap is at a shocking 28.6%, Liz runs two organisations that aim to close this gap. The Ability People is the first disability-led employment consultancy, and Podium is a marketplace for jobs, created for disabled freelancers, in order to connect diverse talent to meaningful work which meets their needs whilst catering to new remote ways of working. Liz has continued to inspire women and disabled people around the globe with her commitment to such a worthy cause. I caught up with Liz to find out more about her transition from athlete to businesswoman, learn how she juggles such a busy workload, and ask the qualities it takes to be a successful leader.
Mollie: Can you tell me a little about your condition, cerebral palsy, and how it has affected you?
Liz: I was born with cerebral palsy, which is brain damage due to a lack of oxygen at birth. It affects things like movement and coordination, strength and dexterity. There will always be challenges. Something as simple as pulling on a pair of jeans can leave me feeling totally exhausted. But these things are unavoidable, and you learn to adapt. The real barriers are those which are embedded throughout society; when train stations lack step-free access and when public spaces lack disabled bathrooms. Those things are completely avoidable and must be addressed.
Mollie: Your sport is swimming; what qualities do you think you have that enabled you to climb to the top of your game?
Liz: I wasn’t born with a natural swimming ability, but I did have all the attributes and skills required to be a good athlete. As it happened, my mum started taking me to swimming lessons when I was just three to help strengthen my muscles and I ended up loving the freedom of movement swimming gave me. It became an outlet for my competitive nature, and I think that drive is what really enabled me to be successful at it. I think it was important that I had something that I was passionate about and that taught me how to be resilient and use feedback to improve.
Everyone needs a support network of people believing in them and empowering them to achieve their goals. This is often completely lacking for disabled people, and the aim of The Ability People is to help employers become that support network for their employees, no matter what their background is.
Mollie: What really inspired you to set up your businesses?
Liz: I was watching the news one evening and they were reporting on the disability employment gap. Hearing how high that figure was - almost 30% in the UK at the time - made me furious. Having cerebral palsy might have meant that I navigate the world differently to the majority of people, but beyond that it has never stopped me from fulfilling my goals. It was heart-breaking to fully realise the extent to which people with disabilities are disadvantaged by traditional workplaces; by the way in which they are designed to accommodate the needs of able-bodied people. From that moment I resolved to close the disability employment gap, starting with setting up The Ability People (TAP). TAP is the first disability led employment consultancy, which works with companies to change their approach to diversity and help put in place policies and processes which are authentically inclusive of all staff - no matter what their needs.
Mollie: What significant hardships did you face along the way?
Liz: Whilst I was swimming, losing my mum was by far the most significant hardship I faced. But I think the reality is that as a person with a disability, there are constant underlying factors which make things more difficult. You don’t even realise they exist because you’ve had to deal with them your entire life, but they are there, and they’re significant because they shape who you are and how you live. But by far the biggest hardship disabled people have faced as a community, has been the fallout of the pandemic. The jobs crisis has hit people with disabilities particularly hard. People with disabilities were already twice as likely to be unemployed, but they’re now also twice as likely to be made redundant. Working so closely with people who are directly affected is tough to bear witness to. Ultimately however, it’s only made me more determined to help.
Mollie: How have you found the transition from athlete to businesswoman? How do you balance the two?
Liz: I can genuinely say that I’ve enjoyed the transition as there are so many similarities in the skill sets that I use and the challenges I face. There are always going to be preconceptions about what you are and aren’t capable of as someone with a disability. When you add the fact that I’ve come to the business world from a sporting background into the mix, it’s yet another stereotype to deal with. But I’ve found that companies are generally really receptive to what we’re trying to achieve through TAP and our new service, Podium. Employers come to us because they’re committed to becoming more inclusive. Or in the case of Podium, a jobs marketplace specifically for freelancers with disabilities, because they’re actively wanting to hire more diversely. What more, I think there are lots of qualities which you cultivate as an athlete, which really lend themselves to working in business. Resilience, the ability to focus on your goals, and the ability to motivate yourself for example. When it comes to balancing my work in the sporting world alongside my work with TAP and Podium, those qualities - alongside plenty of organisation skills - are key! Whilst I no longer compete, I have to be disciplined about carving time out of my schedule in order to continue mentoring other athletes and doing sports commentary on top of everything else.
Mollie: How important is it to you to empower other people with disabilities, and how do you think others, such as employers, can learn from what you do?
Liz: There are over 14 million individuals in the UK with a disability, and they have so much to offer. Empowering a workforce of this size through meaningful work which meets their needs, and by supporting them in the workplace is in everyone’s interests. The very reason that TAP and Podium exist, is to help employers engage with diverse talent and enable staff with different needs to fulfil this huge potential. Through our Disability Awareness and Education programmes we aim to help organisations understand the commercial benefit of a diverse workforce as well as the wider social impact. For society at large, empowering more people economically can only be a good thing. And, of course, empowering the disabled community through employment opportunities is necessary not least of all for people with disabilities themselves. Nobody can hope to lead a meaningful and fulfilling life without at least having the option to gain work which enables them to thrive.