Inspiring journey from homelessness to success shared by Devon managing director

In his volunteer role with CoachBright, Optix Solutions Managing Director Rob Stevens has been talking openly about his experiences as a homeless person.

The social mobility charity aims to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds to become independent and resilient learners so they can lead the lives they want, through partnering with schools in England to run coaching programmes.

It matches students with relatable role models, to help raise their confidence, independence and attainment. As one of those role models in the South West, Rob, who is passionate about this issue, is giving keynote talks at universities, colleges and schools. In these, Rob discusses his own life experiences from his early days living in poverty in Leeds to becoming homeless and addicted in London, and how he turned his life around to become MD and owner of a highly respected and successful digital marketing agency in Exeter.

He says that there’s huge amounts of change needed, even in the world of marketing which is sometimes regarded as more inclusive than other sectors. “We recognise in our own industry there’s a real challenge in diversity with regard to employees from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

“One of the problems is that companies often need to provide extra support and therefore extra resources to those from a less stable background – and some businesses will shy away from this. But change comes from the top and it is business owners who need to realise that discriminating against someone from a poor background is simply not okay.”

However, he adds, it cuts both ways. “Although a large part of the puzzle, it’s not just about change in business attitudes. When I give my talks I aim to challenge young people to turn their own lives around. I tell them that yes, life is unfair, discrimination is wrong, but the best way to change things is to get over the unfairness and positively plan for a future career.”

Rob recently attended CoachBright’s annual celebration event in Camden Town and was taken aback after talking to a delegate from Northern Ireland who’d grown up in similar deprived circumstances to him. “She told me that she’d studied hard, went to university and now speaks three languages – but because of her background and strong Belfast accent, continues to face discrimination on a daily basis.