For months, I had an idea in my head of what I’M MORE could eventually look like. I had heard Bradley talk about building a team, bringing more young people in and creating something that could give people opportunities. I believed in what we were trying to build, but for a long time, the reality looked very different from the picture we kept talking about.
There were empty tables. Empty chairs. A lot of ideas, but not many people there yet to bring them to life.
Now, when I look around the room, it doesn’t feel so empty anymore.
Finding My Voice at Reed in Partnership
A few weeks ago, we went to Reed in Partnership to introduce I’M MORE to a room of around 18 young people aged 18–24, alongside a few employment advisers. Even writing that sentence now makes me realise how different things have become, because this time I wasn’t sitting in that room as somebody looking for an opportunity. I was there representing the company that had given me mine.
I knew before we arrived that at some point Bradley was going to hand things over to me. I knew I wanted to speak, but knowing that didn’t make me any less terrified.
Public speaking has never been my thing. It wasn’t something I enjoyed at school, and it certainly wasn’t something I ever imagined myself willingly doing as an adult. Sitting there waiting for my turn, knowing there were all of those faces in front of me, I was completely on edge.
Then it was my turn.
And I did it.
I spoke about myself, my journey, what I do at I’M MORE and what getting an opportunity had meant for me. Somehow, I even managed to make a few people laugh. Hearing that reaction loosened me up slightly. I was still nervous, but for a moment it stopped feeling like I was standing in front of a room giving a presentation and started feeling more like I was simply telling people my story.
That was enough.
When My Story Made a Difference
After we’d finished, Bradley received a message from somebody who had been sitting in that room. They said they’d listened to my story, related to what I’d been through and wanted to make a change for the better after hearing what I’d said.
I remember reading it and almost not knowing what to do with it.
My words. Mine.
I actually teared up, because ever since I started sharing my experiences, that has been what I wanted. I’ve written personal stories about employment, confidence, opportunities and everything I’ve been learning along the way because I hoped that maybe somebody my age, sitting in a position similar to the one I’d been in, might read or hear something and recognise themselves in it.
But there was always a part of me that wondered whether anybody actually would. Would anybody care? Would anybody relate? Would sharing something personal really make any difference?
That day, somebody did care. Somebody did relate. And even if my story only reached that one person in that room, that would have been enough for me.
But that day wasn’t the end of what changed.
From Being Interviewed to Interviewing Others
After presenting I’M MORE to young people looking for opportunities, we moved into the interview process. Suddenly, I found myself experiencing another moment that felt completely backwards compared with where I’d been not that long ago.
I wasn’t being interviewed. I was interviewing them.
I’ve spent enough time being the person waiting for somebody to decide whether I was good enough. I’ve sat on the other side of those conversations, wondering what an employer thought of me and hoping I’d said the right things. Now I was listening to other young people tell us about themselves, their interests and what they wanted to do.
Being involved in those interviews and eventually helping decide who would become part of the team was something I don’t think I could have imagined when I first started working here. It wasn’t just another task. It made me realise that my position within I’M MORE had changed. I’d gone from being somebody receiving an opportunity to being involved in the process of giving other young people theirs.
Watching the I’M MORE Team Grow
And eventually, we reached a number that has meant something to me from almost the beginning.
When I first started working alongside Bradley, he talked about wanting to build a team of around five or six people. At the beginning, I thought I’d be joining that team.
Instead, for a while, it was just the beginning of something that hadn’t fully taken shape yet. There were plans, ideas and conversations about where I’M MORE could go, but building the actual team took time.
Slowly, things started moving. Interviews happened, plans changed, we learnt as we went along, and the idea Bradley had talked about from the beginning kept getting a little closer.
Now there are seven of us.
It’s difficult to explain how strange that feels after being there when so many of those tables were empty. I can walk into the office now and there’s someone sitting at each one. There are conversations happening around me. There are different personalities, different ideas, different interests and different people finding their own place within what we’re building.
I have coworkers.
I’ve even started to have people there that I can call friends.
Every Occupied Chair Represents an Opportunity
And I think that’s why this stage of I’M MORE feels different to me. My journey isn’t only about finding my own place anymore. I’m now watching other people walk through the door at the beginning of theirs.
I don’t know what their stories will look like, and I don’t want to tell those stories for them. They deserve to experience and tell their own journeys in whatever way they choose. But I do know what it’s like to be new. I know what it’s like to sit at a desk and not completely understand what you’re doing yet. I know what it’s like to lack experience, question yourself, make mistakes and slowly realise you’re becoming more capable than you thought.
Maybe that’s why seeing the room full now means so much to me.
It isn’t simply about having more staff.
Those occupied chairs represent opportunities that weren’t there before. They represent people being given somewhere to start, somewhere to learn and hopefully somewhere to discover things about themselves that they didn’t know when they first walked through the door.
Realising How Far I’ve Come
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I’ve changed too.
A few months ago, I was the new person. Now I’ve stood in front of a room and told my story. I’ve discovered that my words can actually mean something to somebody else. I’ve sat on the opposite side of an interview. I’ve helped make decisions about who joins us. And now I’m part of welcoming people who are beginning where I once began.
None of this means I suddenly know everything. Far from it. We’re still learning what works, the business is still developing and all seven of us have our own growing to do. In some ways, it feels like we’re only just getting started.
But perhaps that’s what makes this moment worth stopping to appreciate.
The Beginning of Something Bigger
For so long, we talked about what I’M MORE was going to become.
Now I can look around and actually see the beginning of it.
There’s somebody at every table. There are voices where there used to be silence. There are people where there used to be empty chairs. There are new stories beginning around me while I’m still writing my own.
I don’t know exactly what the next chapter will look like for any of us.
I just know I’m really happy that when I walk into work now, the room doesn’t feel so empty anymore.
— Macey Hutchins
