lived experience
inspires
About
Me
Hi, I'm Fliss
Lived Experience Inspires exists because my life took a very different direction than I expected.
Before this work, my background was in branding, marketing and communication and I expected that to be the path I would continue to follow.
But life had other plans.
At 18, a serious car accident changed the course of my life and what followed was years of treatment, surgeries and health challenges.
By my mid twenties, my mental health had deteriorated and I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder following a severe medication reaction. I spent periods in hospital, underwent treatment including ECT and over time, my experiences expanded beyond mental health into neurological and complex physical health experiences.
My life became survival and I had to learn how to rebuild, find stability and manage my mental health and wellbeing to live the best quality of life possible.
What shaped my
perspective
Mental
health
Experiencing serious mental illness changed how I understand recovery, communication and what support looks like in practice.
Neurological & physical health
Experiences including Functional Neurological Disorder, endometriosis and surgical menopause reinforced how connected mental and physical health really are.
ADHD & cognition
Understanding ADHD changed the way I think about attention, cognition and capacity, shaping how I communicate and design practical frameworks today.
These experiences do not define me and my work, but they shape how I think, teach and create practical education that connects with real life.
Turning experience
into education
The shift
Over time, my understanding of health became broader and more complex.
Navigating mental, physical and neurological health experiences shaped how I think about healthcare, education and people.
They taught me that health does not happen in separate boxes.
Mental health, physical health, cognition, hormones, environment and life circumstances all interact and influence how we cope, recover and function.
Why I started doing this
Back in 2008, I made a decision that if I was living these experiences, I wanted them to create something useful.
I stepped away from my career path and began bringing together my background in communication with lived experience to educate others.
What began as sharing experiences gradually evolved into the creation of Lived Experience Inspires comprising of education, training and practical frameworks designed to help people move beyond awareness into understanding and action.
What that became
Over the last 17 years I have worked across universities, healthcare programmes, organisations, charities and media to bring lived experience into learning environments and support more human, practical and reflective conversations.
I have delivered education to future healthcare professionals, contributed to public conversations through media and advocacy, and developed practical frameworks that help people better understand mental health, wellbeing, capacity and sustainable functioning.
My focus today
Today, I help people and organisations move from awareness to practical understanding through lived experience-led education. This includes speaking, practical frameworks, consultancy and educational partnerships across healthcare, education and workplaces.
I combine lived experience, education and visual frameworks to support earlier recognition, stronger reflection and more informed decisions around mental health, capacity and sustainable functioning.
My aim is not to replace professional knowledge. It is to add context, human understanding and practical application.
Where this work
shows up
Healthcare
Creating more human, reflective and practical conversations around patient care and wellbeing.
Universities & education
Helping students connect theory with real life through practical education and lived experience.
Workplaces & organisations
Helping organisations strengthen communication, wellbeing and sustainable functioning.
Media & advocacy
Bringing lived experience into public conversations to increase understanding and challenge assumptions.
Beyond
the experience
Everything I create comes back to one belief.
People make better decisions when they better understand the person behind the experience.
My aim is not to replace professional knowledge. It is to complement it through practical education and frameworks that strengthen understanding of mental health, communication, capacity and sustainable functioning.
Whether I am working with universities, healthcare or organisations, I want lived experience to help turn awareness into understanding and create environments that support healthier conversations, earlier recognition and more sustainable ways of functioning.
Interested in continuing this conversation?
Join my mailing list
If you’d like to stay connected, you can sign up to receive reflections,
updates, and insights from my work.
Meaningful. Relevant. No Noise.
Unsubscribe at any time.
Recent Blog Posts
