Esther Rae

Esther Rae - She/Her

Social Worker, Events Planner and Founder of Life With Dyslexia

Esther Rae is an advocate for all things neurodivergent. She created her platform ‘Life with Dyslexia’ to inspire and motivate young people with Dyslexia. Esther Rae is also a public speaker and often shares her incredible journey and career. Esther has over 10 years experience in the music industry and is known for her ability to deliver bespoke events under her company ‘No Limit Management’. She has produced Events for clients such as Spotify, Meta, Amazon, Link Up TV, BBC Introducing, Channel 4 , Beats by Dre and You Tube, amongst many others. Esther is also a trained Social Worker and regularly mentors young people on how to succeed with their neurodivergence and also how to break into the music industry.

Please tell us about your career

I find it quite fascinating that when I was younger I didn’t know what a Social Worker exactly was, but I always knew I wanted to become someone who helps people. I thought I wanted to be a wedding planner and I am now a huge events planner for festivals, galas, and corporate events for some of the biggest brands. I do think my neurodivergent child brain, the one that was creative and slightly non academic, was leading me in its own way, as it already knew what it was good at, where it thrived and what made it work best.

This neurodivergent creative brain has helped me to become a successful events manager working with leading brands such as Spotify, Youtube, Meta, GRM daily, Google, Sony Music and Amazon, and I have also been a social Worker for 12 years. In both of these fields, I have worked to my strengths. I learnt to try and try and try again in ALL THINGS throughout my career. Despite my academic years being a struggle (I failed Maths GCSE 4 times, which meant it took me five years to go to uni to do my Social Work degree as I didn’t have the grade C Maths that I needed) but I was determined to go to uni. Once I was diagnosed in my 1st year at uni, I decided to work with the support I was given and accept failures when they arose, but it is never failure to me, only a lesson. I lost MANY opportunities due to not completing forms correctly or not understanding contracts, but I have always tried again. I now have a Masters in Music Business Management. Being neurodivergent means I know I can do it, I just have to work differently than others. I’m passionate about my career and my neurodivergent brain is the reason why my career has been shaped as it has. Once I knew, I used my gift to shape my career to my benefit.

In the current times, under representation in the black community for neurodivergent young people is an issue. I started my platform, Life with dyslexia to be visible for young women to see, to encourage them and give them a real life example of someone like myself who they potentially can relate to. We need to encourage neurodivergent women to be bold, proud and embrace their neurodiversity. I hope that others can see my journey and it can inspire them.

What advice would you give to another Neurodivergent woman navigating their way through life?

Embrace what they call “different” and use it to your advantage . Thats my advice. Being holistically proud of being neurodivergent has propelled me to where I am now in my career, and my confidence to assist others. What’s helped me is owning my dyslexia and dyspraxia, accessing the support I know that I need to help me to carry out my day to day roles. I am proud of and positive about the way my brain is wired. This has not been easy to do but I pray a lot and no longer see my disability as a hindrance. It is my GREATEST GIFT and that is how I would encourage other neurodivergent women to view it too. I have navigated through life with self belief, tools to support me like reading aids, audio books, highlighter pens, post it notes, computer packages that assist me, and more, but having a mentor to empower, support and guide me in my career has been a key element. If you can access one - go for it. I’d advise women to work to their strengths. I was creative, so went into events as it allows my brain to function at its highest capacity. So use your gift how you please, but DON’T be ashamed of it.