The Underdog Crew Changed My Life More Than They'll Probably Ever Know

I've been trying to write this for ages because I don't think I've ever really been able to put into words just how much The Underdog Crew means to me. Every time I start writing it, I feel like I don't do it justice because saying "thank you" just doesn't seem enough.

I think to understand why it means so much to me, you kind of have to understand who I was before I found it.

School and I never really got on.

I wasn't the naughty kid, and I wasn't the clever kid either. I was just... there. I was the girl that talked too much, got distracted by absolutely everything, forgot homework, left assignments until the night before, cried over things that nobody else seemed bothered by and constantly wondered why everything just seemed so much harder for me than everyone else.

I remember sitting in lessons trying so hard to concentrate. Like genuinely trying. I'd tell myself, "Right, just listen for five minutes." Then before I knew it, I'd somehow ended up thinking about what I was having for dinner, whether my friend was annoyed at me, what I was doing at the weekend and why the teacher had said one particular sentence in a slightly different tone.

Then I'd suddenly realise everyone else had moved on and I had absolutely no clue what we were talking about.

I spent years thinking there was just something wrong with me.

Teachers would say I had potential if I just applied myself. People would tell me I was lazy, or dramatic, or too emotional. I started believing them because when enough people tell you something for long enough, eventually it becomes your own voice as well.

I don't think people realise how much that follows you into adulthood.

Even when you leave school, you don't leave the feeling behind.

You still question yourself.

You still assume you're the problem.

You still apologise for taking up too much space.

By the time I found The Underdog Crew, I honestly didn't have much confidence in myself. I had loads of ideas. Honestly, my brain never stops. I could probably think of twenty different projects before breakfast, but actually believing I was capable of doing any of them was a completely different story.

Then I walked into The Underdog Crew.

The weird thing is, nothing massive happened on that first day. There wasn't some life-changing speech or dramatic movie moment where suddenly everything was okay.

It was actually something much simpler than that.

Nobody judged me.

Nobody made me feel like I was too much.

Nobody expected me to be someone I wasn't.

For probably the first time ever, I felt like people were interested in what I could do instead of constantly noticing the things I struggled with.

That honestly meant everything.

As time went on, I started getting involved in more and more things. At first it was just helping out where I could, but before I knew it I was helping run workshops, creating content, filming projects, supporting young people, organising events, working on podcasts and taking on responsibilities that, if you'd asked school-aged me whether I'd ever be trusted with them, I'd have laughed.

The funny thing is, I don't think they ever sat me down and said, "We believe in you."

They didn't need to.

They showed it.

Every time they trusted me with something new.

Every time they asked for my opinion.

Every time they gave me responsibility instead of taking it away.

That's how my confidence was built.

Not through words.

Through trust.

I think that's why The Underdog Crew means so much to me. It wasn't somewhere that tried to change me. It helped me realise that maybe I didn't actually need changing.

Being diagnosed with ADHD answered so many questions for me. It explained why I'd spent years feeling different, why I struggled in school, why I felt emotions so intensely and why my brain seemed to work completely differently to everyone else's.

It was almost like someone had handed me the instruction manual that I'd been looking for my whole life.

But if I'm honest, The Underdog Crew started teaching me that lesson before I even had the diagnosis.

They showed me that my creativity wasn't a weakness.

That thinking differently wasn't something to hide.

That caring too much about people wasn't something to apologise for.

They helped me realise that maybe the things I'd spent years trying to fix about myself were actually the things that made me... me.

Because of everything I've learnt there, opportunities started opening up that I never thought I'd have.

One of the biggest has been working with SEntrepreneur .

If you'd told me a few years ago that I'd be helping support startup founders, writing content that reaches thousands of people, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and working with organisations that genuinely want to make a difference, I honestly wouldn't have believed you.

Not because I didn't want it.

Because I genuinely didn't think I was capable of it.

Looking back now, I can see that everything kind of links together.

The confidence I needed to email people.

The confidence to network.

The confidence to walk into events where I didn't know anyone.

The confidence to put myself forward for opportunities.

The confidence to believe that I actually deserve to be in those rooms.

That all started at The Underdog Crew.

The thing that makes me smile the most now is that I get to be part of giving other people that same feeling.

I see young people walk through the door who remind me so much of myself. They're quiet, or anxious, or loud because they're trying to hide how nervous they are. Some of them don't think they're good at anything. Some of them think they're going to fail before they've even started.

I know that feeling because I've lived it.

So if I can be even a tiny part of helping somebody realise they're capable of more than they think they are, then honestly that's one of the best feelings in the world.

When people ask me why I stay so involved with The Underdog Crew, it's because this place didn't just give me experience to put on my CV.

It gave me confidence.

It gave me purpose.

It gave me opportunities.

It introduced me to people who genuinely wanted me to succeed.

Most importantly, it helped me start believing in myself after years of thinking that I wasn't enough.

I'm still figuring life out.

I still overthink absolutely everything.

I still have days where my ADHD completely takes over and I wonder what on earth my brain is doing.

But now, instead of seeing those things as reasons I can't achieve something, I see them as part of who I am.

And I honestly don't think I'd be able to say that if I'd never walked through the doors of The Underdog Crew.

So if anyone from The Underdog Crew ever reads this, thank you.

Thank you for seeing something in me before I could see it in myself.

You probably don't even realise the impact you've had on my life.

But I do.

And I'll spend a very long time trying to make sure other people get that same chance too.