Ten years of The Systems Link and why thinking differently works for our clients
This year, The Systems Link turned ten. It feels quite surreal to write that because when I started it, I didn’t really know what the business was going to be. I didn’t even have a basic plan. All I had was a good reason to make it work.
That reason was my eldest son, Luis.
At ten years old, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. I recognised many of my own struggles in him, so I got assessed myself and was also diagnosed. It helped me make sense of so many things. But while I found relief in my diagnosis, Luis felt defeated. He saw dyslexia as a disability and believed he would never get anywhere in life.
People around us tried to help by using examples of famous people who had dyslexia as a way to show him that a lot can still be achieved, but that felt a million miles away from his life in Leeds. When I tried to reassure him, he said I was just trying to make him feel better because I was his mom.
I decided I needed to do something to prove that anything was possible. I wanted to show him that his dyslexia wasn’t a limitation. So that’s how this normal, everyday Canadian mum of three with dyslexia came to start her own business.
It wasn’t the first time I’d made a life-changing decision without a plan. When I was twenty-one, I quit college, booked a flight to the UK and landed in Manchester with two suitcases and around £1000.
Last year, I was diagnosed with combined ADHD. Maybe that explains some of my impulsive decisions, I don’t know. I’m still getting used to what my ADHD diagnosis means and how it affects me.
Of course, I can only speak from my own experience of neurodivergence, but getting diagnosed has helped me understand a bit more about myself.
What I am fairly certain of is that the way my brain works has played a significant part in shaping the business. In fact, it was because of the way my brain works that I got into the world of ISO in the first place.
During the early days of business, while I was still trying to figure out what to focus on, I got chatting to someone at a networking event. He told me that so much of what I was talking about aligned with the ISO quality framework. He suggested I looked into it, so I did. And that’s how I ended up completing a Lead Auditors Course and becoming an ISO consultant.
There are lots of ISO consultants, and we all work differently. But for me, being a good consultant isn’t about walking into a business and quoting clauses. It’s about listening, asking the right questions and seeing how everything connects. You understand the business first, then make the standard work around it. The business shouldn’t have to twist itself around a system just to get a certificate.
This is where my neurodivergent traits help me. I am curious. I question things that don’t make sense. I spot links between people, processes, risks and problems. My brain connects ideas and solves problems faster than I can keep up with it. And I can take something complicated and help businesses understand what it means in their world.
One client I work with had been ISO certified for 15 years. After I helped rebuild their system, they told me it was the first time they had understood what it was supposed to do. That is what makes the work worthwhile. I don’t just want clients to have a certificate on the wall. I want them to understand the system and use it.
Of course, the same neurodivergent brain that helps me solve problems also creates challenges. It never really switches off. I can have ten plans for the same thing, just in case. I absorb clients’ problems because I want to help find a way through them. If I think I’ve disappointed someone, it hits me hard.
I’m still learning how to manage these challenges. alongside the usual challenges that come with running a business, but I’ve made it to ten years, and that’s something I’m very proud of.
I might not have had a plan for The Systems Link when I started out, but I did have a goal. I wanted to show Luis that doing things differently and thinking differently didn’t mean you couldn’t still be successful. And I like to think becoming an award-winning business owner, publishing my own book, and managing to still love what I do ten years in has definitely shown him what is possible.
Website: https://www.thesystemslink.com/