John Powell shares the inspirational story of his career in care and health, from leaving school with no qualifications to becoming the managing director of his own domiciliary care company.

I grew up on a troubled estate in the south east of England, surrounded by violence, drugs and alcohol addiction.

After leaving school aged 15 with dyslexia and no qualifications, I wanted a better life for myself, so I moved away to a different area and left my old life behind. I worked as an estate agent and doorman and whilst this paid the bills, it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.

After 11 years I found myself living in Devon with my two beautiful children. At this point I realised that I wanted more. I do care; I wanted to make a real difference to people’s lives and be a good role model for my own children.

I started working at the local hospital as a healthcare assistant on the emergency medical unit. It was so different to anything I’d done before, I found it really rewarding. I was making those final moments in someone’s life better, it was tough, but a real privilege. The role was fast-paced and exciting, every day was completely different.

I wanted to learn more and develop my career, so I became a moving and handling trainer for the department. I really enjoyed helping other staff with their training and supporting them to develop their career. This is what prompted me to research setting up my own company; using all my knowledge and experience of health and social care from my three years working at the hospital.

It was a challenging time starting my own business, especially trying to balance this with family life and two young children, but the hard work was worth it. I progressed my own career by undertaking all the training I could access, and I eventually became the registered manager of my own domiciliary care company.

Seven years later I still love my job, it’s been challenging at times but I wouldn’t change a thing. Every day is rewarding, from enabling people to live independent and healthy lives in their own homes, to supporting a fantastic staff team to develop their career and do a job they love.

I would encourage anyone interested in a career in care and health to go for it! If you have the passion and determination you can have a rewarding career that makes a positive impact on people’s lives every day, it doesn’t get better than that!

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