Katie Hancock has built a career around her passion for helping people and creating inclusive workplaces. In 2020, Katie’s commitment to creating a values-led organisation led to the formation of Embrace Disability Group. Today, she is proud to be at the forefront of social inclusion, providing tailored support and meaningful employment opportunities to individuals with disabilities, and empowering them to thrive within the workforce.
What inspired you to pursue a career in your field, and how did you get started?
As a graduate with a sports science degree, I landed in London in 1999 and was offered a role with Anderson Consulting (which soon became Accenture) as an HR Advisor. I was driven, results-focused and enjoyed solving problems, but also compassionate with a strong internal passion for helping people. Working in HR gave me the opportunity to play to these strengths, and so began my career as an HR professional, a job I have loved every day for almost 25 years.
Early in my career, I learned the importance of being in organisations where leaders fostered healthy behaviours and built a culture of excellence and strong values. I was fortunate to have outstanding leaders who modelled this, and when I encountered organisations misaligned with my values, I knew they weren’t the right fit for me.
In 2020, I became the owner of a hospitality business with little knowledge of the industry or what made a great hospitality employee. I chose to stay true to my values and created a values-led organisation, prioritising an individual’s values and “fit” over experience or technical skills. I believed I could teach hospitality skills to anyone with a positive, can-do attitude and willingness to learn.
What moment in your career are you most proud of, and why does it stand out to you?
We welcomed recent school leavers with intellectual disabilities or who were neurodiverse into our team for work experience. With individualised training and support, they thrived, contributing significantly to our team and showing immense gratitude by giving their best every day. These early successes led to the creation of Embrace Disability Group.
When I spoke to my staff, their families, and support workers about the challenges in finding and keeping jobs, I discovered that many faced significant difficulties. A key issue was the need for tailored training and support, which most organisations didn’t offer, and many employers were unwilling or unable to adjust roles to meet individual needs.
By being flexible to what success looked like, we tailored each individual’s training and career pathway, where each journey was different and suited to the individual, not just the organisation. Whilst we have challenging days, our experience of employing people with disabilities has been overwhelmingly positive and watching what some of our staff have achieved has brought many happy tears along the way.
I am proud that Embrace Disability Group is at the forefront of social inclusion within the local hospitality industry, showing others what is possible by providing employment and opportunities for skill development as well as empowering people living with disabilities within our community to contribute and be part of a team doing great work.
