Last Friday, I had the pleasure to be the MC at the Brighton Summit, held at the prestigious Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, at the University of Sussex. The theme for this year was HUMAN. My mission was to capture the hearts of around 400 delegates and move them smoothly through the excellent line-up of speakers, workshops and experiences, curated by the brilliant team from The Brighton Chamber of Commerce. 

If you haven’t been to the Summit before, I highly recommend it. It’s where collaborations and partnerships start and businesses are born. Back in 2017, I was a keynote speaker at the Summit and gave a talk about my experience running Liberty842, a London-based social media content company. My business life was thriving, but my home life was not. My daughter’s mental health was plummeting, and as a result, so was mine. 

So, at the end of my talk I pitched the idea of creating a new company – one that addresses the complexities of mental ill-health and puts young people in the driving seat of change. I counted 36 business cards from talented humans who wanted to collaborate. Make (Good) Trouble was born at The Brighton Summit.

The theme for the summit in 2017 was “Embracing the Unknown” – with a pandemic in the middle of our journey – we certainly did that. 5 years on and Make (Good) Trouble has worked with thousands of young people, parents and carers and professionals. We have secured long term partnerships with Public Health, Sussex Police, five local authorities, The NHS and most recently Save The Children.

So, it was on a nerve-wracking Friday morning, putting my makeup on in the dark, that I recited my lines or what I could remember of them, in preparation of holding court as MC for the day. I wanted to entertain, inform and cajole the audience into making good connections, ensuring they felt totally at ease whilst doing so. When asked what HUMAN means to me by one of the chamber organisers, I thought about our work in mental health. 

I decided to open with an adlib about having undiagnosed ADHD. Having ADHD is my superpower – it gave me the gusto to get on the stage and be vulnerable and funny (hopefully) at the same time. I asked the audience what would happen if ChatGPT had ADHD? Would it start writing, stop mid-sentence and start going on about something completely different? Marvellous!

The exemplary keynote speakers showed their humanity, through emotional, funny and uplifting stories sharing their journeys to success, including Jens Knoop, from Knoops (best hot chocolate I have ever tasted!), forensic scientist and author Professor Angela Gallop, CBE and finally Lord Simon Woolley, author, cross bench peer, Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge and one of the UK’s most high-profile campaigners for social justice, co-founder of Operation Black Vote. I was bowled over by Simon’s humanity as he held my hand on stage and thanked me, which took me by surprise and made my day! 

I learnt so much on Friday that will further inform our business going forward. I ate delicious food and made loads of connections which are still flooding into my inbox as I write. 

Do come to the Brighton Summit next year, where I’ll be on stage again as MC, making more good trouble.

On-stage selfie at the Brighton Summit 2023: Karen Dobres, Lord Simon Woolley and Daisy Cresswell. And Daisy introduces Simon onto the stage at the Brighton Summit – and is surprised (and delighted) as he holds her hand to thank her for her support.

Main image courtesy of The Brighton Chamber.