The Journey of Onward Shift

Have you ever started something with so much passion that you could picture exactly where it was going, only to lose sight of that picture somewhere along the way? What once felt clear becomes clouded by new ideas, other people’s opinions and the pressure to keep moving. Eventually, you find yourself wondering whether the vision has changed or whether you have simply lost your way.

I have been there, and in many ways, that uncertainty became an important part of the Onward Shift journey.

When I first wrote about this in January 2025, Onward Shift was around seven months old. I knew I wanted to create something meaningful for the construction industry, but I was still trying to understand what shape it should take. I had ideas about stories, events, community, coaching and support, yet I could not always see how they connected. I was passionate, but passion does not automatically give you a clear business model or a route forward.

That original article looked ahead to what I hoped would happen during 2025. It spoke about future workshops, partnerships and creating a platform where people could feel heard. Much of that belief remains, but Onward Shift has moved far beyond the idea it was at the time. The platform has grown, the support has become clearer and I have gained a much better understanding of what I am trying to build.

This feels like the right time to revisit the story, not to pretend that every decision was part of a perfect plan, but to be honest about how Onward Shift found its direction.

It Started With Wanting to Create Something Meaningful

The first idea was much smaller than the platform you see today. I wanted to create a notebook that could help people plan their days, stay motivated and keep moving forward. I designed it, sent it to print and believed that might be the thing through which I made a difference.

The notebook was not the final answer, but it was the first step. It showed me that I wanted to create something of my own with purpose behind it. The format changed, but that desire stayed.

My deeper reason came from my own life. I have spent around 16 years working as an electrician, and I understand the pressures that come with construction because I have lived them. I know the early starts, the physical demands, the travelling, the time away from home and the expectation that you should keep getting the job done regardless of what is happening inside you.

I have also lived with ADHD and OCD, struggled with severe anxiety, experienced burnout and reached points where I did not want to be here anymore. Therapy became a turning point in my life, but finding the right support was not straightforward. I found myself searching through different companies, professionals and services, trying to work out who could help and whether they would understand me.

That experience stayed with me. If finding support felt confusing for somebody who knew they needed it, what must it feel like for a construction worker who has never spoken about their mental health and does not know where to begin?

That question became the foundation of Onward Shift.

Losing Direction Did Not Mean the Idea Was Wrong

When you care deeply about something, it is tempting to say yes to every idea that could help it grow. I wanted Onward Shift to share people’s stories, promote events, support mental health, celebrate the industry, create community and give professionals a place to offer their expertise. Each idea had value, but trying to hold everything at once made the purpose harder to explain.

I also had to learn the difference between what looked good from the outside and what genuinely served the people I wanted to support. It is easy to become distracted by websites, social media numbers, branding and what other businesses appear to be doing. Those things have a place, but they cannot tell you whether a person feels less alone or whether somebody has found the confidence to ask for help.

There were moments when I wondered whether I was building a community, a mental health service, a media platform or something else entirely. For a while, that uncertainty felt like failure. Looking back, it was part of working out what Onward Shift needed to become.

Pausing helped. I went back to my own experience and asked a simpler question: what did I wish had existed when I was struggling?

I wanted one trusted place where I could learn, listen to people who had been through difficult experiences, find professional support and feel understood without having to explain the construction industry from the beginning. I wanted the choice to engage quietly or speak openly. I wanted support for the individual, but I also wanted companies and leaders to understand the part they play in creating healthier workplaces.

Once I understood that, the different parts of Onward Shift began to connect.

The Purpose Became Clearer

Today, the purpose of Onward Shift is to make mental health support easier to access, easier to understand and easier to trust for people across construction. We want to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, help prevent people from reaching crisis point and create conversations that lead to practical support and healthier ways of working.

That purpose is wide enough to include the whole construction community while remaining clear about why the platform exists. It includes the labourer starting before sunrise, the electrician moving between jobs, the supervisor carrying pressure from every direction, the project manager responsible for delivery and the company director wondering how to support a workforce properly.

It also includes apprentices and students who are still forming their idea of what working in construction will mean. If we can introduce healthier conversations at the beginning of somebody’s career, they do not have to spend the next 20 years believing that silence is part of the job.

Onward Shift has never been about deciding whose struggle matters most. Mental health is shaped by work, family, identity, relationships, finances, health and experiences we may never see from the outside. Everyone arrives with a different story, and every person deserves to be treated with dignity.

Supporting People, Companies and Education

One of the biggest changes since the original article is that Onward Shift now has three clear routes: support for people, support for companies and support for education. These areas are connected, but each one meets a different need.

Our support for people gives individuals access to counselling, coaching, community and free resources. Someone may be looking for professional help with anxiety, trauma, burnout or relationships. Another person may want coaching around confidence, neurodiversity, business or a career decision. Others may not be ready for a one-to-one conversation and might begin by reading a blog, listening to a podcast or joining a walk.

Our support for companies helps construction businesses move beyond simply saying that mental health matters. Through keynote speakers, toolbox talks and workplace wellbeing support, we help organisations open honest conversations and think about what their people need in practice. The aim is not to arrive with corporate language or a generic presentation. It is to create something that workers, managers and leaders can recognise themselves in.

Our support for education grew from recognising that colleges and training providers have a powerful opportunity. Students entering construction need technical knowledge, but they also need to understand stress, emotional wellbeing, asking for help and supporting the people around them. I have seen first-hand how open and curious learners can be when these conversations are delivered honestly.

Supporting all three groups matters because culture is not created in one place. It develops through what people learn before entering the industry, what happens to them at work and what support is available when life becomes difficult.

More Than 100 Ways to Begin

Not everybody is ready to book a counselling session or walk into a room and speak about their mental health. Some people need to understand what they are feeling before they can explain it to somebody else. Others want to listen quietly and take in another person’s experience without any pressure to share their own.

That is why free education has become such an important part of Onward Shift. We have now built a library of more than 100 free mental health resources through blogs, podcasts, newsletters, posters and community conversations. They cover subjects including stress, suicide, addiction, grief, masculinity, neurodiversity, relationships, loneliness, leadership and personal growth.

The Onward Shift Podcast has now reached 50 episodes. Each conversation gives somebody the space to talk about what shaped them, what challenged them and what helped them move forward. The guests do not all have the same background or answer, and that is exactly the point. Learning from another person’s story can help us find words for our own experience and see choices we may not have considered.

The blogs and newsletters offer another route. Some provide practical ways to manage a difficult moment, while others explore the deeper cultural and workplace issues affecting construction. Together, these resources allow people to enter the conversation wherever they feel comfortable.

Human Connection Remains at the Centre

As Onward Shift has grown online, I have become even more convinced that digital support cannot replace human connection. A website can provide information and introduce people to services, but many of the most meaningful moments happen when people are together.

Our free monthly Walk and Talk events offer a simple way for people to connect in Colchester. There is no pressure to disclose anything personal. Somebody can walk, listen, talk about work or simply spend an hour around other people. Being side by side often makes conversation feel easier than sitting opposite somebody in a formal room.

The same principle sits behind our live talks and keynote sessions. I share my own experiences because honesty gives other people permission to reflect on theirs. After talks, people often stay behind to speak privately. Those conversations remind me that impact is not always visible while you are standing on a stage. Sometimes it appears afterwards, when somebody finally says what they have been carrying.

Community was part of the original vision, and it still is. My understanding of it has simply become more grounded. A community is not a follower count or a mailing list. It is a group of people who know there is somewhere they can return to and somebody willing to listen.

Telling the Full Story of Construction

The original article spoke about wanting to challenge the negative way construction is sometimes portrayed. I still believe we should celebrate the industry. Construction is full of skilled, generous and hardworking people. I have met people who will give their time, knowledge and support without expecting anything in return. There is humour, pride, problem-solving and a kind of camaraderie that can be difficult to explain if you have never experienced it.

I have also learned that celebrating construction cannot mean looking away from the parts that need to improve. Long hours, poor planning, financial pressure, bullying, time away from home and a culture of silence are real experiences for many people. Speaking honestly about them is not an attack on the industry. It shows that we believe construction and its people deserve better.

Onward Shift aims to tell the whole story. We can recognise the strength within construction while questioning why that strength is so often measured by how much a person can endure. We can celebrate completed projects and career milestones while also asking what those achievements cost the people who delivered them. We can feel proud of the industry and remain willing to change it.

That balance matters to me. I do not want Onward Shift to be a place where everything sounds hopeless, but I also do not want empty positivity. People connect with honesty. The difficult stories matter, the hopeful stories matter and the ordinary experiences between them matter too.

What the Journey Has Taught Me

Building Onward Shift has taught me that purpose does not remove doubt. You can believe deeply in what you are doing and still question yourself. You can receive positive feedback and still wonder whether you are making enough progress. You can help other people recognise their value while struggling to see your own.

I have had to become more patient. Most meaningful work grows through small, repeated actions rather than one life-changing moment. One blog reaches somebody at the right time. One podcast helps a listener feel understood. One talk encourages a manager to check in with their team. One counselling enquiry becomes the beginning of someone receiving support.

I have also learned to listen more closely. Feedback from construction workers, students, counsellors, coaches, speakers, businesses and education providers has shaped the platform. Some ideas have developed, while others have changed or stopped. Letting go of an idea can be difficult when you have invested time and emotion into it, but protecting the purpose sometimes means changing the method.

The journey has made me more curious too. My lived experience gives me a reason to do this work, but it does not make me an expert in every person’s life. Onward Shift becomes stronger when it brings together lived experience, professional knowledge and the voices of people working across the industry.

Where Onward Shift Goes Next

The next stage is about strengthening what we have built. I want Onward Shift to keep improving the quality and accessibility of its support, create more opportunities for honest conversation and work with companies and education providers that genuinely want to make a difference.

I want more people to know that support exists before they reach crisis point. I want a construction worker to be able to find a counsellor without spending hours searching through services that feel disconnected from their world. I want a business owner to have somewhere practical to turn when a member of their team is struggling. I want apprentices to enter the industry understanding that looking after their mental health belongs alongside every other part of working safely.

The long-term vision still includes both physical and digital spaces. Some people will find support through a screen, while others need a room, a walk or a conversation in person. Onward Shift should be able to meet people in different ways without losing the human connection at its centre.

Growth matters because it allows us to reach more people, but I do not want growth to become the purpose. The purpose remains the person who feels alone, the company that knows it needs to improve and the student who deserves a healthier introduction to construction.

How You Can Be Part of It

There is room within Onward Shift for people at every stage of the construction journey. You can begin by using and sharing the free resources, listening to a podcast or attending a Walk and Talk. If you need personal support, you can explore coaching or counselling. If you represent a company or education provider, you can speak to us about what your workforce or learners need rather than trying to fit them into a standard package.

If you have a story that could help somebody else feel understood, I would like to hear it. If you are a coach, counsellor or speaker whose values match the platform, you can explore opportunities to join Onward Shift. If you have expertise, an idea or a perspective that could strengthen the construction community, there may be a place for that conversation too.

Being involved does not have to mean standing on a stage or sharing the most personal parts of your life publicly. It can be as simple as sending a useful article to a colleague, checking in with somebody properly or allowing yourself to accept support.

Still Moving Onward

When I wrote the first version of this article, I was trying to describe what I hoped Onward Shift might become. Today, I can see that many of those early ideas were pointing in the right direction, even if I could not yet see how they fitted together.

Onward Shift has become a platform for people, companies and education. It offers professional support, free learning, lived-experience conversations and opportunities for connection. It has grown from one idea into something that now holds many people’s knowledge, stories and trust.

There is still a long way to go, and I do not have every stage mapped out. I am more comfortable admitting that now. A clear purpose does not require pretending to know everything that comes next. It gives you something steady to return to while you keep learning.

The purpose is simple: make mental health support easier to find, help construction have more honest conversations and make sure fewer people feel they have to carry everything alone.

That is where Onward Shift is heading, one person, one company, one classroom and one conversation at a time.