Transcript
Radio Northumberland Transcript: July 2023
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0:00:01 - Christina Martin
My name's Christina Martin and my business's name is Mosaic Coaching.
0:00:07 - Keith Newman
Now, Christina, what does your business do?
0:00:11 - Christina Martin
We do principally three things; we support neurodiverse people. We support them at university when they're studying, we support them at work, and we support organisations by delivering training and understanding what neurodiversity is and how to work with it.
0:00:29 - Keith Newman
Now, neurodiverse people obviously have additional needs. Do you have to put a lot more effort into your work for that reason.
0:00:38 - Christina Martin
It could look like that. In actual fact, I'm very, very lucky because I am neurodiverse myself, so it's a wonderful workplace for me because I'm working with people just like me, so you know, I have a life experience of what works and what doesn't work. I've developed study skills for my own studies, including postgraduate studies, where I had no support, and it's an absolute delight to share it with neurodiverse students who get it straight away. Of course they do, because we're wired the same way, and we have a lot of laughs. We have a lot of tears as well, but we have a lot of laughs.
0:01:23 - Keith Newman
Can you give us some examples of how you've helped people? What sort of things do you typically do?
0:01:26 - Christina Martin
Okay, on a group level, I was very proud a few years ago of a programme, a summer programme that I put together for Northumbria University for their neurodiverse students who were arriving in their first year, and designed and delivered that for three years and at the end of three years the university confirmed the retention rate was 100 percent.
Every single one of those students was still in their studies, which is phenomenal, and I think that's because I am neurodiverse. Certainly, that was the feedback - it's great to be tutored by somebody who is neurodiverse. On an individual level, lots of things I could say. One outstanding example at the moment is a student who's just doing his finals, now. He started off doing very, very poorly in his grades, and is about to get a first and is thinking seriously of doing postgraduate studies at Durham University. He would never have had the confidence to do that, to even think about it. So that's a thrill, you know, and it makes me feel all warm to think about it.
0:02:46 - Keith Newman
And so it should. Now we're actually sitting here, and perhaps one of the most peaceful places I've ever done an interview. We’re in the grounds of Durham Cathedral. Why is this place so special to you?
0:03:01 - Christina Martin
Many, many reasons. The three principal reasons are Cuthbert, Hild and Bede. I learned about Bede when I was 1 and I think I was the only person in the classroom who was excited. Eventually I got to visit Durham Cathedral in my 20s. I now live in the North East, in County Durham, but Bede is listed as a monk, a writer and a teacher, and I like to think of him. He inspires me. I like to think in my own way. I'm not a monk, but I'm a follower, I'm a disciple, I'm a writer and I'm a teacher, and he inspires me. Cuthbert, I love all the stories about him and his bond with the land, the particular spiritualities he brought to the North East and further, and I also absolutely get it as an autistic person myself, when he decided he'd had enough and he was going to an inner farm. Yes, I often feel like that, and I find my own inner farm.
And as for Hild, what a phenomenal woman chairing the Synod of Whitby, that's the equivalent back then of an international meeting and she chaired it. She was, of course, Abbess of a double monastery. She was very experienced in directing meetings to outcomes that were acceptable to everyone. That was her great gift. That was a big deal Synod of Whitby, and somehow, she and Cuthbert, because they were contemporaries, were able to hold two things together, an old way and a new way, by focusing on the core that was the same, and so she's a big inspiration as well. And all three of them are commemorated here, so that's why you find me here quite a lot.
0:05:09 - Keith Newman
Now you've mentioned an inspirational woman, we've got another one who we're going to be talking to later on, Karen Goldfinch, from Your Business Pilot. What sort of help has Karen given you?
0:05:12 - Christina Martin
Karen's just been amazing, and she sits on my advisory team and she helps me in to literally do what it says on the tin, direct the business, pilot it and she's very, very good at understanding the impact of neurodiversity and so she's able to contain things well enough that they actually start to manifest. So, for instance, we get situations where Karen will say it's a great idea, Christina, but the timing's rubbish, it's not going to happen next week. And then I see, yeah, this is going to take a few months, but because she's there piloting all the time, it happens in a few months. So, she's a great enabler and a great connector of people with ideas who can help each other. I won't say any more because the last time I praised her it didn't go down very well. I don't know if you want me to say more about that.
0:06:13 - Keith Newman
This is something to do with dogs by chance. I think the listener would love to hear that.
0:06:19 - Christina Martin
I have a real fascination and interest with a 1,000-mile sled dog race in Alaska called the Iditarod and being autistic, I know all sorts of weird and wonderful facts about these wonderful dogs and their mushers. And I know how important the lead dogs are, the ones at the front of the team who get you out of danger, they're the ones who make sure you don't go on the thin ice and end up all drowned, and so on. They give direction, they always check in with you. If they think you're being really stupid, they'll ignore you and just do the safe thing.
And I just described Karen and Suzanne, who were having a great meeting, and I thanked them and said oh, you're like my precious lead dogs. Unfortunately, unless you know something about dog sledding, it sounds like you've just been described as a dog. We did iron that out later. But yes, they are. They are my lead dogs and we work as a team and none of us is an individual. Think of those three; Bede, Cuthbert and Hild. They all had people around them, and they were part of other people's teams.
0:07:30 - Keith Newman
And you are part of other people's teams by helping other people as well.
0:07:35 - Christina Martin
Yes, indeed, and it's a huge honour. It really is.
0:07:40 - Keith Newman
Now, if there's anybody out there who needs your help, how do they get in touch with you?
0:07:45 - Christina Martin
On my website you can find out more about me. That's www.mosaiccoaching.co.uk, and if you want to get in touch with me, it's christina@mosaiccoaching.co.uk, and I'll be very happy to hear from anyone who has any queries.