Edge Forum

Hi I'm Angellica Bell
I am a television presenter, and have been for 9 years. I started off in children’s television, and now I’ve made that step into grown-up telly

Hi I'm Clare Rayner
I dropped out of a high flying degree course to work at McDonalds as a graduate trainee and I don't regret my decision for a moment!

Hi I'm Dan Axon
I make music, I DJ and do sound work. I help and teach other people to do the same.

Hi I'm Debbie Scott
I am the Chief Executive of Tomorrow’s People, a national charity which works with people with multiple barriers, helping them break the cycle of unemployment and getting them into work

Hi I'm Stelio Stefanou
You should never be afraid of failure because you can always start again

Hi I'm Alexandra Boyd
My career spans from interior design and eco-blogging to cartoon voice-overs and acting

Hi I'm Michael Jones
I am a youth worker who has been involved with the Edge Learner Forum since its earliest days

Hi I'm Fire Stead
I'm passionate about Salsa dancing. I run my own Salsa School, where I also teach

Hi I'm Tracey Rogers
I've worked my way up and now manage a branch of Unilever, one of the biggest companies in the world!

Hi I'm Joanna Behari
I've set up my own all-female property maintenance company- and it all came from a brainwave I had one day!

Hi I'm Jessica Huie
I thought I'd hit a dead end when I became pregnant as a teenager; now I've set up a successful business and run my own PR agency

Hi I'm Paul Preston
I left school when I was 15 and worked at Unilever for 45 years, rising to the top of the company. I believe education needs to change and I'm passionate about making that happen

Hi I'm Sean Kirkegaard
I left high school early on in life in spite of good grades, then went from working as a chef to working in TV

Hi I'm Samia Meah
I realised my passion lay in photography so I pursued my ambition in spite of people trying to push me into a 'proper' job; I've been working for over a year and plan to start a degree in photography this year

Hi I'm Paul Canoville
I was the first black footballer to play for Chelsea which was a dream come true, but brought big challenges too. An injury brought my football career to an early end, so I turned my attention to teaching and motivating young people.

Hi I'm Hannah Taylor
If you can combine what you love with working you've got the best ingredients

Hi I'm Jim Cereal
Originality is massively important. With a lot of street art they try to be political and put a message across but I just put something up that looks cool. I just like to make the place look nice! Brains over beauty? No its beauty over brains!

Hi I'm Wendy Edwards
Aim high, achieve high!

Hi I'm Sam Viney
It’s not making money; for me it is job satisfaction and really enjoying what I am doing

Hi I'm Sarah Graham
Take critism as long as its constructive

Hi I'm Amy Beeton
You can learn from everyone

Hi I'm John Shead
I’m really happy doing what I am doing and that for me is success.

Hi I'm Mark Aston
I’m the owner and manager of a sign and printing business, Ast Signs, that does work in wide format printing, and the media side of the printing industry.

Hi I'm Jett Jagpal
Never let anything effect your visions, passion and goals.

Hi I'm Malachis Campbell
Never forget where I’ve come from and how I got here

Hi I'm Paulette Kumar
Have a goal no matter how unrealistic it may seem to you or others, and ‘stay focused’ on your goals. Believe in yourself and your abilities to do anything and achieve anything that is in your mind to do

Hi I'm Reiss Kelly-Alder
Aspire to make a positive impact on society rather than a negative one. There is hope for this generation.

Hi I'm Adam Gledhill
We have all sorts of ways of taking what would normally be considered to be quite boring theory classes and bring them to life. Rather than sitting around talking about what it could be like to be a Sports Scientist we help people to learn and train in what they actually do as Sports Scientists.

Hi I'm Bishop Brooks
For me, success is the ability to embrace an idea and inspire those around me to see it and become a greater success than me leaving school at 13 years old to work on a building site, Bishop Brooks has overcome a lot to get to the religious post he is now in.

Hi I'm Daniel Stone
Time is the greatest gift you have so use it wisely. Don’t chase after money but find value in having a positive impact on the people around you.

Hi I'm Tye Fowles
There should be a lot more vocational learning to build up young people’s confidence and the system should adapt to the different learning styles

Hi I'm Charlie Groves
Be determined if you’re certain that you have found something you want to do. Make a serious effort to achieve it and make it happen.

Hi I'm Chrissie Levick
Believe in what you are doing and do it properly – we have lots of pride in our work, I think that shines through, and people end up with something that they are really thrilled with.

Hi I'm James Hill
Go to college but work too – an apprenticeship is the best way, hands-on in a real work situation is vital.

Hi I'm Karl George
To me success means being able to support & lead my family spiritually, materially and guide my children to achieve what they should achieve!

Hi I'm Dan Spleen
There have been difficult times when I’ve ended up with nowhere to live, but then friends get you through; if you haven’t got friends round then you’ve had it.

Hi I'm Nigel Clark
My band’s my biggest thing at the moment.

Hi I'm Tristan Mill
Work out what you want to do – then follow that dream!

Hi I'm Dave Gregory
What success means to me is keeping it going and I have had people coming back for a second, third, fourth time. A certain amount of respect is a good marker.

Hi I'm Hel Lawrie
The desire to learn, I’m passionate about learning new stuff and making a difference drives me.

Hi I'm Valerie Hall
Set your heights high aim for the stars and you might reach the sky aim for the tree tops and you might just fall flat on your face

Hi I'm Dan Harding
For me school was just as any other kid right up to and including my GCSE’s, I had a hard time, I was bullied a lot, got a lot of mental and verbal abuse, but I think this just made me stronger, it forced me to stick in and I managed to get 8 A-C’s at GCSE.

Hi I'm Brendan Fox
If you have a dream stick to it – don’t let people distract you.

Hi I'm David Lawrence
It’s important to aspire and strive, but also at some point it is essential to start being satisfied.

Hi I'm Kim Taylor-Bennet
Deadlines inspire me! I have two mentors in the business who help me edit my work and gave me the big breaks I needed early on

Hi I'm Mark Henry
Before you begin your quest to become successful, you first have to know where you want your effort to take you

Hi I'm Nathan Allen
“When things got tough on the ice, I thought of all of those people, how would I explain to them that I just gave up half way through,”

Hi I'm Dan Weinberg and I'm Tom Keeling
a degree shows commitment, time management and dedication, professional attitude.

Hi I'm Emma Smith
Success means to me that I will achieve everything I've wanted in my life

Hi I'm Kevin Clarke
You get handed a set of life experiences, good and bad and it’s how you deal with them that shapes you as a human being

Hi I'm Kev Curran
My main drive is a real passion to make a difference

Hi I'm Robin Vancreveld
The biggest force for me is that I am not happy with the way the world is. I see so much negativity and so much passivity and apathy around me and I am doing my best to counter that and that motivates me.

Hi I'm Tim Johnson
When I left school, I never thought I want to do this or I want to do that, I thought I want to do a lot of things

Hi I'm Marc Sharp
If I can help one person out of a hundred stop taking drugs then that is a success to me

Hi I'm Alex Saint
Believe in yourself, that’s my motto. Just believe that whatever you want you can get, its certainly not hard and you don’t need to go to university.

Hi I'm Luke Theophane
I'm Luke Theophane, I work as an Apprentice Community Sports Coach. Now it's my turn to give something back

Hi I'm Trevor Leighton
“I hated my school life completely.”

Hi I'm Nadine Eddy
Everybody can’t achieve sitting down and learning the same. They shouldn’t de-value and take away from qualifications – they should add to it rather than take away

Hi I'm Abdul Ali
Concentrate and focus on what it is you want to do. Don’t be afraid to change your mind when it comes to career options

Hi I'm Julian Skyrme
I lead widening participation at Manchester University. I am passionate about promoting equality of opportunity for everyone – especially as I was the first person in my family to go uni.

Hi I'm Bill Johnson
The whole of my education was a challenge. I didn’t take to the testing part of education and this held me back and made me evaluate my options in a different light and plan my future differently.

Hi I'm Leonard Lionel
If it kills me I’m going to make sure that my family are safe and comfortable. Regardless of how my life is.

Hi I'm Nancy Jenkins
Things change, life changes and experiences change you. Something that you wanted to do when you are 18 you could study for and then things could change

Hi I'm Simon Binns
Success means doing something that you can be really proud of. Especially if it’s against the odds

Hi I'm Amanda Beckles
My unusual journey through the education system gave me a lot more than qualifications. My learning has taught me to ignore other people’s negative stereotypes and to believe in myself. I now enjoy the flexibility and freedom of working for myself.

Hi I'm Dennis Gyamfi
You need to understand that the world is open. Know what you want, how you want it, how you’re going to get it and focus on that.

Hi I'm Emma Glew
I am currently studying Society, Health and Development Diploma at Level three. It’s one of the new Diplomas that have been brought out and it’s quite interesting.

Hi I'm Whitney Iles
I’m pretty much self taught in all that I do. I just find someone who I believe is successful in a particular area and will go and bug them until they agree to mentor me! I ask them which books to read or get them to sit down for an hour and explain a particular subject to me. This is the way I’ve been learning for the past 6 years now.

Hi I'm Chris Gardner
Having some money helps, but having a stable family environment is what makes me feel successful.

Hi I'm Steph Cutler
I run a company called 'Making Lemonade', we offer lots of different opportunities for people to discover their potential. I am especially keen to motivate and empower women and encourage people with disabilities to enter the job market, start their own businesses and progress within their careers.

Hi I'm Adele Cope
I went on to gain my professional membership to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development through evening study for three years alongside working a full time job.

Hi I'm Andrew Lindo
I'm a freelance graphic designer who has worked on various projects for clients who range from small inner city businesses to big organizations such as the BBC, Birmingham City Council and many more

Hi I'm Cyrille Regis
Education should help you identify your strengths and gifts and inspire you to achieve your potential

Hi I'm Tony Hammond
Ten or fifteen years ago I thought that I hadn’t made it. I think it’s really important to know that it’s never too late to find and acknowledge your ambition.

Hi I'm Cally Lewis
I had success at bringing up a wonderful daughter and a personal success came late at life for me. I was over forty when I started this job; if I’d had different learning opportunities at school, maybe I could have done this earlier in my life.

Hi I'm Paula Binns
I went to a school reunion and my head teacher was there. He said: “I remember the face but not the name.” I reminded him who was and I said: “you know what, I’ve been to university and I’m a qualified nurse now, no thanks to any of you. I’ve done it all on my own.” And I walked off.

Hi I'm Julian Grant
If you’d rather earn and learn then you can with an Apprenticeship. I get to work in different parts of the whole organisation. In the first year I will cover everything and in the second year I will specialise in an area.

Hi I'm Rachel Neat
Rachel found her green-fingered vocation after becoming a member and volunteer with the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)

Hi I'm Prince Watson
I am doing an Apprenticeship for a private IT training company for 14 months, with a variety of specialist courses and training on site.

Hi I'm Sarah Haughan
I'm currently studying the NVQ Level 3 in Dental Nursing qualification, as well as full time employment

Hi I'm Ruth McCartney
I was always taught growing up, that if you want something then you should work for it. If you earn that respect off other people by working hard, then people are more likely to make the effort for you.

Hi I'm Stephen Burke
“without doing the stand-up comedy I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now as a freelance artist. It gave me the freedom and the responsibility to drive my own agenda and say my own thing and also to trust that I did have something to say.”

Hi I'm Sam Smart
“Being a man in childcare, that’s about as big a challenge as it gets. It is not really a manly job is it? Childcare? So it was tough. Me and twenty nine girls for two years! It sounds like a dream and it isn’t, its nothing short of a nightmare!”

Hi I'm Anna Herbert
"Success to me is about taking responsibility for your own life and deciding who you want to be, and what you want to be, and then working your hardest to get there."

Hi I'm Ryan Bramley
"A lot of people think that you have to leave school with good grades in order to be successful but I disagree, I think that if you work hard then success will find you."

Hi I'm Megan Wallis
Megan is not your typical farming apprentice with her pink hair and false nails...she is currently studying an NVQ Level 2 in Livestock Production at Newton Rigg College and the course includes everything from milking to spreading slurry!

Hi I'm Andrew Yeats
Andrew has made spiritual, social and environmental architecture the foundation of his business and has now practiced this for 25 years. The world has started to catch up with the “wild dippy eco hippy” and his ideas for buildings and he now has respectable conservative clients such as the National Trust.

Hi I'm Patrick (MC Rage)
Frontman Patrick Williams is perhaps best known in the drum n bass scene as MC Rage. Having toured internationally for ten years as tour MC Rage for the likes of Goldie and Pendulum, Patrick Williams has most recently been the resident live and DJ MC for Chase & Status. He cites influences from Gallows, Rage Against The Machine and The Clash to Plan B, Mos Def, Steel Pulse and Lowkey

Hi I'm Darren Ford
My best education has been in later life as I have been able to choose my educational route and have chosen courses and qualifications that I have been interested in studying

Hi I'm Faustina Bayo
Originally from Ghana, Faustina completed a degree in Social Sciences, majoring in rural development. She came to the UK for two years to work and applied to Sussex University to study rural development.

Hi I'm Christopher Mepham
Chris was undiagnosed as dyslexic until he had started his studies in law at Sussex University as a mature student

Hi I'm Harry Forster
Having seen the advertisement for the apprentice position it appealed as an option to be able to gain experience. I had no other plans for what I wanted to do and this was a good opportunity.

Hi I'm Giles Rees
Giles works from his office in Paris and one day a week at his home office in Surrey. He commutes via the Channel Tunnel weekly back and forward to work. He would recommend for every young person to travel; as it broadens horizons and makes you see what is available and achievable.

Hi I'm DaVinChe ...
DaVinChe has spent his career song-writing and producing with some amazing artists including: Tinchy Stryder, Estelle, Kano, Bashy, Shola Ama, Chipmunk, Tinie Tempah, Wiley, Skepta, and Giggs. DaVinChe talks us through how he got to where he is now...