Meet Mary, Home Care Consultant

The Exeter & East Devon Home Instead team is made of up a talented and diverse pool, of which our Mary certainly fulfils the ‘adventurer’ criteria!

With a background in outdoor pursuits, but a real desire to ‘care’, Mary has found a fit with us at Home Instead…

Mary’s career aspirations were set when a primary school trip saw her spend time camping on Dartmoor, enjoying a host of outdoor activities, under the instruction of the female activities’ coordinator. Mary recalls her thoughts, saying “I just thought that this woman was superhuman, she did anything and everything and didn’t hesitate do it either! Plus, that trip was a real game changer for so many of us in our school group, challenging us to do things we never thought possible and building real confidence. I was hooked, and from that point knew which direction I wanted my initial working life to go.

Whilst this career focus led Mary with regard to her education, at home Mary was caring for her father alongside her Nurse Mum and siblings, as he lived with the impact of advanced Crohn’s disease for almost fifteen years, before sadly passing when Mary was in her early twenties. Mary acknowledges that those formative years taught her empathy, strength, appreciation for the ‘now’ and also a gauge on what matters in life.

After studying Psychology at University and enjoying an impressive amount of world travel – including climbing to Annapurna base camp, the 10^th highest in the world – Mary set her sights on her dream role within Outdoor Education. She persuaded a flagship Company to create an apprenticeship scheme for her and others, which then led to a managerial role and saw her travel the globe teaching individuals and student groups.

Personal development remained key to Mary and throughout her Outdoor Education career, she has certainly set herself challenges, such as approaching a highly acclaimed caving instructor (Andy Sparrow) to teach her this dangerous and expert activity – not least because there were very few women working in this high-risk arena.

Mary survived to tell the tale and continued with her career, but this time at a managerial level, coordinating teams, teaching, recruiting, training and opening the horizon for hosts of students of all ages, just as hers had been opened in her original school trip.

However, then came Covid-19 and the activities industry and Mary’s role was sent into turmoil with constant changing restrictions and limited team support. It was this period of time that prompted Mary to take stock, and to look for something new, with Home Instead.

Mary recalls this pivotal moment, saying:

“I had reached real burnout and had to take a step back. My plan was to do so for a few weeks, but this became a valuable six months where with guidance from family, I decided that I wanted to explore the area of ‘care’ and to do that with Home Instead.”

Mary started with the Exeter & East Devon team in a community-based role, as Care Professional, where she worked three days per week and then every other weekend too. When the opportunity to sidestep into an office support position became available, as Home Care Consultant, Mary didn’t hesitate. A few months on, and Mary is finding real value in the time she gets to spend with prospective clients, and also the ability to support their family members in their own journey to care for loved ones.

Mary comments:

“My role is just as much about supporting family members as it is about finding the right care for our client. I know that it takes a true team to provide the perfect care, and everyone needs to feel supported in that process. I’m always pleased to be able to help those in need because I empathise so completely.”

For the future, it’s no surprise that Mary’s desire to continue learning is still strong, and whilst she leads with her Home Care Consultant role, she is also supporting the Recruitment department at Home Instead, growing our officially CQC Outstanding team.

Having already benefitted from specialist Dementia training via the Dementia Bus experience provided by the Company, Mary is looking to develop this area of expertise with our Personalised Career Pathways initiative and specifically, City & Guilds Dementia training – provided by our Training Team – and also specialist End of Life training.

Mary, we know that you will continue to flourish, bringing your expertise, kindness and compassion to your role and those you support. We look forward to seeing where your Home Instead journey takes you.

If you would like to find out more about a rewarding role with our team, contact us on 01395 200600, email [email protected] HERE or follow us on Facebook HERE to discover why we are different.

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For those seeking information regarding our officially Outstanding home care – including Live-In care – please don’t hesitate to contact our team. Call 01395 200600 or email [email protected] HERE.