Marketing manager Sara-Mai Reyes Escoto hopes that her career success story will inspire other dyslexic learners to consider apprenticeships.
Sara-Mai, who works for NorthWales Media in Flint, says a diagnosis of Irlen dyslexia whilst in primary school seriously hampered her education. Despite being in top sets in school, a career teacher told her she wouldn’t qualify for college.
“It was a truly liberating time being able to steer a ship knowing that I had support if needed to guide me along the way,”
Fearing for her future, she suffered from depression before her father moving his business to Flint proved to be a turning point. She worked in the shop at weekends and after school and was allowed to take over the mobile phone department and start Phone Asylum at the age of just 16.
However, after a couple of years as a sole trader, she wanted to prove to herself that she could achieve the same qualifications as her peers. She went on to achieve apprenticeships from Levels 2 to 4 in Business Administration, Customer Service and Management with support from Cambrian Training Company.
Sara-Mai now runs the marketing department and account management for NorthWales Media and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
“I wanted to kick butt in my career yet still have the equivalent qualifications to my peers,” she says. “It became very important to me.
“The apprenticeships have allowed everything to click. I can apply new things to my job whilst also understanding why some things are done in a certain way. It just solidifies everything for me, which is important when you have dyslexia as it needs to click to stick.
“When I was younger, I wish I could have looked up to a journey similar to mine to see that it was possible. I hope I can now be that story for someone with dyslexia who is looking into an apprenticeship.”
The Apprenticeship Programme in Wales is funded by the Welsh Government with support from the European Social Fund.
