Picture a Dyslexic person in your mind. Perhaps you conjured up a young child, struggling with schoolwork, or a man holding his head trying to read a book (both images that pop up in the first line of images in a Google search for ‘dyslexic person’). More than 6.3 million people in the UK are Dyslexic, yet many people still have fundamental misunderstandings about the learning difficulty. Many people believe that people with Dyslexia are not smart, are unable to read, or are even lazy. These myths are common amongst those without dyslexia, but in fact many people have dyslexia and perform management and highly creative roles.

Entrepreneurship and Dyslexia also have an interesting relationship according to SME Insider, who found that 35% of entrepreneurs are Dyslexic. Notable UK businesspeople with Dyslexia include Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, and Body Shop founder Anita Roddick. In their book “The Dyslexic Advantage”, Brock Eide and Fernette Eide examine the ‘Dyslexic processing style’, which they argue is a reflection of a completely different way of processing information and brain organisation.

LoveLove Films’ Managing Director Georgina Hurcombe spoke to writer Oliver Selby about her journey with Dyslexia and how she didn’t let it hold her back:

“I initially found out that I was Dyslexic when I was about 12. I remember being told I had a reading age of a child much younger than myself at the time; I think they said 8! This didn’t surprise me as I was always in the bottom sets at school for English and Sciences and anything that involved a lot of textbooks.

Unfortunately my secondary school didn’t really understand dyslexia and I was put in a ‘special needs’ learning unit with some students that had extreme learning difficulties, as a teenager being put into a unit and separated from my peers wasn’t really too helpful, teachers would tell me to hurry up or to stop messing around. I was pretty frustrated firstly at myself for not being able to read and write as well as my peers but also at my teachers for not understanding that I was trying to keep up and I was not mentally inept.

I always remember my mum telling me as a teenager that school grades wouldn’t dictate my life, but try telling that to a teenager that is stressing out over grades! It seems almost funny now looking back at the stress I put on myself and the sleepless nights revising and never feeling good enough because I wasn’t getting the same grades as my peers or being put in the bottom classes. In fact, my school told me not to do a language at GCSE as they said there was no point when I couldn’t even write in English!

In adult life it now seems so trivial, but the stress young people are put under in exams can be horrendous! Instead of celebrating and understanding the individual’s strengths, they try and categorise them into sets, constantly testing them. Don’t get me wrong, I understand we want our young people to strive for great things but the exam culture doesn’t work for every student or young person and that doesn’t mean they won’t or can’t excel in other areas. I wouldn’t want to be a teenager again going through all those exams!

However, as I got older I released that although I wasn’t the best at reading or writing I excelled at ‘talking’ and connecting to people’. I loved listening to people and their stories and I also excelled in the more creative subjects such as art, media and drama where the results or grades for things I was producing was more subjective. It was the freedom to explore my more creative side that lead me to go to college and then university, which had facilities that actually supported me with really helpful tutors and learning methodologies rather than sticking me in a room and telling me to try harder and stop messing around. I’ve found my Dyslexia has meant I often simplify things, which actually isn’t a bad thing when you’re making TV adverts and only have 30 seconds to sell a brand or product!

So today, it I might take a little bit longer to read a 50-page tender document, and I often have to print things out and highlight them (I recycle a lot!) and my team know that I find It difficult to read large documents online so will leave print outs for me or stick them in my bag to take home and read.

The thing is, as I’ve got older I’ve released that generally speaking the ‘spelling police‘ are not coming for me (we have spell check) and people do business with people they like and who are passionate and good at what they do. Also, as any entrepreneur will tell you; one of the best things you can do is surround yourself with people that are talented in different areas from you. So yes, my fabulous writer Oliver will be spell checking this! Ha!

(Note from Oliver: She’s correct)

Often I do talks with young people and I get asked by students what they should study to be an entrepreneur, I just say you should study what you enjoy, not put too much stress on yourself as you’re only young once, find your own passion whether that be English, Art, PE or something outside of the school subjects! Reach out to organisations and people that can support you and give you advice. Of course, if you follow what you’re passionate about then you’re sure to excel!

Journey with Dyslexia – Interview by Oliver Selby

For more information on LoveLove films see: www.lovelovefilms.com

For more information on Dyslexia and Support see: Dyslexia Action

To read more about Georgina Hurcombe’s Business Journey see: Guardian article