Issue 1: The Hidden Pressure of Speaking Up

By Adam, Apprenticeship Engagement and Pastoral Coach, We Are Zenith

Every month, our Apprenticeship Engagement and Pastoral Coach, Adam, will share reflections on wellbeing, resilience and workplace culture — drawing on both his professional experience and his own personal journey. In his first blog, Adam explores why speaking up is so often harder than it looks, and why asking for help takes courage, not weakness.

About Adam

I work as an Apprenticeship Engagement and Pastoral Coach, supporting learners through their apprenticeship journeys and helping them navigate the challenges that can sometimes come alongside work, study, and everyday life.

I’m passionate about wellbeing, resilience, and creating environments where people feel safe enough to speak up and ask for support when they need it most. That passion isn’t just driven by my professional role — it’s rooted in my own experiences.

Through this blog, I want to explore what it means to speak up in today’s world. Each month, we’ll look at wellbeing, confidence, mental health, workplace culture, resilience, and the barriers that often stop us from using our voice. I’ll share reflections from both my professional experience and my own personal journey, with the hope of encouraging open and honest conversations.

The lesson resilience never taught me

Like many people, I grew up believing that resilience meant handling things yourself. Keep going. Work harder. Push through. Don’t burden other people with your problems.

But life has a way of teaching us lessons we never expected to learn.

Over the years, there have been moments when I’ve had to speak up — not because I wanted to, but because staying silent was no longer an option.

There was a period when my family relied on foodbanks. Walking through those doors wasn’t easy. Like many people facing hardship, there was a sense of embarrassment, pride, and worry about what others might think. Yet what I discovered was something different. Those places weren’t built on judgement. They were built on compassion, understanding, and the recognition that sometimes people need support.

Later, I found myself making another difficult decision: I started counselling.

Why “I’m struggling” is so hard to say

In a world where we’re often encouraged to appear strong, successful, and in control, saying “I’m struggling” can feel incredibly difficult. We tell ourselves we should cope. We convince ourselves others have it worse. We stay quiet.

For me, counselling wasn’t a sign of weakness. It was one of the strongest decisions I’ve ever made. It gave me the opportunity to reflect, understand myself better, and develop healthier ways of managing life’s challenges. Organisations like Mind offer excellent guidance for anyone considering counselling for the first time, including what to expect and how to find the right support.

These experiences taught me something important: speaking up isn’t always about challenging a decision in the workplace or standing on a stage and sharing your opinion.

Sometimes speaking up looks like asking for help. Sometimes it means admitting you’re not okay. Sometimes it means walking into a foodbank. Sometimes it means picking up the phone and booking a counselling appointment.

The question we should really be asking

The reality is that many of us are carrying challenges that nobody else can see. Financial pressures. Mental health struggles. Family difficulties. Concerns about our future.

The question isn’t whether people have something to say.

The question is whether they feel safe enough to say it.

My own journey has shown me that some of the most important steps forward in life began with a conversation I didn’t want to have, a conversation where I admitted I needed help.

As we explore various topics over the coming months, I want to challenge the idea that speaking up is always about confidence. Often, it’s about courage. The courage to be vulnerable. The courage to ask for support. And the courage to believe that needing help doesn’t make us weak… it makes us human.

Why we built the Wellbeing Hub

One of the reasons We Are Zenith created a Wellbeing Hub is simply to provide information in the hope that you can take those first steps in asking for help. It’s about removing some of the barriers that stop people from reaching out in the first place.

Sometimes the hardest part of seeking support is knowing where to start. Whether someone is struggling with their mental health, facing financial pressures, experiencing challenges at work, or simply feeling overwhelmed by life, having easy access to trusted resources can make all the difference.

The Wellbeing Hub has been designed to create a safe starting point, a place where learners, colleagues, and individuals can find guidance, practical support, and reassurance that they don’t have to face challenges alone.

Visit our wellbeing hub: We Are Zenith Wellbeing Hub: Crisis Support Information – We Are Zenith

Next month, Adam continues the Speaking Up series with a look at workplace culture and the small changes that make it easier for people to ask for help