Survivors of domestic abuse supported to start businesses by new charity foundation
After celebrating and showcasing the founders of two incredible survivors of domestic abuse at her sell out personal and business development event at Manchester United in October, entrepreneur, Dani Wallace, is now opening her doors to other survivors, having officially launched her lifelong passion project, The Fly Anyway Foundation.
Dani welcomes other survivors to reach out to her, to see how she can support them as they rebuild their lives moving forwards.
Having leveraged her stage and her audience at her recent event, ‘Bee Inspired’ - the North’s leading personal and business development event held at ‘The Theatre of Dreams’, to help 2 of her founding survivors share their story and sell out of their products, she is now fired up to help even more make their mark.
Feeling strongly that there is a gap in provisions for those who have been through domestic violence situations, and have managed to get out, she has been working in the background for the last 2 years to build up a support system that enables people who have left an abusive relationship to create independence, and financial freedom, through building up businesses they love, connected to their passion and purpose.
Dani, a multi-6 figure business owner who built her coaching business from scratch over the last 3 years, having moved on from the council estates of Preston where she grew up with domestic abuse running through her family’s veins, positions herself as ‘a cycle breaker’ - ‘here to help break generational chains of abuse happening on repeat’.
She said:”My family has experienced what it’s like to go from generation to generation of domestic abuse and to be trapped by it - we’ve seen so many family members affected by it, me included to the point of nearly losing my life - I decided this was going to stop with me, and ever since I have made it my mission to not only instil different values in my own family, but to also spread the message in my wider community. I’m here to offer a hand to anyone who is ready to be pulled up too. I didn’t want to stay living as a victim. I wanted to be in control of my own life. I used my business to create this control for me - but it took a lot of blood sweat, tears and mistakes along the way. I want to be the lifeline to others who are ready to hold their hand out after leaving a domestic abusive relationship and say ‘I’ve got you’- ‘Im here to help you, and I can get you to the good stuff faster!’.
After suffering at the hand of her abuser Dani felt that she was unemployable - and so turned to her talent of singing initially using this as a way to make ends meet - but it was a struggle and she sacrificed a lot of family time, and suffered from working all hours to just get by until she founded her coaching business as a more structured income she could scale.
“Being employed can be triggering for someone who has experienced domestic abuse,” says Dani, “and just expecting people to slot back into work after they have been emotionally and/or physically abused is asking a lot - but what alternative do people have, when they need to get back on their feet financially? I want to offer an alternative, to help people find ways out of their corporate roles if they are not happy, and instead use their skills in a way that empowers them, and sets them up for a life they are more in control of”.
Mum of 3, Dani, 38, has become the creator of her own destiny and as leader of the I Am The Queen Bee Movement (#IATQB), the community arm of her coaching business, she has supported thousands of people all over the world to find their confidence to step into their own versions of success, working with people totally new to business, to already successful business owners and even celebrities.
Dani is someone recognised as a leading voice in female empowerment, and she always vowed that when she could, she would give back. Over the past couple of years, she has raised over £25K for domestic abuse charities, including; Women’s Aid and now she is excited to have her her own Foundation, which has ambitious plans over the next 5 years. Having already secured over £3million of funding she is preparing to roll out an ambitious 5 year plan which includes:-
1. Business Support
2. Employability Support
3. Post-crisis Support
4. Crisis Support
5. Refuge and Rehoming
Dani said; “Taking back control of your life after you have escaped a toxic relationship is incredibly difficult. Learning to trust yourself, your talents and believing in your worth as an independent, whole person is a constant struggle, especially if you are trying to do that on your own. The Fly Anyway Foundation started in 2020 to help survivors access some of the best business mentors and business service providers in the UK and eventually globally, to help them to build successful and sustainable businesses because I believe if we can get people thriving in this area they can go on to fly in others. This has been gathering momentum over the past couple of years and we are now officially launching the Foundation, to work with more Business Builders, helping them create new lives for themselves.
“Often, when someone has experienced domestic abuse and domestic violence, they struggle to believe in themselves, their confidence and feeling of self worth is often low and they may find it a struggle to stay in employment. Being employed can be triggering for someone who has experienced abuse as they may struggle to trust those in charge and even their peers, who may not understand what it is like to have overcome such a thing. Creating a business is a great way to overcome this struggle and makes way for opportunities to excel in ways they might never have thought imaginable, so this is why my focus has been here initially -but then I want to get stuck into the wider issues too, to help people at different crisis points”.
Dani started her business in 2019 with £300 in her back pocket to set up a Wix website, she said; “I wasn’t able to invest in the business, I had to invest as I went. The first launch of my
online programme turned over £16,000. I thought it was a fluke, that's a year's wage for some people I know, and now we are turning over 6 figures and have supported over 25,000 people.
I decided to choose life, I also decided to make it my mission to help anyone that I was able to realise that they could fly too. By the power of social media, I've built an audience reaching over 100,000 people globally. As a person who has experienced domestic abuse both childhood and in intimate partner relationships in adulthood, I know only too well how much it truly means to; BEE Seen, to BEE Heard, to BEE held and supported by the business and the wider community.”
Having secured support from many global ambassadors, along with funding from; The National Lottery, Arnold Clarke, Lancashire County Council’s local members grant scheme and private donators for the Foundation; Dani and her team are now excited to expand further as she opens the doors to the next round of ‘Business Builders’ - people who are ready to rebuild their lives by building a business, to create financial independence but who have gaps in their knowledge and skills - the Fly Anyway Foundation matches those in need, with businesses who can support them to help facilitate their growth, like they have done with Lejla.
Lejla Dauti, 33, from London (originally from Kosovo, Lejla moved to London at the age of 6), is one of The Fly Anyway Foundation’s first Business Builders and has already been supported by the Foundation. For 8 and half years Lejla was a victim of emotional and mental abuse, gaslighting, trauma bonding and violence, she shares; “It wasn’t until I was able to leave my abuser after 8 and half years and I started to educate myself on abuse, that I truly understood the severity of what had happened to me. It felt like a tornado had hit me all at once. How could I have been so blind? How did I allow this to happen to me for so long? How on earth did I ever think that a man who loved me would hurt me both mentally and physically? I started scrolling through the internet, looking for other women who felt like me, I was desperate to connect with other survivors. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find anything that included an ongoing community emotionally supporting other survivors.
“I felt like I HAD to do something about it. I was lonely, I wanted nothing more than to find other women to talk to. So, I took to Instagram @by.layx, and I started to make videos telling the world survival stories anonymously on behalf of survivors of Domestic Abuse. I named the series ‘Lejla, Please Tell My Story’, and thousands of women from across the world came to my page, they couldn’t believe how many other survivors had similar experiences. A community formed almost overnight, however, I could see that just creating a community and raising awareness was not enough. I needed to pass on the information I had gathered about Domestic Abuse in hopes of educating other women and encouraging victims to leave safely and to provide ongoing support for survivors. Through my page, women can see that; Abuse was not their fault. They are not alone.”
Lejla recently had the opportunity to join Founder Dani on stage at Manchester United’s ground to share her story and showcase her business, ‘Lejla Please Tell My Story™’. Lejla is on a mission to help survivors tell their stories and break their silence, a documentary series that Lejla brought together in October 2020 went viral reaching over 2.7million people world-wide, Lejla continues to hold space and create documentaries for female survivors of domestic abuse to share their stories as raw and openly as they wish, focused on hearing and amplifying their voices to raise awareness about the realities of domestic abuse and to influence the systemic changes we desperately need as a community.
Lejla has been working with the Foundation for a few months, she said; “Dani and the team have provided logistical and practical help, support and guidance to grow my business and enhance my reach, they’ve connected me and given me access to a plethora of ongoing resources that I’d have never been able to afford on my own, such as; business strategists, copywriters, branding and website experts and coaches to help me strategies and write a business plan that will help me now and also become a profitable business moving forward, so I can continue to have long lasting impact. Dani has also connected me to a powerful empowering community that she has created who are incredible cheerleaders.”
Lejla continues; “I am passionate about using my voice and platform to raise awareness for domestic abuse and holding space for WOMEN. Never in my life did I think that a few years into my business journey, would I be up on stage in Manchester at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ representing my community. This was my first time public speaking, my legs were shaking and my lip quivered all the way through… but I felt the energy in the room that day and it reminded me exactly why sharing my story and mission was so important. I truly believe that as women we are capable of ANYTHING. Sometimes we just need a couple of people to believe in us on our journey….and that is why I have massive gratitude to Dani Wallace and The Fly Anyway Foundation for believing in me and guiding me through my journey and also for supporting other women in my community. I am one lucky woman. I am determined to work hard and determined to make my dreams a reality. My vision: Raise Awareness. Real Help. Real Change.”
Emily, 41 from Lancashire is a survivor of domestic abuse, who has been working with The FlyAnyway Foundation to establish her business ‘Hope and Mallows’ - artisan marshmallows made with Hope and Joy. Emily said; "The support I've had from Dani and the foundation has been one of complete nurture, support, problem solving, and hope! On a practical level, I knew I had a product I loved, but financially after fleeing the family home a year ago, I had started from scratch and I had no savings to start a business. The foundation arranged for a branding designer to put all the joy and hope into the brand I pictured. I had weekly one to one with Dani, and no issue was too small, the little internal worries were shared problems to overcome and overcome easily. The community support been incredible and selling out at Dani’s ‘Bee Inspired’ event, after she kindly let me trade there, was amazing. The Foundation had made it possible for me to enhance my self-esteem, find a role in life again and remember what brings me joy; as really for a long time I had forgotten what made me smile.
“Taking on paid employment, for me, was not possible. I found being in a workplace too stressful, feeling completely incompetent, forgetful and worried. I would cry easily, and the stress would mean I couldn't trust myself to keep composure. (Yes, my abuser did a very effective job). Being self-employed feels safe and relaxing at this point in my life, and I'm so happy to be making a modest income without the anxiety of being employed. That is for me, why self-employment is a far more suitable route to work following experiencing domestic abuse.”
