I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to deliver a session on emotional resilience at The Festival of Rejection, hosted by Simone Corsi at Lancaster University.
Remember at school when you used to get effort points and attainment points? As adults, we don’t really get effort points anymore, do we?
We tend to focus only on outcomes:
What have you achieved? Where have you succeeded?
But what about:
What did you learn? How were you brave? How did you grow when things didn’t go to plan?
That’s why this event was such a brilliant idea—to normalise, socialise, and celebrate rejection just as much as success.
I loved hearing the panellists share their stories of rejection and the rich, honest conversations that followed in the room. Even though Neil and I are no longer in academia, as any business owner knows—we still face our fair share of rejection!
In my session, I shared a four-part framework for building emotional resilience after rejection. It walks you through:
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Regulating your emotional response
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Reframing the experience with self-compassion
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Sharing it with others to reduce shame
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And learning from it to move forward with more insight and strength
We wrapped up the event by co-creating a Rejection Wall—a visible space to share our stories, lessons, and pride in the face of rejection. The goal? To spark more conversation, reduce stigma, and build a culture where rejection is something to be understood, embraced, and even celebrated.
So inspiring.
