"We have a choice to make a difference and change our future. The cards we have been dealt don’t make it easy, but if you surround yourself with the right people and you just stay determined on that path, then you can be successful.”
It’s this determined mindset that has got Kez where she is today. At just 27, she’s a business owner, living in Dubai and travelling to far-flung corners of the globe for a job she loves. As we chat, it’s clear she’s brimming with passion, confidence, and a deep-rooted drive to share her experiences to support other care-experienced people.
But Kez hasn’t always been this confident.
"I went to a fairly prestigious school in a really nice area. There weren’t many people that came from council estates and there certainly wasn’t anyone else in foster care in a heavily white dominated school. So I was very much a minority there.
“So coming from that area, my confidence wasn’t very high.”
While Kez lacked confidence in herself, her foster carers more than made up for it. She entered foster care alongside her brother after experiencing abuse and neglect. Her initial experience of the foster care system was mixed, including time with carers who she felt did not fully understand how to support children who had experienced trauma.
However, she later moved to her long-term foster carers’ home, and remains in touch with them today. These foster carers had an unwavering belief in Kez - who she was and what she could achieve - which helped pave the way to her success.
"I’ve got a very strong relationship with my foster carers, they’ve been a godsend. I can tell you, when I was a teenager, some of the things that they used to make me do or the lectures that I used to get, I didn’t want to listen to a word of it. I’d say I don't want to go to that club or that extracurricular activity that you're making me go to
“But now I'm like, okay, I learned to read with these foster parents. They fuelled a passion for books, which now I wouldn't be able to live without. They fuelled a passion for music, acting, sports, dance, everything, all of these extracurricular activities. And they did it in a place of real love and family.”
Her foster carers made sure Kez understood that while she couldn’t change her past experiences, she was in control of her future. It’s a message she now passes on to other care-experienced young people through her work with the Future Leaders Programme - a scheme designed to give underprivileged teenagers a step up.
"Going in and speaking to those students, one to one in person, being able to share an inkling of my story and actually look someone in the eye and say, it doesn't matter the cards that you've been dealt, you have an opportunity, you have a choice, especially in the country that we live in.
“Care experience doesn’t need to be the limitation that is perceived when you hear the negative statistics.”
Alongside the support of her foster carers, it was these statistics that further motivated Kez to succeed. Outcomes for care-experienced young people remain a concern - currently, one quarter of the prison population and one quarter of the homeless population is care experienced.
Care experienced young people are also three and a half times less likely to progress to higher education than their non-care-experienced peers, and are more likely to experience mental health challenges and lower levels of wellbeing.
Rather than discouraging her, these statistics strengthened Kez’s determination.
"I remember the school sat me down in the office one day and quoted a bunch of really negative statistics on how children who have been in the care system could end up. And they were trying to suggest that it could be me.
“And I remember, I'm so stubborn and strong willed, I was like I don’t know what you’re on about, that's not going to be me. It didn't change how I was right then and there, but it stuck with me.”
It’s this determination, combined with her foster carers’ encouragement, that set Kez on the path she’s on today. She reflects on conversations with her foster dad, who predicted her future with remarkable accuracy - something only possible because he truly saw her potential.
"He would say you are made to be heard. You're made to influence. You're made to have these conversations. You're made to be in difficult scenarios because you will teach, and you will share that lesson with the rest of the world and hopefully inspire.
“At the time, I used to be like, I have no idea what you're talking about. No idea what you're talking about. And now I own a content production agency and I literally speak for a living. Even in my old job, half of my job was influencing people.
“So it's funny to look back on, because at the time when I was young, I had no confidence. There was no way I would even speak in a room full of people. Now, I don't shut up.”
Kez’s experience of the care system highlights the extraordinary skill, patience and dedication foster carers bring to their role. Through consistency, encouragement and an ability to see beyond past experiences, they helped her build confidence, discover her strengths and believe in her future.
It’s this skillset - often unseen and undervalued - that has the power to transform lives. Kez’s story is a powerful reminder that foster care is not just care, but a highly skilled role that deserves greater recognition, respect and investment.
