Patricia Taylor-Shipley is an author, transformational speaker and Second Chance Ambassador who explores the hidden forces that can quietly influence the direction of our lives.

With two degrees in psychology, together with professional qualifications in psychometric and mental toughness assessment, Patricia combines psychological insight with an extraordinary lived journey of loss, rebuilding and second chances.

For much of her own life, Patricia believed that fear, failure and lack of confidence were the things holding her back. It was only when she looked more deeply at the patterns running through her life that she recognised something else: an early story about who she believed herself to be had been quietly influencing her choices, while later experiences had become “evidence” that appeared to prove that story true.

That discovery became central to her work.

Patricia uses the metaphor of railway points to explain what she discovered. On a railway, the points are a relatively small mechanism in the track, but their position determines which direction a train travels. Move the points just a few inches and the train can eventually arrive at an entirely different destination.

She believes our lives can work in a similar way. Beliefs, fears and protective patterns formed through our experiences can quietly influence the choices we make and, over time, the direction our lives take.

Using powerful storytelling and the metaphor of railway points, Patricia helps audiences explore the beliefs, fears and protective patterns that may be influencing their own choices and direction — often without them consciously realising it.

Because just as a relatively small movement at the points can send a train towards an entirely different destination, becoming aware of what has been setting our own points can give us the opportunity to choose differently.

Patricia's message is ultimately one of possibility: our past may help explain the track we've been travelling, but it doesn't have to determine where we go next.