Why Lived Experience Is the Most Powerful Qualification You Can Have
- Justine Martin
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Because no degree teaches what life has already shown you.
When people ask me about my background, I could list my awards, my businesses, or my years of professional experience, but the truth is, none of those things define who I am or what I bring to the stage.
What truly qualifies me to speak about resilience, leadership, and hope is my lived experience. It’s the battles I’ve fought, the losses I’ve survived, and the lessons I’ve learned when life brought me to my knees.
No classroom could have taught me what I’ve learned through illness, adversity, and starting over not once, but multiple times.
The Real Power of Lived Experience
Lived experience is the ultimate teacher. It strips away theory and replaces it with truth. It teaches you empathy, perspective, and strength in ways that no textbook can.
Living with multiple sclerosis, surviving cancer, and rebuilding my life after an acquired brain injury has given me insight that goes beyond professional training. It’s taught me:
How to adapt when everything changes overnight.
How to lead from a place of vulnerability, not ego.
How to find hope even in the most difficult seasons.
Lived experience gives you depth. It’s the difference between understanding a concept and embodying it.
Why It Matters on Stage
When I speak to audiences, I don’t just share information. I share life. I talk about what it feels like to be told you’ll never work again… and then to go on to build multiple thriving businesses. I share the fear, the fatigue, and the frustration of living with hidden disabilities, alongside the joy, gratitude, and humour that keep me going.
Audiences connect with truth. They don’t want perfection; they want real. They want to see someone who has faced the storms and still found a way to shine.
That’s the power of lived experience, it cuts through the noise and reaches the heart.
Turning Experience Into Impact
Lived experience becomes powerful when you use it to help others. Every time you share your story, whether it’s on a stage, in a conversation, or through your writing, you give others permission to face their own challenges with courage.
You show them that they’re not alone. You remind them that falling down isn’t failure it’s part of the journey. And you demonstrate that resilience isn’t about never breaking; it’s about rebuilding, wiser and stronger than before.
That’s what lived experience does is it transforms pain into purpose.
Why It’s Time to Value Experience Differently
In a world obsessed with titles, qualifications, and credentials, we often overlook the wisdom gained through life itself. But lived experience is a qualification of its own, one that’s earned through endurance, adaptability, and heart.
It builds leaders who understand humanity. It shapes communicators who connect through authenticity. And it creates speakers who don’t just inspire, but they relate.
Final Thoughts
I will always believe that lived experience is my greatest qualification. It’s what allows me to stand on stage, look an audience in the eye, and say, “I know how that feels and I know you can overcome it.”
Your experiences, no matter how painful or messy, are your greatest teachers. They’re what give your story power.
So don’t hide them. Embrace them. Share them. Because your lived experience might just be the message someone else needs to hear to find their own strength.
Book Justine to speak on resilience, lived experience, and the power of overcoming adversity.
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