The Short Cut:
A quick-fire chat about working life with Cheryl Samuels FCIPD
The Short Cut is designed to bring you a snapshot of our members’ working lives. Today, we’re speaking to Cheryl Samuels, Director of People & Culture at Evelina.
At the heart of the Nurture Network is the power of sharing experiences.
From breakthrough career moments to best-ever advice, how to deal with stress and the women that inspire them.
Tell us about your breakthrough career moment
My breakthrough moment was when I started my first role at the Ministry of Defence as a personnel officer.
I had agreed at the offer stage that I’d be sponsored to gain my CIPD qualifications, which is the professional qualification for HR practitioners. But once I stepped into the role, the reality was very different. My line manager put up every block she could and refused to sign the paperwork for me to do the CIPD, despite the fact that I was interviewed by the Director of HR, who had agreed at the point of appointment that they would support me to do it, since I had just come out of university.
I looked around and saw a pattern: every Black woman in that office was at the personnel officer level. There was nobody at the supervisor level, nobody at the HR manager level, and definitely nobody getting anywhere near close to being a director. But one thing that spurred me on was that I was clear none of them were CIPD-qualified.
There was no one who looked like me in those senior roles, but I knew I had the potential to be the first. So I pushed and I challenged. I refused to let it go, until she signed the paperwork. And she did.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
As I’ve progressed into the senior ranks, one of the best pieces of advice I’ve had is:
“Take up space, don’t shrink yourself to fit into systems that were not built for you.”
I think it’s probably helpful to explain that. Being a Black woman in HR, especially one who champions fairness and social justice issues,that advice is about rejecting the pressure to mute your voice or to tone yourself down. It’s a reminder that my lived experience is an asset. It’s not something I should feel like I need to tone down. It’s a call to be unapologetically visible, even when that feels uncomfortable for others.
It also speaks to the responsibility that comes with seniority, which I take quite seriously. So it’s important that I use my position to open doors for others, to call out inequity, and to keep pushing the profession forward. And I think we have to use our privilege for good, to actually make things better for those coming up alongside me and those coming up behind me.
So if I were saying this as simply as possible, I’d probably say: the best advice I’ve had is to show up fully as myself, loud, clear, and not apologise for it. Because if I make myself smaller, the people who come after me won’t know how big they’re allowed to be.
Have you ever felt held back as a women? How did you respond?
Following on from when my line manager finally signed the paperwork for me to become CIPD-qualified, there was a price to pay for that.
She resented me and made it her mission to bully me. But that didn’t stop me. I enrolled on the course. I endured the difficulties at work and, partway through, because it was so bad, I actually left the organisation and went to work for a trade union.
I think that taught me early on that if you wait for permission to grow, you might be waiting forever, especially if you don’t fit the mould. Sometimes, you have to push the door open yourself, even if you pay for it later. I’d still do that again, because I know whose shoulders I stand on, and I know who’s watching me now.
So I think it’s really important to hold your ground and continue to pursue the things that are important to you, beyond the limitations others sometimes place on you.
How do you protect your mental health in moments of pressure?
Firstly, I recognise the signs. I know what pressure feels like. For me personally, it’s that relentless, constant rumination.
Spotting it early means I can step in before it runs away with me. So I know when to take a break, and I actually take it.
I remind myself that tomorrow is another day, and very rarely is anything going to be life and death. The work will still be there when I get back, but I won’t be much use if I’m burnt out.
I know my strengths, and I know the strengths of the people around me, and I lean on them.
Sometimes people get into senior positions and feel they’re expected to know everything; I very much recognise that we’re better off as a collective effort than trying to be a lone hero.
I make sure I’m really clear, and I protect my evenings when I can. I say no to things that don’t align with the bigger picture.
And I’ve learned that no is a complete sentence.
Ultimately, I remind myself that pressure is part of leadership, but so is role modelling good practice. If I work myself into the ground, I’m telling my team that’s acceptable, too. So I try to lead by example.
And one of the things I’ve learned along the way is that rest is also part of how you rejuvenate yourself and find the energy to face the challenges ahead.
The woman who empowers me the most is…
… I would say the woman who empowers me the most is my Nan.
Her name’s Joyce Thompson. She came to this country in the 1950s from Jamaica during the Windrush period and trained as a nurse at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
She was a psychiatric nurse and gave everything to her work. But like so many Black women of her generation, she hit that concrete ceiling. She was never given the chance to step up, what we would now call a Head of Nursing role.
But she didn’t stop there; she later became a psychiatric tutor. She was actually training health professionals in mental health and wellbeing.
She was a senior tutor, but couldn’t progress much further. Still, Nan became deeply passionate about supporting people with mental health challenges, focusing on their wellbeing and how best to help them, rather than just sectioning them.
That passion led her to pursue a Master’s in Psychology when she was in her forties. She qualified, graduated, and went on to set up her own psychology practice, which she ran until she retired.
She created her own path when the system wouldn’t let her grow within it. And the irony of all of this is that today, I’m Director of People and Culture in an organisation where she was never allowed to fully thrive. St Thomas’ has since merged with Guy’s and several other hospitals and every step I take through those doors, I carry her with me. I carry my mum and my aunt too, who are also inspirational for different reasons.
All of them have taught me the meaning of resilience, self-belief, and never letting anyone else set limits for me.
This is why I do what I do, to make sure the doors they found closed are open for those coming up alongside me and behind me.
I feel empowered when…
… I feel empowered when I use my voice to challenge unfairness, which sits at my core, to call things out that others would rather ignore.
I feel it when I open the door for someone who’s been kept out for too long, and I get to watch them walk through it on their own terms.
I feel empowered when I see my work make a difference, when people who’ve been overlooked are finally heard, when systems start to shift, even if it’s inch by inch. I’ve definitely felt that through something I helped launch, I’m a co-founder of a social movement called Inclusive HR.
Inclusive HR is a movement that recognises the HR profession is made up of people from all sections of society, and therefore, we’ve got a responsibility to address underrepresentation through greater equity and better representation at all levels within the profession.
People like me, who sit at director level and are from the global majority, are still very few and far between, across all sectors, and even just within the NHS, we’re underrepresented. So seeing people progress, seeing people kick down those doors, climb through the windows, show their best selves, and be given opportunities in the same way as others, that gives me a deep sense of enrichment. It’s a real example of where I see the work I do making a difference.
I also feel empowered when I’m fully myself, when I don’t have to shrink or apologise for taking up space. And when I remind others that they don’t have to shrink either, that’s powerful. Fairness and justice aren’t abstract ideas for me, they’re daily acts.
So every time I choose to stand firm in them, I’m reminded of my power, and how to use it for good. And that’s when I feel most like myself.
The woman who everyone should know about is…
There are so many women, I can hardly name them, because I network profusely and I know a lot of great women. Particularly, a lot of Black women, this is key, who are doing phenomenal things.
And I’m grateful to organisations like the Black British Business Awards, the UK and US Black Sisters Network, and the Powerlist for highlighting that. Even so, there are so many Black people doing great things who aren’t on those lists.
The world will be a better place when…
…People stop pretending to care and start acting like they do.
Their actions need to mirror the things that they say. I think it’ll be better when fairness isn’t something we just talk about at conferences and away days, but something that shows up in every policy, every decision, every door we open for someone else. When people see difference and don’t feel threatened by it, but value it.
When they understand that nobody’s free until we’re all free, there’s a famous saying by Fannie Lou Hamer that goes along those lines.
Until then, people like me will keep pushing, speaking up, and opening doors, and windows. Because better isn’t impossible. It just needs all of us to mean what we say and act like we do. 100 percent.
Where is your favorite place in the world?
I think one of the places I’ve been that I absolutely loved—and would go back to, is Cuba.
I went to Cuba many years ago, and I just loved the culture. I think it’s fascinating. Some of the things we take for granted, because we live in a democratic state, are not taken for granted there because they live in a communist state.
There were just so many contrasts. There are positives and negatives that sit within that, but I found it really interesting.
Championing fairness, equity, and representation in the workplace, Cheryl Samuels FCIPD is reshaping what leadership looks like in HR. As co-founder of the #InclusiveHR movement, she’s calling on the profession to better reflect the society it serves—at every level. From mentoring others to opening doors that were once shut, Cheryl’s work is rooted in justice, visibility, and systemic change. Learn more about her journey and impact here. Cheryl sat on the Asking for help panel at the inaurgual Nurture network Live 2023 – you can catch the highlights here.
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