Dez Derry has bravely lifted the lid on his troubled childhood that saw him go into the care system at the age of just four.
The award-winning businessman is best known as the founder of Blume, the听leading customer acquisition specialist for the legal sector, but has spoken publicly about his abusive childhood.
Speaking at 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 FUEL Manchester 2024 event, Derry reduced many in the audience to tears as he recounted being physically abused as a child as well as suffering years of racism.
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 enough people who open up who are from backgrounds like mine who on paper shouldn鈥檛 be in the positions that they鈥檙e in,鈥� he said.
However, he insisted he didn鈥檛 think of himself as a victim and believed the challenges he faced as a child became a 鈥榮uperpower鈥� for him in business.
Derry鈥檚 story began when he was born into a traditional Indian family in Walsall in 1982, the eldest of three brothers.
Social services stepped in after he suffered years of physical abuse and he went into foster care at the age of four.
However, he said his prayers were answered when he and his two brothers were adopted by a loving white family when he was eight.
The adoption of Indian heritage children by a white British family was one of the first of its kind in the UK in the 1990s.
鈥淲e were told it had never happened before,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t had to go through the courts, it took a long time for a number of reasons: they weren鈥檛 the right colour, they weren鈥檛 the right culture, they were saying they were too old, so there were lots of obstacles and hurdles there.
鈥淏eing adopted is probably the luckiest thing to ever happen to me – without it I physically would not be here today.
鈥淲e were working class, money was always tight, being in and out of foster care, and not having that stability at those early stages.
鈥淚t鈥檚 only in the last few years where I鈥檝e felt the rug was not going to get pulled from under me.
鈥淓very job that I鈥檝e had I鈥檝e always felt really lucky to have that opportunity, and being petrified that I鈥檓 going to lose it. Because if I lost it, I could lose everything again.
鈥淏ut I would say it鈥檚 also been a bit of a superpower because it鈥檚 just made me so resilient, and I never give up.鈥�
Derry quickly showed his entrepreneurial talent and landed a job at the age of 19 selling nail varnish.
鈥淚 always wanted to wear a suit and it taught me a lot about sales,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 then joined Yell selling Yellow Pages advertising and became Yell鈥檚 top performer for seven years.鈥�
In 2012 he launched the digital marketing consultancy that became mmadigital and finally Blume, specialising in finding customer acquisition leads for the legal sector.
鈥淚 always wanted to inspire others and show that you can achieve your potential through hard work, drive and determination, regardless of your life situation or experiences,鈥� he said.
He set himself a target of becoming a 拢20m turnover business and took two rounds of investment from Rockpool and private equity firm Sun European Partners in 2022.
Earlier this year Derry stepped down as CEO of Blume and told the audience at FUEL Manchester that he was at a crossroads in his life.
He said: 鈥淎ll of a sudden I realised I鈥檇 hit my lifetime goals and it was like 鈥榮***, what now?鈥�
鈥淚 hope my story can give hope to anyone who has been abused, in care, adopted, endured racism or failed at school.
鈥淭hanks to the love of my parents, Chris and Al, I came out the other side and I hope my story can inspire other people. I owe them everything.鈥�
FUEL Manchester was sponsored by听听听and the听
Derry joined fellow speakers Steve Byrne, CEO, Travel Counsellors; Clare Roberts, founder and CEO, Kids Planet; branding expert Issy Panton; Janine Smith, director, GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub; Mehdi Kordi, former head coach of the Dutch Olympic cycling team; Guy Remond, co-founder, EHE Ventures; Elizabeth Scott MBE, executive director, Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester; Dr Richard Whittle, University of Salford 老九品茶 School; Jack Maher, head of flexible workspace, Bruntwood SciTech; and Frazer Durris, co-founder, 老九品茶wise Solutions.
FUEL is unique in the calendar as it鈥檚 effectively two events in one, starting with a business breakfast and ending with a series of masterclass sessions for a select cohort of businesses.