We talk about the opportunities and challenges facing disabled creators, and why having the right representation and support can make such a difference when building a sustainable career in content creation.We also explore how Antidote fits alongside Purple Goat.

While Purple Goat works with brands to develop and deliver inclusive influencer marketing campaigns, Antidote approaches things from the creator’s perspective, helping disabled talent develop their careers and access commercial opportunities.

They’re different businesses with complementary roles, both contributing to a more inclusive marketing industry.

A bigger conversation about the industry

Beyond introducing the agency, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk more broadly with Dani and Tori about the evolving world of influencer marketing.

There’s been encouraging progress in disability representation, but there’s still plenty of room for the industry to grow, both in how brands work with disabled creators and how creators themselves are supported.

For me, this is about more than representation alone. It’s about recognising talent, creating opportunities and building an industry where disabled people can thrive professionally and commercially.

And that’s what makes the launch of Antidote such an exciting next chapter.

Watch or listen to the conversation

Whether you’re a disabled content creator, work in marketing or media, run a business or are simply interested in disability inclusion and entrepreneurship, I hope you’ll find something interesting in our discussion.

You can catch the full conversation here:

Watch the episode on YouTube

Listen to the episode on Spotify

A big thank you to Dani and Tori for joining me and sharing their enthusiasm, ideas and ambitions for Antidote.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this new venture takes us, and particularly the opportunities it can help create for disabled talent.

I absolutely loved the summer this year. The warmer weather and longer days always seem to give me more strength, energy and stamina, so I’m definitely feeling the shift into autumn. But generally, I’m pleased to say I’m feeling good, both physically and mentally.

That’s despite a pretty wild few weeks of what I call disability life admin!

Between managing my care rota, the ongoing challenges of funding my support, a rather ridiculous health and safety saga involving one of my hoist slings, maintaining my wheelchair and sorting out my Motability vehicle, there’s been no shortage of phone calls, emails and appointments.

Sometimes just keeping everyday life running smoothly feels like a full-time job in itself!

Thankfully, there’s been plenty of good stuff too. Lots of lovely time with Kasia, Sunny, family and friends, and some brilliant trips for work and leisure, including that unforgettable Norwegian cruise in August.

No more international adventures planned until the new year, but I’ve still got plenty of experiences to share, including videos from my stay at the Royal Lancaster London back in May, which was an exciting milestone for my Hoists in Hotels work.

On the work front, a big reason I’ve been quieter with content is that much of my energy has been going into Purple Goat. It’s been a challenging period for the business, involving some difficult decisions alongside opportunities we’re working hard to develop. As founder and CEO, I’ve been very focused on navigating all of that with the team and finding the best way forward.

Alongside this, I’m continuing to enjoy developing Purple Collective and Hoists in Hotels. That’s led to some interesting university conversations, including an online webinar with Gdańsk University of Technology and a recent discussion with two marketing professors at Oxford Brookes about potential collaboration.

I’m also continuing my advisory work with Open Road Access, and one other piece of news I haven’t properly shared here yet is that I was appointed as a trustee of the disability charity Sense over the summer.

Sense does incredible work supporting disabled people with complex needs. It’s a privilege to contribute to the organisation’s direction and impact, bringing my lived experience alongside everything I’ve learned through entrepreneurship and disability inclusion.

The photo was taken at a recent trustee board meeting at Sense’s offices in Birmingham.

So life is certainly full, with its usual mixture of opportunities, challenges, practicalities and possibilities.

I’m hoping to get back into sharing more videos, stories and reflections soon. In the meantime, I’m appreciating everything that’s going well, doing my best with the things that need attention, and adjusting to the darker evenings!

Hope you’re all doing well. How’s autumn treating you?

There was a slightly unfortunate combination of circumstances involving my domain name not renewing because my bank card had changed, and me being unable to activate the new card and properly sort everything out while I was on a cruise ship in the Norwegian fjords.

In trying to get things working again, a couple of blank notifications escaped into the world. Sorry for the confusion!

Thankfully, everything is now sorted, I’m back home, and normal service has resumed.

The good news is that I have a much more interesting reason for having been difficult to reach. I’ve just returned from my first ever cruise!

It was an experience I’d wanted to try for a while, and I genuinely loved being on the ship. At times it felt like staying in a floating five-star hotel, with amazing food, brilliant entertainment, interesting people to meet, and then the rather extraordinary experience of waking up somewhere completely different.

I also learned a lot about how accessible cruising can work through travelling with Limitless Travel, particularly the support they provide through care and tour managers. I’ve already been sharing videos from different parts of the experience across my social media channels, with plenty more reflections to come.

And then, of course, there were the Norwegian fjords themselves.

The scenery was absolutely beautiful. One of my favourite moments was taking a sky lift high above the fjords and then zooming around at the top in my wheelchair, surrounded by mountains and clouds. Looking back down at our enormous cruise ship and seeing it reduced to what looked like a tiny toy floating on the water really put the scale of the landscape into perspective.

Beautiful water, dramatic mountains, clouds drifting through the scenery, and views that photographs and videos can never quite capture.

So, despite the slightly chaotic communications from my website while I was away, it was a fantastic first experience of cruising and one that has given me plenty to think, write and create content about.

I’m now safely back home, the website and emails should be behaving themselves again, and I’ll be writing again soon with some other updates.

Thanks for bearing with me, and particularly to anyone who opened those blank emails wondering what on earth I was trying to tell you!

For me, and around 250,000 people in the UK who require a hoist for transfers, it often isn’t.

That’s why I’m so excited to share that the Royal Lancaster London now offers a mobile hoist as part of an accessible stay, at no additional cost.

After working with the fantastic team at the Royal Lancaster over the past months, we’ve helped create a simple booking process where guests can reserve one of the accessible rooms, request the hoist during the booking, and have everything prepared before they arrive.

It means people who need a hoist can enjoy an overnight stay in London without the stress, expense and logistical challenge of hiring and transporting specialist equipment themselves.

Whether you’re visiting London for a holiday, a work trip, a hospital appointment, or to spend time with family and friends, this opens up new possibilities for travelling with greater confidence and independence.

I’ve recently stayed at the hotel myself and had a brilliant experience. I’ll be sharing more over the coming weeks, including videos showing the room, the hoist setup and the overall stay.

If you, a family member, friend or colleague could benefit from this; you can find out more, check availability and current room rates via the Royal Lancaster’s new Accessible Stays with Hoist page.

A huge thank you to everyone at the Royal Lancaster who embraced this idea and worked so hard to make it a reality. I hope this is the beginning of many more hotels making overnight stays possible for people who require hoists.

Find out more and book here.

At the same time, through my regular conversations with Ann Hawkins, I’m delighted that Ann has joined me as a director of the Community Interest Company. Together we’re exploring what the Purple Collective can achieve next.

We’re continuing to focus on the Hoists in Hotels campaign and, over the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing more about the exciting progress we’re making with partners in the hotel industry.

Perhaps even more excitingly, everything we’re learning is beginning to reveal a model for creating social change that feels quite different from many of the traditional approaches. It’s still taking shape, but I’m looking forward to sharing more about that soon as well.

If this journey interests you, I’d love you to subscribe to my newsletter at martynsibley.com.

And if you have connections within hotels, hospitality, businesses that may be interested in sponsoring hoists, or simply ideas that could help move this campaign forward, I’d genuinely love to hear from you.

More updates soon.

That’s why I’m really pleased to be part of this upcoming online conversation hosted by the Purple Collective and Our House. We’ll discuss building a Disabled People’s Charter shaped by lived experience, collective discussion and practical ideas for change.

If you’re disabled, working in disability inclusion, interested in policy and systems change, or simply want to contribute to a better future, we’d love you to join us.

June 9th 2026

12pm to 1pm

Online

Full details and free sign-up here

That’s why the conversation in the latest Purple Changemakers podcast with Michael and Shyam, co-founders of Advoca, matters. We dive into how their app is helping people retain key medical information, make sense of what was said, and take confident action after appointments, especially when so much is forgotten.

We also explore the realities of the startup journey, how they’re using AI and social media to grow Advoca, and why this kind of healthcare tech could help millions of people.

Watch on YouTube

Listen on Spotify

Enjoy the conversation!

Massive thanks to Aga for creating Fantasia and capturing the heart of Everything is Possible in the most joyful way.

The book is available on Amazon. No goggles required.

Grab a copy   here