Support That Makes the Difference — because we’ve been there.

What Makes the Difference CIC was co-founded by Ali and Rich, both of whom bring deep lived experience and professional insight to everything we do.

Meet Rich

Rich is a veteran who, after leaving the Armed Forces, faced overwhelming challenges: homelessness, suicide attempts, and a breakdown in mental health. He cycled through short-term contracts, unemployment, and underemployment, often relying on grants or emergency financial help. Some of this support was life-saving — but too much of it was impersonal, patchy, or came too late.

Eventually, Rich secured stable employment. But true recovery required more. He began studying NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), becoming a certified practitioner. This helped him reclaim agency in his own healing.

He began volunteering with a military charity, delivering alternative therapies to both serving personnel and veterans — reconnecting with purpose through shared understanding and support.

Meet Ali

Ali is an experienced global HR leader, trauma-informed practitioner, and NLP Master Practitioner with a deep commitment to helping individuals navigate complex life transitions—particularly those leaving the Armed Forces and stepping into civilian life.

Her career began in Glasgow’s hospitality scene and evolved into senior HR roles, supporting leaders and their teams around the world, where she earned a reputation for pragmatic, compassionate leadership in high-pressure environments.

Along the way, she faced multiple experiences of burnout and emotionally toxic dynamics, which led her to retrain in trauma-focused therapies and reflect deeply on the root causes of disconnection, exhaustion, and identity loss.
A key turning point was discovering she is neurodivergent—an insight that helped her make sense of years of social masking, over-adaptation, and misfit within conventional systems. It also gave her the language and perspective to support others navigating similar dissonance, especially during transition periods.

Co-founding What Makes the Difference CIC was a natural next step. While traditional transition services focus on employment, housing, and finance, Ali and her co-founder Rich believe the true cornerstones of successful reintegration are connection, values, boundaries, and a sense of belonging. That’s where lasting change begins—and where Ali’s lived and professional experience meet in powerful alignment.

We both noticed the same frustrating patterns in the Armed Forces transition and support landscape:

• Support often only kicks in once someone is already in crisis
• Family, workplace, and community integration are rarely addressed
• Most programmes focus on CVs and job interviews — not personal wellbeing
• Little to no emphasis on group work or shared recovery
• Over-reliance on limited tools and “tick-box” support

What We Set Out to Do

We knew we could build something different — and more effective:

• Proactive support that builds skills before crisis hits
• Whole-family integration instead of focusing only on the individual
• Group learning and co-regulation that fosters community
• A trauma-informed, values-led approach that honours lived experience

Together, we created What Makes the Difference CIC — a place where veterans, families, volunteers, and frontline staff can find tools, connection, and a shared language that helps everyone move forward, safely and with dignity.

We know what it’s like to fall through the cracks. That’s why we exist — to help others find a way through.