A conversation about recovery, responsibility and leading with purpose.

We open The Healing Voices Podcast with Laurence Hickmott, CEO of the Essex Recovery Foundation: a leader whose approach to creating a lived experience organisation is shaped not only by professional expertise, but by his own life in long-term recovery.

In this opening episode, Laurence reflects on what it truly means to lead a recovery organisation from the inside. He speaks candidly about the responsibility of holding both roles at once: chief executive and person in recovery.

Laurence shares how recovery-informed leadership influences everything: from creating a non-hierarchal structure to frontline delivery. He talks about his journey of bringing a vision to life - and why "leading from behind" and listening to the voices of others has been so important to Essex Recovery Foundation's success.

He talks about his own experiences of addiction and recovery and how abstinence from drugs and alcohol has become a life-or-death decision for him - but, importantly, Laurence also shares how recovery has helped him to believe in himself and the role which meditation and prayer has held in his journey.

Alongside his professional life, Laurence has a deep love of music and has played in bands for many years. He offers a powerful metaphor: recovery is like being in a band. It’s about learning when to lead and when to listen. When to hold the rhythm and when to step back. Playing too loudly can drown out the people around you — but when everyone finds their place, something bigger than any one individual emerges.

This episode sets the tone for Healing Voices: honest conversations about recovery, leadership, vulnerability and the human stories behind the systems that support change.