Two businesswomen have spoken about how they have achieved success despite suffering from dyslexia.

Dawn Yates and Lauren McKechnie, who work at borough organisation Bolton CVS, are talking about their learning difficulty as a strength to inspire others to see they are not weaker or less than anybody else.

Growing up, Lauren was filled with anxiety at the thought of reading aloud in class.

But fast forward to 2022, and the 33-year-old says that while her spelling may require online writing service Grammarly’s assistance, her ability as deputy CEO of Bolton CVS is down to her quick rational thinking, something heightened by her dyslexia.

She said: “Education and language proficiency are important, yes, but grades or to publicly recite Shakespeare off the page with ease are not what got me here.

“My ability to think broadly and holistically about complex topics. My hyper awareness of people’s tone and energy.”

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Lauren was diagnosed with dyslexia officially when she was aged 31 and since then, has not let it get in the way of her success.

She is also on the board of trustees for two other charities in England and Scotland, the RSPCA in Warrington, Halton and St Helens, and VASLan in South Lanarkshire.

Lauren added said: “Champagne and campaign – two unfortunate ones to mix up. 

“My friends still haven’t forgiven me for when I loaded them on to a bus on a Saturday afternoon and they had expectations of a day sipping high end bubbly and gossiping.

“The animal rights rally we ended up at didn’t really have the same vibe.”

Bolton CVS chief executive Dawn was diagnosed with dyslexia aged seven after a similar reading experience at school.

She said: “I was lucky enough to have a teacher with a keen eye, who knew about this thing called dyslexia, in primary school. 

“A few teachers before her hadn’t noticed me, sat alongside the other kids on the reading carpet, watching to see when they turned a page and copying them. 

“It looked so easy to them and felt anything but for me; so instead of a reading the book, I started reading the people.”

Dawn’s ability to read people has come in handy for her life now and has since learnt that communication with dyslexia isn’t weaker.

“Learning how to work with my dyslexia instead of trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.”

The business leaders are speaking ahead of Dyslexia Awareness Week, which begins on Monday, October 3.