New charity ‘The Fly Anyway Foundation’ launched to support and empower survivors of domestic abuse to start businesses

Dani Wallace
Dani Wallace

Dani Wallace, a multi-6 figure business owner who built her coaching business from scratch over the last 3 years, has recently launched her lifelong passion project, The Fly Anyway Foundation.

Dani grew up on the council estates of Preston where she experienced frequent domestic abuse. Feeling strongly that there is a gap in provisions for those who have been through domestic violence situations, and have managed to get out, she has been working in the background for the last 2 years to build up a support system that enables people who have left an abusive relationship to create independence, and financial freedom, through building up businesses they love, connected to their passion and purpose.

Dani recently leveraged her stage and audience at her ‘Bee Inspired’ event to help two of her founding survivors to share their story and sell out of their products. Now, she welcomes others survivors to reach out so she can help them make their mark.

Dani has described herself as a ‘cycle breaker’ and states she is ‘here to help break generational chains of abuse happening on repeat’.

She said: ”My family has experienced what it’s like to go from generation to generation of domestic abuse and to be trapped by it – we’ve seen so many family members affected by it, me included to the point of nearly losing my life – I decided this was going to stop with me, and ever since I have made it my mission to not only instil different values in my own family, but to also spread the message in my wider community. I’m here to offer a hand to anyone who is ready to be pulled up too. I didn’t want to stay living as a victim. I wanted to be in control of my own life. I used my business to create this control for me – but it took a lot of blood sweat, tears and mistakes along the way. I want to be the lifeline to others who are ready to hold their hand out after leaving a domestic abusive relationship and say ‘I’ve got you’- ‘Im here to help you, and I can get you to the good stuff faster!’.

After suffering at the hand of her abuser Dani felt that she was unemployable – and so turned to her talent of singing initially using this as a way to make ends meet – but it was a struggle and she sacrificed a lot of family time, and suffered from working all hours to just get by until she founded her coaching business as a more structured income she could scale.

“Being employed can be triggering for someone who has experienced domestic abuse,” says Dani, “and just expecting people to slot back into work after they have been emotionally and/or physically abused is asking a lot – but what alternative do people have, when they need to get back on their feet financially? I want to offer an alternative, to help people find ways out of their corporate roles if they are not happy, and instead use their skills in a way that empowers them, and sets them up for a life they are more in control of”.

Dani is someone recognised as a leading voice in female empowerment, and she always vowed that when she could, she would give back. Over the past couple of years, she has raised over £25K for domestic abuse charities, including; Women’s Aid and now she is excited to have her her own Foundation, which has ambitious plans over the next 5 years. Having already secured over £3million of funding she is preparing to roll out an ambitious 5 year plan which includes:-

  1. Business Support
  2. Employability Support
  3. Post-crisis Support
  4. Crisis Support
  5. Refuge and Rehoming

Having secured support from many global ambassadors, along with funding from; The National Lottery, Arnold Clarke, Lancashire County Council’s local members grant scheme and private donators, Dani and her team are excited to open her doors to the next round of ‘Business Builders’ – people who are ready to rebuild their lives, create financial independence and learn new skills. The Fly Anyway Foundation will match those in need with businesses who can support them to help facilitate their growth.

Lejla Dauti and Dani Wallace on stage at Bee Inspired
Lejla Dauti and Dani Wallace on stage at Bee Inspired

Lejla Dauti, 33, from London (originally from Kosovo, Lejla moved to London at the age of 6), is one of The Fly Anyway Foundation’s first Business Builders and has already been supported by the Foundation. For 8 and half years Lejla was a victim of emotional and mental abuse, gaslighting, trauma bonding and violence.

Lejla shares; “It wasn’t until I was able to leave my abuser after 8 and half years and I started to educate myself on abuse, that I truly understood the severity of what had happened to me. It felt like a tornado had hit me all at once. How could I have been so blind? How did I allow this to happen to me for so long? How on earth did I ever think that a man who loved me would hurt me both mentally and physically? I started scrolling through the internet, looking for other women who felt like me, I was desperate to connect with other survivors. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find anything that included an ongoing community emotionally supporting other survivors.

“I felt like I HAD to do something about it. I was lonely, I wanted nothing more than to find other women to talk to. So, I took to Instagram @by.layx, and I started to make videos telling the world survival stories anonymously on behalf of survivors of Domestic Abuse. I named the series ‘Lejla, Please Tell My Story’, and thousands of women from across the world came to my page, they couldn’t believe how many other survivors had similar experiences.”

Lejla recently had the opportunity to join Founder Dani on stage at Manchester United’s ground to share her story and showcase her business, ‘Lejla Please Tell My Story™’. Lejla is on a mission to help survivors tell their stories and break their silence. She released a documentary series  in October 2020, which went viral ,reaching over 2.7million people world-wide. Lejla continues to hold space and create documentaries for female survivors of domestic abuse to share their stories as raw and openly as they wish, focused on hearing and amplifying their voices to raise awareness about the realities of domestic abuse and to influence the systemic changes we desperately need as a community.

The Fly Anyway Foundation is now actively calling out for more Business Builders to help. If you’re interested in being a Business Builder or if you’re interested in being an ambassador or financially supporting the Foundation, please visit here.

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