EPISODE · May 2, 2026 · 26 MIN
Cherry Lee: Leadership, Lorries and Living Life Unapologetically
from Only Human After All · host James Thomas
Cherry Lee has a shaved head, tattoos and piercings. She drives a lorry. She's the lead singer of an 80s/90s rock band called Thick Skinned. And she's one of the most thoughtful, strategic leaders you'll ever meet. Deputy General Manager for Surgery. Former jockey, former rugby player, former nurse, former ODP, former Surgical Care Practitioner. Someone who's learned that assumptions are usually wrong. Her journey includes a cardiac arrest at 19 that ended her sport career. Her parents consented to amputation. Surgeons in Scarborough saved her leg. A consultant told her: "Your sport career is over. But you've still got a life. So think about what you want to do." So she became a patient. Then institutionalized to hospital life. Then a nurse who saw ODPs doing the exciting bits in resus and thought "that's for me." Then operations. Then leadership. Six careers. Never settling for the status quo. Never letting anyone else define who she should be. Her advice to her younger self? "All the mistakes I've made have made me who I am. Just do what you want to in the moment and it'll take you where it needs to go." Don't judge the book by its cover. You'll miss the whole story.
What this episode covers
Cherry Lee has a shaved head, tattoos and piercings. She drives a lorry. She's the lead singer of an 80s/90s rock band called Thick Skinned. And she's one of the most thoughtful, strategic leaders you'll ever meet. Deputy General Manager for Surgery. Former jockey, former rugby player, former nurse, former ODP, former Surgical Care Practitioner. Someone who's learned that assumptions are usually wrong. Her journey includes a cardiac arrest at 19 that ended her sport career. Her parents consented to amputation. Surgeons in Scarborough saved her leg. A consultant told her: "Your sport career is over. But you've still got a life. So think about what you want to do." So she became a patient. Then institutionalized to hospital life. Then a nurse who saw ODPs doing the exciting bits in resus and thought "that's for me." Then operations. Then leadership. Six careers. Never settling for the status quo. Never letting anyone else define who she should be. Her advice to her younger self? "All the mistakes I've made have made me who I am. Just do what you want to in the moment and it'll take you where it needs to go." Don't judge the book by its cover. You'll miss the whole story.
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Cherry Lee: Leadership, Lorries and Living Life Unapologetically
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