Kicking the Door Down with Chrissie Knapp: bullying, boundaries, confidence and finding your voice

This week on Kicking the Door Down, I’m joined by Chrissie Knapp — a brilliant woman many of you in health and safety will already know from HSM and the wider events and publishing world. But in this episode, we go beyond the shows, the magazine and the industry reputation, and talk about Chrissie.

What I loved about this conversation is that it gets right underneath the surface of confidence. Because when people see Chrissie now, they see someone calm, capable, connected and brilliantly good at what she does. What they don’t necessarily see is the journey it took to get there.

We talk about bullying at school, how those early experiences shaped her, and how she went from being a quiet, withdrawn teenager to someone who can walk into any room, hold her own, build relationships and command a stage. We talk about confidence, boundaries, the art of reading people, and the way women so often have to assess situations in real time — especially in male-dominated spaces.

We also get into careers, publishing, the health and safety industry, networking, relationship-building, and the brilliant work Chrissie is doing to create more visibility for women through the Women in Safety and Health Awards.

This is a conversation about finding your voice, building resilience, learning where your boundaries are, and becoming the version of yourself that younger you probably never imagined was possible.

In this episode, we cover:

•  Chrissie’s experience of bullying and isolation at school 
•  How confidence is built, not born 
•  Why boundaries matter — in work, life and male-dominated environments 
•  Going from a shy teenager to a confident industry figure 
•  The power of relationship-building and human connection 
•  Women in health and safety and why visibility matters 
•  The story behind the Women in Safety and Health Awards

A really honest conversation with one of the best people in the industry — and proof that the person people see now is often the result of a battle they never knew happened.

Kicking The Door Down