On Her Majesty’s Service

Fay Sharpe is introducing Claudine Martin, this month’s shero: “Claudine came to my attention a couple of years ago when I saw her on a post winning an award. I immediately reached out to her to join team FF15 as a mentor. Her day job working in the army, in the past has been a man’s world -is a breeze for Claudine, multi award winning. She is cool, calm and collected,  definitely someone you would call on in any crisis. This year she’s been mentoring the fantastic Sarah Zarywacz and you can see the progress made is off the charts. It’s my honor to have her in this year’s cohort.”

Who is Claudine Martin?

“I am Claudine Martin, and I am a serving soldier in the British Army and have been serving for over 15 years. I have been deployed to countries like Iraq and Kenya, and have enjoyed adventurous training in locations such as Cyprus and Austria. I am passionate about empowering and inspiring others, in addition to encouraging change. I am currently undergoing a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management at the University of Lincoln. I am a huge advocate for the charity Lupus UK, and a supporter to all lupus warriors having been diagnosed with lupus myself in 2016.

My career to date has been varied where I have developed many skills, experienced challenges but also embraced opportunities. I am immensely driven; I work hard to achieve my goals and I am always willing to learn from my mistakes. I am a true believer in this quote: “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice”. For me, a well-lived life is about learning, growth, happiness, following your dreams and enjoying precious moments with family and friends.

Throughout my career I have had many exciting opportunities including working as the PA to the Army Director of Engagement and Communications at the Ministry of Defence. From there I developed a passion for the PA profession and have been actively doing public speaking ever since. Prior to that, I worked as the Chief HR Manager at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I have also completed military duties at the London 2012 Olympics and worked as a military steward at the Wimbledon tennis championships on several occasions. Along my career path, I have acquired a long service and good conduct medal (LS&GC), a medal that is given to army personnel who have served 15 years or more with good military conduct. In addition, I was awarded a General Officer commendation for meritorious service. I also sit on the executive committee for the Armed Forces chronic conditions and disability in defence network. This network supports serving personnel and their families living with a chronic condition.

Outside of my day job, I volunteer as a girl’s leader to help develop young girls into future leaders. I am a proud mentor for this year’s Fast Forward 15 programme and grateful for the opportunity. I am a multi award winning soldier and was recently named top 100 rising star for ‘WATC’ 2021 awards. My future aspirations are to deliver a TED talk and set up a charity foundation for lupus sufferers. I am proud of my journey thus far and encourage anyone on a driven path to continue even when challenges present itself.

I am immensely grateful for all my family and friends who have supported me during my ongoing illness. I am grateful for the opportunities that have come to me, including being a mentor for the Diana Award in spring 2022. Resilience is my greatest strength, and I am firm believer in ‘no matter what you are going through things will only get better’ This is especially pertinent as we are still experiencing the challenges of the pandemic, we are all in this together.”