--- title: "It's survival: Mark's story" url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/its-survival-marks-story date: 2026-10-16 author: Sam Page type: The Friday Takeaway edition categories: [The Friday Takeaway] reading_time: 7 min summary: "Last week I wrote about Mark Kennedy, who's been out of work for 18 months." first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-survival-marks-story-sam-page-p39he --- # It's survival: Mark's story Last week I [wrote about Mark Kennedy](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7513901958915608576/), who's been out of work for 18 months. This week I've been in London every day, from Fishmongers' Hall to Century Club to meeting Tom Noble. However, the meeting I want to focus on, is sitting down with Mark Kennedy again. We recorded our chat, so he can tell his story directly. It's honest and moving. I've summarised it below, and you'll find the full recording from YouTube and Spotify at the end, uncut and as it happened. Mark felt it's important to share it all, in the hope it helps other people realise what life can really be like. Thank you to everyone who messaged and shared. No leads yet, but in Mark's words, it showed him **"there are humans out here behind those screens."** If you're hiring, or know someone who is, I hope this story will inspire you to help Mark, as it has me. Exactly how you can do that is in his own words, at the end. **Please do like, share, repost, comment - it all helps.** ### Run out of luck Before this, Mark had never had trouble finding work. Whenever he put his CV out, he got loads of attention. So when he lost his last job in March 2025, he wasn't too worried. He thought he'd bounce back. > "I don't think it's luck anymore, because I've run out of that." When I asked how he keeps himself motivated to make 50 applications a day, he said: > "Family, livelihood, and all of that sounds cute, but really and truly, it's survival." He's up to his neck in debt, and his life insurance has now been cancelled. He has three kids, aged 11, 8 and 5, and there are times he can't have them over because he can't afford to feed them. He's seen his middle child tap the youngest and say, "don't ask, he doesn't have it." > "As a father, there's no worse feeling. That should not be a child's responsibility." When I asked how he's kept himself going, his answer was simple. "I haven't." It's his village of friends and family, some of whom have clubbed together to help him out, that keeps him going. ### The ground or the cell Born in the UK, Mark grew up in Ghana, where teachers hit you if you hadn't done your homework. At 11 he was sent back to the UK. On his third or fourth day at primary school, he hadn't done his homework, and started crying because he thought he was about to be beaten. The teacher told him "we don't do that here." > "From there my life changed. It was downhill from there." What followed was gang culture, drugs and violence in south London. > "It wasn't survival. I had food at home, a family that loved me. I just wanted that success today." > "That route only goes two ways. Either you go in the ground or you go in the cell." He's come close to both, and been stabbed twice. What changed things was family, and God. Walking away meant giving up a lot of money, and a lot of status. "Status is a currency in that life. It's equivalent to being an influencer." And he's honest that the pull is still there. > "Every single day I fight the temptation. I have friends still in that life, and they offer me the world." His biggest fear is prison, and his autistic son having a meltdown when a visit ends and Dad can't leave with him. He also went back into that world to help others out of it, running youth programmes and becoming a youth pastor. Without a degree, he built his career through contract role after contract role, all the way up to running a £5 million project. > "That money that you're chasing on the corner, you could get in an office." ### Three big things from Mark **1. Hiring has lost its humanity.** Mark has 19 versions of his CV. "Sometimes I look at my CV and I don't even recognise it." He's been told to dumb it down, and turned away for having too much experience. Then there was the AI interview, a flickering black circle on a screen. > "Dehumanising is the best word to use." He's not against AI, "but we have to be wise with how we use it. If nobody wants to listen to Mark's advice, just watch any Terminator film!" Mark compares it to football. "If a club buys a player, you need to be scoring 10 goals instantly, otherwise we're going to sell you in the next transfer window." Once upon a time, he says, you'd take someone on and train them, and you'd both grow together. We change football managers the same way, and it's almost the same with our prime ministers too. There's no patience. Everything is fast results, and in hiring that now means instant assessment of applications. I've said for years the recruitment process is a bit flawed. You spend an hour with someone and have to make up your mind. Now often you don't even get the hour. **2. What would Caden do?** Mark's eldest son is his role model. Caden cares about Hula Hoops, pizza, gaming and his family, and not much else. If he sees a child crying, he'll go and give them a hug. > "I make executive life decisions on what Caden would do." So when Mark has every right to be angry, he asks himself that question. "Caden wouldn't care. Just crack on." **3. Say thank you.** > "That customer satisfaction email is the only thing that's kept me going in all my jobs." At home, no one gets a snack without a please and thank you. "It's amazing how much difference those simple manners make." That was a good reminder for me. ### Give somebody a chance Mark is one of the most caring people I've met, in how much he cares about his family and the work he's done. When I asked how people could help, his answer wasn't really about him. > "Give me a chance. And if it's not me, give somebody a chance." A chance could be a coffee or a second call. His suggestion for hiring managers is to keep using the screening system, but pick up three CVs yourself and go through them personally. > "Be a human. We need some humanity." Mark's looking for a career, "because I don't just want a job". > "I just want somewhere to level up, not dumb down." My [post last week](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7513901958915608576/) has more on his experience and the roles he's after. If you're hiring, or know someone who is, please reach out to [Mark](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-kennedy17/). So often it's knowing someone who knows someone. ### The Friday Takeaway Mark's takeaway into the weekend: > "Put your phone down, put that laptop down. Whether you have your children around you, friends, your cat, put your phone down, and just be human. Touch someone, interact with someone, speak to someone. Just live in the moment." > "My advice to take into the weekend: put that phone down, put that laptop down, and just interact with a human being." Mark's point is such a good reminder. We need to disconnect from tech to be more human. Something my daughter enforces through a box we have to put our phones in outside her room. But it makes bedtime all the better, every time. ### Until next week... ### Watch or listen to this episode Listen and watch on Spotify: And please do like / follow if any of this is interesting. ![Selfie at the end of our recording](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/its-survival-marks-story-1.webp) *Selfie at the end of our recording*