Anthony Miller -FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS TO GOOD ENOUGH

Former TV star Anthony Miller shares the story of his successes and failures that have helped him reach a place of being good enough for himself and he is inviting everyone to do the same.

The 43-year-old, originally from Antrim, in Northern Ireland has recorded a TEDx Stormont Studio 2021 talk which launched globally last Friday (1 October).

Unlike many inspirational speakers, Anthony has chosen to unveil the failures behind his successes, in a bid to encourage others not feel defeated when things don’t go according to plan.

Starting from birth in the Massereene hospital Antrim, Protestant bands and Orange Orders marched past as he, a Catholic, was born. He jokes about the irony of the contradictions that have continued through his life.

Expelled from school, Anthony was picked up by a modelling agency, by the age of 21 he was managing in the agency, he had celebrity nightspots in South London and went on to become something of a celebrity himself, after becoming the first gay wedding planner in England.

This led to him appearing on TV throughout the UK, Ireland and the rest of the world. His first series on Sky’s Wedding TV was distributed globally. He has since often popped up on BBC 1 Northern Ireland, as well as guesting on Irelands TV3 and Ireland AM where he performed makeovers on Mothers of the Bride and Groom. He continues to keep his toe in all things showbiz with his celebrity column in www.queerforty.com recently interviewing Bonnie Tyler, T’Pau, Ben O’Feudu, Angie Brown, and Charlene with more in the pipeline.

However, all was not smooth and having lived through a sectarian petrol bomb attack on the family, home, the loss of a nephew at four years of age to cancer, and a number of significant losses, the Antrim man might have been forgiven for rolling over and giving up.

But as he explains in his TED talk, he bounced back and went on to complete a law degree, graduating with a first-class honours, he was awarded a Lord Denning Scholarship Award, he works as a university lecturer and has almost qualified as a barrister. Anthony is also studying to become an accredited civil and commercial mediator. He says;

“Despite having no qualifications, I found myself on the first day of a law degree, I won a mooting competition in my first year, seeing off first, second, third year, and postgraduate students”

“In my second year I flew to Gibraltar for a placement in a very successful law firm, I was a founder of the Law Society and was elected President of the Law Society in my third year”

Although not yet practicing as a barrister, Anthony has successfully represented parties in disputes.

“In my first year I completed a two-day trial at the employment tribunal where I was successful in a breach of contract claim for the claimant, and I have also represented claimants at the appeals tribunal for PIP payments successfully, this was so very rewarding”.

Anthony’s message is clear; he is urging people to think of their perceived failures as steps lifting them upwards towards success, and he is inviting the public to join him in a hashtag movement #goodenough for me.

“Whist the facts and events are different, we all have our back story, and we all have an inner voice that criticises, we must train our voice to become louder than the inner critic and wear all of our experience as medals of the journey to where we are today.”

“To overcome our anxieties and low self-esteem we should begin with self-praise! We must give ourselves the pat on the back that we are seeking elsewhere and be the champion of our own successes, attempts and even failures, as it is in the detail of our experiences where the nuggets of resilience and empowerment are found”.