PWN Dublin

Inspirational Stories: ​​Patricia Byron – The Wizard of Oz through my eyes.

Published on March 28, 2026 by Lucy Holden

The Wizard of Oz through my eyes.

You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.

A favourite movie and one of my favourite lines from The Wizard of Oz.

It’s only as I’ve grown older that I realised what it meant. Courage, wisdom, and heart are not handed out by bosses or committees. They are discovered inside us when life pushes us further than we thought we could go. Usually, at 10pm on a Sunday night, when panic and imposter syndrome are setting in.

I was seven when someone told me my future. It wasn’t cruel. It was clinical. Wrapped in a white coat and test results. In a wheelchair by my teens, just do your best and accept it. I nodded politely. Children, especially young girls, are conditioned to be polite. Then I went home, sat on a swing, and decided they were wrong. Guess what… they were. When I left school, after missing far too many days because of illness, (and labelled as thick by a teacher). I said I wanted to be a bank manager. I was told that it wasn’t possible for women in Ireland in the 80s; if they were lucky to get a job, they worked in the typing pool, or as cashiers, being nice to customers. So off I went to the city of London with a suitcase and two books (which I never read, but thought they made me look intelligent) to be surrounded by men in pinstriped suits and red braces. I thought London would be less parochial and offer women more opportunities. I was wrong. Guess what, these suits also explained why I had to wait to become a bank manager. Apparently, I had to step aside for the men on the team, who, ok, had not achieved as much as I did, but because they were future breadwinners and not likely to leave the bank to have kids. They underestimated a stubborn Irish women. Rookie mistake, I would prove them wrong. In 1991, inspired by Mary Robinson, a woman who to this day promotes women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and social inclusion, I returned to Ireland and continued to work in Financial Services, but this time in Learning and Development.

In 1999, the white coats came back. New tests. New diagnosis. Life-limiting neurological condition. They may as well have said, “That’s it, Dorothy. Your yellow brick road ends here. No Emerald City for you.” But here’s the thing they forgot. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy already had the power. She just didn’t know it yet.

So when they told me to step away from work, to scale back my dreams, to accept the smaller story. I smiled politely again and thought, Do you not know who you’re talking to? The road might have become another mountain to climb, but it’s still only one foot in front of the other.

So I set up my own Learning & Development business in a spare room at home. This was before remote work was fashionable. Before Zoom and before anyone thought flexible work was respectable. I had a computer, a sense of grit and determination and a roller-coaster of wavering belief in myself.

At that time, I also had a Mentor and Sponsor who supported me on my journey. He was a wizard, but not in a false way. He spoke up for me when I was not in the room, and he quietly gave me a map, yet let me follow my own path.

Along the way, I had another crossroads moment. I realised that the silly mistakes in emails that rocked my confidence weren’t because I was thick. It was dyslexia. Mic drop moment. Suddenly, everything made sense.

My brain wasn’t broken. It was just creative with spelling and numbers. Who would have thought that seeing patterns where others see chaos is very useful in leadership? Who knew?

They told me project plans would be hard, and achieving an educational degree would be harder. So naturally, I took on two master's degrees to help me help others. I also wrote three textbooks for a Diploma qualification, now recognised as the industry benchmark for financial advisers. (For those who took this qualification and got annoyed with my spelling mistakes, now you understand!)

In 2023, I climbed halfway up Machu Picchu. Partly for the view, the hooch afterwards and the craic. But mostly to prove the doctors wrong. Standing, looking out at the view, breathless, legs shaking, watching those around me continue to the top, I realised this was my mountain, and I could climb it how I wanted.

What I Have Learned in my Career

After years in banking, business, illness, recovery, coaching, and the occasional existential crisis, here’s what I know.

1. Stop waiting for permission. Nobody’s coming to help you climb the mountain. Take the first steps, and don’t forget, every so often, turn around and admire the view.

2. Your difference is not the problem. It’s the superpower. Dyslexia taught me to see patterns. Illness taught me empathy. Both made me a better person. I annoy the hell out of people in the way I problem solve, but that’s their problem, not mine.

3. No woman rises alone. Mentors, sponsors, allies, they change lives. Supporting other women isn’t a nice-to-have when I have time; it’s an everyday action, a legacy.

4. Resilience is built on scary Sunday nights. Resilience is not about bouncing back; it’s about bouncing forward. It is not being scared of what is to come, but jumping in headfirst and enjoying the ride.

5. Success is seeing other women thrive. My proudest moments aren’t my promotions. They’re when someone leaves a conversation a little braver.

Today, as an Executive Coach and co-founder of The Allyship Academy, I sit across from leaders (mainly women) facing their own mountains: imposter syndrome, burnout, career crossroads, and difficult conversations.

I don’t hand them a map. I hand them a mirror and, if they want, some ruby slippers. Because they already have the courage. They already have the wisdom. They just have to learn it for themselves. Sometimes it really is as simple as three clicks.

That’s why I volunteer with PWN Dublin. Success isn’t how high we climb, it’s about how many hands we hold while we’re climbing.

This is a photo of a drawing from a recent Women in Leadership programme that brought me to tears. The word “Empowerment’ at its best.

So if you’re doubting yourself, you are never powerless; you are learning.

You’ve always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.

And possibly prove a few munchkins wrong along the way.