My Story

Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Cressida Stephenson and I have spent the last 25 years working as a recruiter/head hunter. 

 As a woman working in a very alpha male dominated industry, I have had first-hand experience of feeling othered and discriminated against because of my gender and I could tell you stories that would make your toes curl! That was the norm, women were sexualised and never taken seriously unless they beat all the men hands down, so that was my call to action to be more successful than my male colleagues and I was.

11 years ago, I had twins, a boy and girl and I knew instantly that I wanted to be part of a world that had greater tolerance, parity and equity, so that everyone going into the workplace, regardless of what you look like, your beliefs, your physical or mental abilities all had the same opportunities and would all be treated with the same level of respect.

My children have been my inspiration for launching EdenChase Associates seven years ago, alongside the desire to help to create a level playing field for women and under-represented groups in the workplace.

In 2019, within the space of about 4 months, I went from being a physically healthy, active adult to not being able to walk or care for myself at all. My husband became my full time carer.

After a year of hospital appointments and trialling different drugs, I was diagnosed with a rare form of arthritis, who is now my life long companion and I affectionately call ‘Arthur’.  Arthur is now controlled through drugs, which have huge side effects, and whilst I never wanted to be intimate friends, through my own personal journey with disability, Arthur has really magnified how much more we can and must do to support and recruit individuals with invisible and visible disabilities.

So here I am, a Woman on a mission with my 25 years of expertise in search as a Mother, as an individual with an invisible disability, with a huge passion and energy for wanting to create equity and parity for ALL and dismantle the outdated recruitment practices that the tech sector has been using for decades. So if you want to step outside your comfort zone and adopt innovative, inclusive recruitment strategies that will uncover untapped candidate pools you didn’t know existed, then get in touch and we can be part of that change together!