You never know when a moment will take you completely by surprise.

I thought i’d share a really cool story that happened to me recently.

Last week, while I was in an unfamiliar Tesco in Bradford looking for my favourite oat milk, I was approached by someone who recognised me out of nowhere —

“Are you Danny Gough from Class Dynamix?”

It was a young woman I’d worked with ten years ago when she was at Shakespeare primary school in Leeds. I knew exactly who she was the moment she started speaking.

We stood there in the milk aisle, overwhelmed with emotion and memories. (I’ll take the fact that i’m still recognisable a decade later as a win 😆)

She shared how being part of Class Dynamix had completely changed her life. It was such a beautiful and uplifting convo with this empowered, 21 year old radiating such confidence and joy, who was now flying high on a Graduate Scheme.

I later asked if she’d be willing to write a short testimonial so I could share her words. This is part of what she wrote:

“I was a shy, extremely anti-social little girl… but being accepted in the judgment-free zone of excitement and creativity that Class Dynamix gave me helped me grow. I’m often described now as a fun, smiley person — because I was allowed to be myself. In fact, I was encouraged to.”

She went on to say:

“I personally believe that the encouragement from Danny to be who I want to be, spread kindness and love wherever I go has truly shaped me as an adult.”

This was one of those rare and sacred moments in education — where you get to see the real impact your work had on a young life. It reminded me of that quote: “A teacher affects eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops.”

In a world obsessed with measuring impact through stats and data, this encounter reminded me of the invisible ripples that can flow from showing up with heart and purpose. These are the true testimonies of transformation that can’t be displayed neatly in a spreadsheet.

This serendipitous encounter filled my tank in a way I didn’t even know I needed. I’ve worked with thousands of individuals, across so many schools and continents, I began to wonder how many other testimonies of empowerment and success are out there?

Sometimes the real measure of our work arrives unannounced… in the middle of a Tesco, looking for oat milk! Danny