A year ago, I sat down to write my first Team Takeover. I was a couple of months into my role as a Researcher and Analyst at TONIC, and I wrote about the three reasons I’d decided to take the step into social research: a passion for social change, a desire to tell untold stories, and the fact that every day is a learning day.

A year on, it felt like the right time to revisit that piece and reflect on how those reasons have held up and taken shape in ways beyond my expectations.

A passion for social change

When I joined TONIC, I knew I wanted a job where I could play a part in changing the inequalities I’d spent years reading and learning about. What I didn’t fully appreciate back then was just how important a part that would come to play.

Over the past year, I’ve had a plethora of opportunities to contribute to reports and projects exploring how inequality exists and, more importantly, the steps that can be taken to address it. More recently, I’ve stepped into the role of Lead Researcher on multiple projects. This has meant being directly involved in delivering findings and recommendations to decision-makers and commissioners, with the shared aim of tackling inequality and the challenges individuals face. It’s one thing to want to contribute to change; it’s another to see your name attached to the work that helps bring it about, and that’s something I don’t take for granted.

A desire to tell untold stories

When I was first learning about TONIC, I remember being excited about the variety of people I’d get to engage with. That excitement hasn’t faded; if anything, it’s grown.

Over the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to interview and engage with commissioners and senior stakeholders from across England and Wales. Whilst that has been an honour, it is often those with lived experience, sharing their story with me for the first time, who stay with me the longest. Time and again, I’m struck by the courage of people who have lived through challenges and hardships many of us would struggle to imagine as a reality. Being trusted with those stories is a privilege I don’t take lightly and knowing that I can help make sure those voices reach the people with the power to change things still feels like the heart of why I do this job.

Every day is a learning day

This time last year, I wrote about how much I’d learned in just my first few months at TONIC. I can say with confidence that this hasn’t stopped.

Being over a year into the role has opened up even more opportunities to learn. Working across multiple projects at once, each with different methods, clients and topics, means my knowledge is constantly evolving. Stepping into the Lead Researcher role on recent projects has meant developing a whole new set of skills too, particularly around management and organisation, and it’s an opportunity I’m relishing.

Looking back, it’s been a fantastic first year at TONIC. The reasons that brought me here haven’t changed, but my understanding of them has grown so much richer than I expected. I’m looking forward to what the next year holds, and I can’t wait to see what opportunities come next.

Written by Ben Linsky, Researcher & Analyst. August 2026.