Resilience is the ability to absorb and adapt in a changing environment no matter what the situation is. This buzz word has literally been the backbone of the past 12 months for Lois Lau, the UK Business Continuity Analyst for AIG. In her day job she has been helping the global insurance firm become a much more resilient organisation, working with each team to ensure that they have adequate plans in place to keep going no matter what.

Outside the office, Lois Lau juggles a full-time job with training as a dual-code international rugby player. She has represented both Great Britain at tag rugby and England at touch rugby. In the last 6 months, her teams have won Bronze medals at both the Tag World Cup in Australia in November 2018 and the Touch World Cup in Malaysia in April 2019. Being able to adapt to any scenarios during a game, to perform under pressure, and to bounce back from any setbacks have been crucial in securing the teams’ successes at both those World Cups. She adds the two Bronze medals to a Bronze medal she already won at the 2015 Touch World Cup and the three Gold medals she won at the 2014, 2016 and 2018 European Touch Championships.

Resilience has certainly been one of Lois Lau’s core values in both her career and her sporting pursuit. The old adage of ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’ is one that she lives by day in and day out.