Our sixth episode features senior lecturer Dr. John Fernandes. John talks through the burn out and mental fatigue he has experienced throughout his academic path and journey, coming to a breaking point recently. John speaks very openly about how these experiences affected him, but also offers some fascinating and highly useful tips, tools and processes that have helped him to try to navigate and handle the pressures of the academic job role.

John has recently written an article for Inside Academia, and many more about his experiences with burnout, prejudice and some of the systemic issues in academia.

Take a listen here, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please comment, like, share, rate and provide feedback to our podcasts!

Special thanks to Fuel Hub for sponsoring this episode.

Our fifth episode welcomed Ben Pearson, now retired police traffic officer (PC1965) and former star on Channel 5’s hit show, Police Interceptors. Ben spent nearly 2 decades working in the force, facing numerous road traffic collision incidents, high speed chases and unfortunately, a number of fatal call outs. The accumulation of these events, as well as some heart wrenching personal events, culminated in huge burdens placed on Bens psychological health. He has since retired from the force, spending his time as a huge mental health advocate and writing about his experiences during his career (buy Bens book here) to try to help others handle the difficult moments they come up against.

Take a listen here, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please comment, like, share, rate and provide feedback to our podcasts!

Special thanks to Fuel Hub for sponsoring this episode.

Our fourth episode features Efrem Brynin who talks very openly about several huge obstacles that he (and his family) came up against during his adult life. Most prominent of which, was the loss of his son while out on deployment in Afghanistan. Efrem goes into detail about how this affected him acutely and chronically, but how some of the ‘day-to-day’ things seemed to affect him as a consequence. Efrems story is one that came to light after he appeared on Channel 4s hit show, SAS: Who Dares Wins. Efrem has now co-founded a brilliant charity called StrongMen that offers serious support to those males battling with mental health issues, particularly through bereavement - it is a brilliant charity and very worth looking into!

Take a listen here, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Please comment, like, share, rate and provide feedback to our podcasts!

Special thanks to Fuel Hub for sponsoring this episode.

Our third episode features ex. pro Rugby League player, current Head of Year at Hanson High School, StrongMen UK charity ambassador and brand new coffee shop owner (Oscada, Leeds), Dom Crosby. We spoke on a very close level with Dom about the obstacles he has encountered over the last few years. In his first ever podcast, he opens up about the psychological, emotional and mental health affects that losing his daughter, suffering season ending injuries and the premature and abrupt termination of his playing career have had on him. You cannot fail to be inspired by the mindset Dom has managed to develop in the face of these setbacks, but he admits it has not always been this way. We are truly honoured to have had the opportunity to speak with Dom about his journey. His new coffee shop venture ‘Oscada’ is opening its doors soon - be sure to check it out!

Our second episode is with Associate Professor Kirsty Elliot-Sale from Nottingham Trent University. Kirsty describes how an incredibly high, graduating from a PhD studies, quickly crashed down to earth when she heard the devastating news of the passing of her father. What followed for Kirsty was a lot of searching for answers, repairing from this bereavement, creating a critical moment in her life that would shape her development for years to come. Listen to Kirstys story below.

In our first episode of the series, we delve into the journey Brad Dwyer has gone on through his career as a professional rugby league athlete, and how his personal life encounters have impacted this. We speak closely with Brad about issues he has faced with low self esteem, anxiety and feelings of depression, all derived from confidence issues from a birth mark on his face. Brad speaks openly about the issues he has faced, what it has taught him about himself, personally, what he learnt about this encounter and the processes he has developed to understand, interpret and handle similar scenarios in the future. Take a listen here, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

A preview to our future series…