On today's episode is one of the last great remaining explorers of our generation, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, OBE. On the show we discuss Robin's remarkable story of surviving coronavirus, his incredible explorations and the healing power of nature.  Back in March 2020, Robin was one of the very first patients in the UK to become seriously ill and hospitalised with COVID, and spent five weeks in a coma in intensive care.  Needing a ventilator and other equipment just to keep him alive, doctors...

On today's episode is leading psychologist and anxiety expert Dr. Jill Stoddard. In this episode Jill explains to us what causes anxiety, what the most common symptoms are and most importantly how we can manage it when these feelings arise.  We also talk in-depth about panic attacks and approaches you can try and take to calm yourself down in those moments. As a sufferer of anxiety myself, I found talking to Jill on this podcast really useful, and feel as though I now have some tricks and...

After a short break, the podcast is back and I’ve decided to share my own story on the channel with the help of my good friend Alfie taking the interviewer role. Hopefully, by sharing my story, it becomes clearer why some of the subjects discussed on the show are so close to my heart.  From a young age I felt a void within me, and tried to fill that space initially by misbehaving in school as it provided me with a stimulus which made me feel whole. After being kicked out of school and...

On today’s episode is former armed robber and war-zone photographer Tam Carrigan. Crime was normalised from a young age for Tam, with childhood memories of visiting his father in prison and it being a common occurrence in the area he grew up in. Things gradually got more serious as he got older, graduating from car theft to armed robberies.  Despite this, from a young age Tam was looking for a way to escape all of this, even trying to join the British army and later spending a year with the...

On today’s episode is Doctor Guy Leschziner, who’s a world-renowned sleep expert, neurologist and author working at Guys’ and St Thomas’ hospitals in London.  There, Doctor Leschziner treats a number of different sleep disorders, and has come on the podcast today to share some of his expert knowledge, telling us how we can create a lifestyle which is conducive towards sleeping better and feeling more energised.  What habits do we need to create in order to sleep better? How long should we...

Firstly I just wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone who’s supported the show so far - it really gives me the motivation needed to keep putting content out there! I’m pleased to say that a new and improved direction for the show is coming in Season Two, where I’ll be including interviews with various experts as well as the inspirational life stories from Season One. I wanted to make the show even more useful for listeners, and give them the tools they may need to improve their...

On today’s episode is Liana Smith who’s an elite level swimmer that even held a number of New Zealand national titles. However, at the age of just 17 Liana’s competitive swimming career was thrown into doubt when she suffered stress fractures in her back, was unable to walk and even had to learn basic motor skills again.  During this period Liana was obviously unable to compete and do what she loved, and so lost her sense of identity and this took a serious toll on her mental health causing...

Hey everyone! So after a little break from releasing episodes we're back and there will be new content being released regularly from here on out. There's also just one more episode left of season one before a new an improved direction for the show in season two! On today’s episode is mental health advocate and author Claire Eastham. Claire began suffering with social anxiety from a young age, but unfortunately these feelings went undiagnosed. That was until she suffered a severe panic...

On today’s episode is mental health advocate Ryan Mairs, who started up his own awareness platform called "Mairsy Let’s Talk" whilst at university.  Life was really tough for Ryan almost from the outset, with his dad passing away when he was barely in his early teens and to make matters worse he was also being bullied in school. Understandably, this took Ryan to a really dark place, but he found solace in mixed martial arts and went on to compete at a semi-professional level.  However,...

On today’s episode is ex-drug dealer now turned model, Maiya Kati. Maiya first became involved in selling drugs at the age of just 13, starting with weed and progressing onto class A drugs as he got older. However, throughout this time, he was always looking for a legitimate exit, and gained a bachelor's degree in business and management and a master’s in international relations. After sending 1000’s of applications after the masters and receiving no luck, Maiya went back to the streets and...

On today’s episode is the brilliant sports journalist and author Ian Ridley. In February of 2019 Ian’s wife, Vikki Orvice, who was also a brilliant and renowned journalist, sadly died of cancer at the age of just 56.  After experiencing the unbearable feelings that grief can bring with it, Ian decided to write a book called The Breath of Sadness: On Love Grief and Cricket, which explains his own grieving process and how the varying emotions changed over time.  For Ian, deciding to watch a...

On today’s episode is best selling author and addict in recovery Jordan Barnes. It became apparent from a young age that Jordan was susceptible to addiction, first beginning with alcohol and then eventually moving onto heroin during college. After trying the powerful and destructive drug Jordan soon found himself using daily and living on the streets of Portland having to shoplift to sustain himself.  After waking up next to his friend who had tragically overdosed and passed away, Jordan knew...

On today’s episode is former Britain’s Most Wanted Man, Paul Walmsley. Paul tragically lost his father at the age of just 15, and his life began to spiral out of control as he became involved in selling drugs.  Things continued to get more serious as Paul got older, even resulting in an international operation that caught the eye of the authorities. As a result, Paul went on the run across Europe for five years, but eventually handed himself in to police and was handed a ten year sentence for...

On today’s episode is a good friend of mine called Lucy, who sadly began suffering with anorexia at the age of just 15.  What followed were a number of torturous years as Lucy battled with the condition, even reaching a weight as low as 34kgs. I’m really pleased to say that Lucy finally managed to get the help she needed and is now living a much happier life which isn’t dictated by the condition.  Lucy has now decided to share her story in the hope that it might be able to help others....

On today’s episode is Josephine Bridges, who was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer at the age of just 17. Miraculously, after exploring different treatment options Josephine managed to overcome the cancer, but still had to endure bone recovery surgeries on her leg every two years. After 11 years of being in and out of hospital with these surgeries, Josephine finally decided to opt for the amputation. What followed was a gruelling period trying to adjust both physically and mentally to life...

On today’s episode is a good friend of mine called Max Anglin, who’s suffered on and off for years as a result of problems with drinking, gambling and mental illness.  However, Max managed to channel his addictive personality into the world of business and actually runs two successful companies.  Unfortunately, like many others, Max had to pause the running of both businesses when the pandemic hit and with too much time on his hands and a lack of purpose, he became depressed and turned to...

On today’s episode is Maxine Luckhurst, who battled for years with a cocaine addiction which even resulted in social services becoming involved and taking custody of her children. After the trauma of having her children taken away, Maxine finally managed to beat her addiction and fought hard for a period of two years to regain full custody.  Since then, Maxine has never looked back and is now working as a peer mentor helping other people who are suffering from addiction too.  I hope you enjoy...

On today’s episode is Libby Clegg MBE, who’s a 2x Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder for both the T11 100 and 200m. At the age of just nine years old, Libby was diagnosed with Stargardt disease which is a degenerative eye condition causing people to gradually lose their sight over time. Despite this, Libby soon found her passion in the form of athletics, and has gone on to create an incredibly successful sprinting career, winning a whole host of gold and silver medals at...

On today’s episode is co-founder of One Year No Beer Ruari Fairbairns, who set up the company to help people take a break from alcohol and see the benefits it can bring to your life.But Ruari’s journey to setting up One Year No Beer wasn’t an easy one - he had quite bad ADHD as a child and struggled mentally, which even led to a number of suicide attempts by the age of just 13.Ruari has also always been a motivated entrepreneur - by his early 20’s he’d already set up a number of companies,...

On today’s episode is Jules Schroeder, who’s a serial entrepreneur, musician, podcast host and near death experience survivor. By Jules’ mid twenties she had already set up a number of profitable enterprises, the largest of which being a seven-figure publishing company.However, Jules returned one day from a skiing trip to find that one of her business partners had been embezzling money from the company, and overnight she found herself in $200k debt through no fault of her own.Not only that,...

On today’s episode is Alastair Campbell, who worked as the spokesman, press secretary and director of communications and strategy for former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. However since then, Alastair has gone on to become a prominent mental health campaigner, and also speaks publicly about his own struggles with mental illness.Back in 1986, Alastair was working as a journalist, had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and ended up having a psychotic mental breakdown which led to him...

On today’s episode is successful shoeshine entrepreneur Drew Goodall, who became homeless after his acting career fell apart due to a lack of confidence. He had gone from appearing in films alongside marquee names like Brad Pitt and Hugh Grant to living on the streets at rock bottom. After seven months of homelessness, Drew stumbled upon the idea of shining shoes in London offices as a way to make money, and incredibly has turned this into a really successful business which serves some of the...

On today’s episode is a good friend of mine called Raül, who was severely bullied throughout his teenage years simply because of his sexuality.The homophobic abuse and everything that went with it eventually led to him becoming depressed and even considering taking his own life. Incredibly, Raül found the strength inside him to stand up to the culprits and eventually made them some of his good friends. He also sought help in the form of therapy to try and recover from the years of torment,...

On today’s episode is actually a good friend of mine called Mason, who suffered for years with feelings of depression which seriously affected both his academic and social lives. After spending one Christmas day all alone, he hit rock bottom and decided he needed to seek out the right professional help in order to get out of the hole he found himself in. It was during an appointment with a specialist that Mason discovered he actually had high functioning adult ADHD and atypical depression.I’m...