There were several key experiences in my personal and professional life that led me to choose men's wellbeing as my coaching focus.

I've always been curious about the underlying emotions that influence our thoughts, beliefs, actions and behaviour, as I grew up in a family with a father who was unable to understand or express his emotions without being destructive. From the youngest age, I was acutely aware how serious the consequences are if emotions are mishandled. This influenced my first career as a teacher, where I chose to specialise in how emotional development impacts our ability to learn. I found the most rewarding part of teaching was helping children with challenging behaviour understand their underlying emotions and find healthy ways to express their feelings.

In a past workplace, I was the only woman in a team with 28 men. Many of the staff were battling challenging emotions that impacted their ability to communicate and work effectively. In this environment, I became well-versed in understanding the kind of concerns men have that are typically never spoken about. The director asked me to be responsible for the wellbeing of the staff, where I applied everything I'd learnt about emotional development in my teaching career. I could see the significant difference it made to our team's mental and physical health, communication, and productivity.

While in this job, the man I'd been dating tragically took his own life. This had a profound impact on me, and taught me how we never know the trauma others are bottling up inside, as they silently suffer. I realised that while women will naturally talk to their friends about how they feel and have plenty of safe places to share their feelings openly, this is not the case for men. It made me want to help the men I worked with address their mental and emotional wellbeing even more, to ensure they felt safe to talk, if they ever needed, to ensure they never got to this point of despair themselves. I realised I enjoyed doing this kind of work more than marketing and decided to train as a wellbeing coach, so that I could specialise in helping more people to thrive.

After qualifying as a coach in early 2020, I then trained for a second certification as a HeartMath® Coach, focusing on breathing techniques that help regulate the nervous system. My own health took a major hit in 2021 , which unexpectedly resulted in 2 days of testing and monitoring in the hospital. The conclusion was that the intense physical pain, vertigo, and deterioration in my vision were all the result of severe stress, following a series of traumatic life events. The fact this could happen to me, despite all my knowledge and understanding about wellbeing, hit home just how dangerous prolonged stress really is. And guess what? Under that extreme stress, I had been neglecting to follow and apply all my wellbeing good practice techniques - things that if I'd consistently followed, could have prevented my health deteriorating to this level. It's easier said than done when alone and in crisis, and that's why it's so important to seek help and support, and consistently put preventative wellbeing measures in place.

While waiting for an MRI, I had a conversation with a hospital porter about men's mental health. He told me that all of the stroke patients currently on the ward all had the same story: all men in their early 40s, who went to work as normal, and woke up in a hospital bed. They had all been under immense stress and not told anyone how much they were struggling. They didn't want to appear weak or let anyone down. This further reinforced how men are at great risk of severe health issues, when they don't have an outlet to express their emotions in healthy ways.

When I created my first wellbeing brand, Lady Laldy® in 2019, my intention was to make helpful resources for all genders, both adults and children. This still remains the case today, but after learning about the young men having strokes and heart attacks from extreme stress, I realised it would be beneficial for the men in the Lady Laldy® community to have their own protected space, to discuss issues relevant to them. On 7 May 2022, I posted my first TikTok video on the Ocean Allegiance men's wellbeing brand account, and the rest is history! The overwhelming support and rapid rate of growth (10K+ followers in the first 7 months), confirmed just how much men need this community.

All of these experiences combined have reinforced my mission to help men restore, protect and enhance their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. It is an honour and calling to do this work.