Ep 023 - Breaking down mental health barriers and teaching others to do the same with Darren Hardy - Fortitude Front.

Today on The Best Version of You podcast we are joined by Darren Hardy, a former British Army Officer and now the CEO of Fortitude Front . A leadership training company, which specialises in Mental Resilience. Darren Hardy was developed as a leader during his 15 years’ Service in the British Army, where from joining as a Soldier in 2003, Darren stood out as a natural leader. As an athlete he became a Physical Training Instructor and it was from here he was selected to go through Officer training at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. On completion of the 44 week arduous leadership course, Darren received the Queen's Commission and, as an Officer, took his troops all over the world, developing himself and others in a leadership capacity - often in life threatening and extremely testing environments. At the age of 31 Darren's career was brought to an end through suffering physical and mental injuries during the Iraq war. His PTSD was dormant and came about totally unexpectedly whilst dealing with a severely burnt casualty on exercise in Canada. On the road to recovery Darren had to focus on becoming mentally resilient to match his physical prowess and it is the fusion of the two (mental and physical) that sets Darren's leadership apart – he went on to become a Gold Medallist and record breaker representing Team UK in the Warrior Games 2018 in the 100m and 200m sprint. As Darren was focusing on his own recovery he was troubled to learn of the 71 Veteran suicides in 2018. Although Darren recovered successfully, the system was failing so many. Why were so many being failed? Where was the system letting people down? Darren's research identified that where this challenge was faced by the British Military, there was a greater, shared challenge for corporate industries. Darren created Fortitude Front to fill these gaps. His desire to change lives in all industries came from his own personal experiences overcoming physical and mental injuries through multiple coping strategies. Darren is a widely celebrated expert in Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG). Mission Statement: To CHANGE negative organisational cultures surrounding mental health and INSPIRE others to speak out by DEVELOPING leaders and communication strategy with partners in industry. To contact Darren about his fantastic leadership training company contact him via his website - www.fortitudefront.com and follow him on social media for daily inspiration and guidance!