Inside the Cave

Mitch is the current Facilitator Squad Captain at The Man Cave and lives for creating space for people of all ages and contexts to explore and experience their humanity together. With 5+ years of experience facilitating connected spaces for young people, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (International Studies) and Diploma of Languages (Spanish) from RMIT in his pocket, he now balances time on the court facilitating boys in our workshops with the training and development of our incredibly diverse group of facilitators.  In today's conversation we discuss what it feels like to facilitate a group through and experience.

Jamin Heppell is a down to earth country boy, adventurist and passionate about helping people be extraordinary. He is also Co-Founder of The Man Cave, Founder of Game Changers Australia, Director of Head Quarters Australia, Co-Founder and Leadership Coach of Mountains and Marathons and is my guest for this episode.   In our conversation Jamin shares his journey in creating The Man Cave and also discusses the importance of synchronous moments and positive role models in his life that have helped to create his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for helping others become the best they can be.  Check out his current venture at https://mountainsandmarathons.world/

Daniel, or Pappy or Papi as he is also known, joined The Man Cave way back in 2018, when the organisation was growing rapidly and in need of new facilitators. He has been a facilitator ever since, continuing that role today. In early 2020 he took on the role of Comms Coordinator, following a series of persistent emails to The Man Cave’s brains trust. Pappy has a background in writing, journalism and PR, having worked across these industries since 2009.  Pappy is driven by a desire to create a generation of more empowered, empathetic men, and now devotes most of his week to that cause, whether coordinating comms or facilitating workshops. In today's conversation we discuss how stories can create empathy and understanding.  Pappy shares very generously some of his story and stories he has witnessed firsthand.

Andrew & Adrian are two of our senior facilitators and while delivering impactful workshops to teenage boys is their day job, they have recently launched MCTV play.  Interacting with boys on an online platform called Twitch they get to continue the authentic conversations in a digital space.  In this episode we discuss the new platform but also explore the concepts of belonging and authenticity and how they contribute to the building of community. MCTV Play - https://www.twitch.tv/mctvplay

David Verdugo is a Senior Facilitator and the Facilitation Squad Trainer at The Man Cave.  He has a wealth of experience delivering life changing workshops to young people and he shares those skills and experience through training our world class facilitators growth and development.  Through this conversation we explore some of the nuanced and sometimes subtle techniques required in the art of facilitation.

The following recording was taken from the Chief Executive Women’s Summit Session: WOMEN, MEN AND THE WHOLE DAMN THING with CEW President Sam Mostyn AO, Author and Journalist, David Leser, and our very own Founder and CEO of The Man Cave & STUFF, Hunter Johnson.  In this session they share honest reflections and personal perspectives on why we need men to work flexibly and the push to make it happen now and in the future.  Special thanks to CEW and David Leser for allowing us to share this important conversation. Find out more about CEW at https://cew.org.au/

Josh and Jarrah are two of our senior facilitators and have collectively worked with a few thousand teenage boys over the past few years.  Both come from a background in drama and acting which are useful skills to draw upon in their current project Man Cave TV(MCTV)!  MCTV is an online platform designed to meet boys where they are at...online!  Creating playful and cheeky content provides an avenue to explore the real stuff as well.  In this conversation we talk about the importance of friendship and also how they balance the fun playful aspect of the content they create with the 'real talk'.  To find out more about MCTV: Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwvF_XIEx6rGaibc63mrAuQ/featured |Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mctv.au/?hl=en | Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/mctvplay | Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mctv.au?lang=en 

Coming from a strong background in drama, Al values and focuses heavily on creative, experiential training to explore and understand the human condition. He honed his skills through 7 years at The Reach Foundation as a Facilitator, Trainer and Culture Leader, working with over 40,000 young people across Australia and creating and delivering hundreds of workshops. His experience also spans keynote presentations, MC’ing and facilitating workshops from graduate programs to CEOs in the corporate space exploring authentic leadership and positive organisational culture. In today's episode we explore the power of storytelling and how Al approaches his role of creating and maintaining organisational culture.

Growing up between adventures in the beaches, bush and suburbs of Victoria, Matt has been driven to seek out wholesome and challenging experiences from a young age.  Inspired by endless trips skiing, scuba diving, hiking and traveling, Matt has always been driven to find the potential in himself and others and to create environments where people can flourish.  Through The Man Cave, Matt now wants to give young men experiences that will expand their view of what is possible in life, for themselves and in their relationships with others.  While Matt initially worked in corporate consulting, his desire to contribute directly to social change and lead a values-aligned life led Matt to throw in a promising business career and take up a full-time role at The Man Cave.  Now a registered Psychologist (Organisation), Matt used his studies to gain knowledge and skills in ethical psychology practice, gender stereotypes, leadership, and how to create organisations and communities that bring out the best in people.  In this episode we dive into some of the theory and research that goes into creating the impactful programs for teenage boys.

Daniel is an energetic creative who loves to solve a good problem with a smile. He has a background directing brands in the music industry, covering communications, creative direction, design, operations and event management. When he’s not in the office, you can find him at home in the studio recharging his batteries and working on his next gig.  Daniel feels a strong calling to the work of The Man Cave, openly acknowledging the positive impact such a program would have had on his own time at school. When The Man Cave put out the call for a Communications Manager in May 2019, Daniel saw the perfect opportunity to give back to others by combining his interests and experience for this value-driven cause.  During his tenure as Communications Manager, Daniel discovered a passion for designing and creating data-driven systems that enhance the everyday functioning of our organisation. As of January 2020, Daniel shifted his focus to Operations, where he is responsible for developing the backend systems that facilitate our growth as we expand our work and impact more young men in Australia.  In this episode we explore a little behind the scenes at The Man Cave and also his recent step into facilitation.