Great to have pro MMA Bellator fighter Ross Houston on the podcast this week! We discussed his beginnings in martial arts just as a hobby, to him later quitting his well paid job in the oil and gas industry in Paris to open up his own gym back home in Inverness and focus more on the training to try and go pro.

A few years and many wins later Ross returned to Paris, newly signed to fight for Bellator, one of the biggest fight promoters in MMA. We got into Ross's mindset, how he views keeping himself level and trying not to get to overwhelmed by his position, whether it's the night before a fight, or 12 weeks out when he begins training.

We also got into the culture of having to cut huge amounts of weight for fights and the physical and mental damage that can have on the body, as well as post fight career health concerns, something Ross isn't too worried about and takes the approach just trying to enjoy the ride while he's still on it.

I think this is something we can all learn to do, rather than spending today worrying about tomorrows problems.

It was great to discuss confidence in martial arts and the mindset you need to cultivate in order to walk into the ring and fight in front of thousands of people. It's a crazy career to have and it was great to get into Ross's insight about it.

A really cool conversation for any fight fan. I confess I'm not very knowledgeable about MMA, but as someone who had just started getting into BJJ before covid, it was awesome to learn about this world and how it works from someone who's so involved.

Please do enjoy and as we said in the episode, if you're struggling, talk to someone

Honoured to kick off my podcasts for this year with this dude.

Connor came on the pod to discuss his battles with an eating disorder. We discussed him losing a load of weight in high school and the positive comments that followed, only to disappear once he arrived at uni where nobody knew him before the weight loss. This led to Connor taking up boxing through uni, leading to over exercising, and binge eating every evening.

A big thing we discussed was the lack of awareness for eating disorders among men. Generally, its considered something more associated with women, which as Connor said, often leads to a vicious circle of men not thinking they have a problem, continuing and not getting help.

Not the easiest and most light hearted conversation but definitely one of the most valuable, massive respect to Connor for building the platform he has and being so open and raising awareness about it.

As we said it's not the most glamorous of mental health issues but one that affects so many, often in the shadows. We also discussed why surrounding yourself with good people is so important, how inclusive the martial arts community can be, and our favourite peep show moments!

Hope you all enjoy and get something out of this conversation. Remember, if you're worried about someone, or if you're struggling, reach out and talk to someone, you're not a burden, a killjoy and people won't think less of you.

Just me on this one. Not done a solo episode in a while, thought I'd just come on and waffle about some things in my brain!

This Christmas is set to be a bit shit for a lot of people, however, its also the Christmas that you don't need to cook for 2043593 people, you don't need to eat turkey cos you feel you have to, you don't need to go on that bloody Christmas Day walk when all you want to do is sit and eat and do nothing.

I chat also about how you shouldn't feel guilty for not being able to get to your family/loved ones. Try to look less at the news and social media, spend more time focusing on whats directly in front of you, not whats going on at 10 Downing Street or the motorway outside Kent.

I hope you enjoy my waffle and again, thanks so much to all of you who've supported, shared, donated so far to the podcast, you're all bloody legends.

Great to round out my podcast for 2020 with one of my close friends, Max Rowe! 🙌🏼

Max is a professional windsurfer and all round UK windsurfing legend having spent almost a decade on tour competing and 4 of those years within the top 15.

We discussed his late start into windsurfing and his attitude of keeping professional yet trying not to put too much pressure on himself and enjoy the journey. We talked sponsorship deals, both good and bad, and the stresses of always trying to stay relevant and keep your job within a small industry.

After that we moved onto more serious territory. I remember being in Cape Town with Max one winter and him jokingly ask me to feel this hard lump on his stomach. A few months later he was in a hospital in Austria at the first event of the year being told it was a tumour... Luckily, it was benign, but it still needed removing through highly invasive surgery. A truly life changing and altering experience even for someone as level headed as Max.

Finally we moved onto going bald and why in the grand scheme of things it's not that bad and onto him becoming a new dad and balancing that with a lifestyle of travelling the world.

A huge thing we kept coming back to throughout the chat was how Max's experiences changed his perspective, from being dropped by sponsors, having a 17cm tumour removed from his stomach, to having a baby.

Not as mental health centric as other episodes but an awesome conversation nonetheless!

Enjoy! 🍻

Great to be joined this week by my friend Dicky Dale!

I've known Dicky for a couple of years now, having met through windsurfing. What we didn't know about each other was our mental health struggles and stories.

Dicky spent the best part of 20 years working in the city in the finance industry, from starting out to his time on the board at Citigroup.

Dicky has vast experience and insight into what this kind of lifestyle is like. He also discussed his own mental health struggles during his career in the city, from things that helped him, to things he had to steer clear of.

An interesting point is through all his success through his career, his happy place isn't on some superyacht in St Tropez, it's windsurfing on the south coast of the UK.

One great thing Dicky touched on was that mental health doesn't discriminate. Whether you're the billionaire CEO or the new intern, you can still have issues that need to be talked about.

In my opinion this is one of the most valuable conversations I've had, especially for young, bright eyed people starting their careers in the city.

Sure times have changed since Dicky started out, and by no means is his story a 'cautionary tale'. But it's very important to prioritise happiness and whats going on in your brain.

Stoked to be joined this week by 2 of my very good friends, Laura & Emily. For the best part of the last 10 years we worked together teaching windsurfing out in Greece for a company called Club Vass.

Great to chat to these 2 about their experiences working there and how doing seasons is a 'proper job' and why it prepares you so well for whatever you go on to do after. It was epic to reminisce on some stories, these 2 inspired a lot of the other girls out there to not care who was watching and just get out on the water and have fun.

This culminated in their Instagram account @crosshore_official, a platform to encourage girls to do exactly this, give less of a fuck and just enjoy themselves on the water.

Finally we discussed the current state of the watersports industry towards women, body image, and how there is definitely still a certain 'image' brands etc look for. Potentially stepping out of my lane a bit on this one, but as long as it's done right, thats how we grow as people. I hope you can all find some value (and some entertainment) in this conversation.

Pleasure to be joined this week by Scottish photographer Mike Guest!

In Lockdown 1 Mike found himself back to home in Edinburgh, all work projects on hold, not really knowing what to do with himself. Then him and a friend came up with an idea. They'd get up every morning 1 hour before sunrise, get a wetsuit on and go and film in the ocean as the sun came up. They named the project 'Dawn Days'.

Since then it has become a bit of a movement, with people all over the world enjoying it and getting involved themselves! We discussed why having that purpose throughout lockdown kept Mike going and why having purpose in general is so important for your mental health.

We also chatted about Mikes career travelling the world shooting, the best surf spots in Scotland and why you should be careful in cold water!

Finally we came onto Mike's Dyslexia. Often viewed as a hindrance, Mike grew up with the opposite view. That it was simply a way of looking at the world differently. It was interesting to get his view on this issue, something I know kids struggle a lot with throughout school years which can massively affect later life.

Honoured to be joined this week by Selema, my only guest so far to have voiced a surfing penguin in one of my favourite films, Surfs Up!

We discussed many things starting with his life as a world renowned action sports commentator and presenter and why surfing is his chosen love.

We then moved onto one of the serious issues that no matter how hard many people have tried, cannot be ignored in 2020 after the whole world watched a policeman kneel on a black mans neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

As a white, middle class man who grew up in a tiny town in the highlands of Scotland, my first real awareness of these problems arose on my first trip to Cape Town, seeing a country (also my favourite city in the world btw) living so differently to how I grew up. With this in mind we've all had to look at our roles in the issue of race in 2020. I'm humbled that Selema was willing to talk about his experiences and knowledge with me and I hope to continue to educate myself.

Throughout our entire conversation one thing that continued to come up was to always be authentically yourself. The idea that when you try to mimic or behave like someone else, whether it's a peer or even a hero of yours, it never works. There is only 1 you, and by being you, you can achieve so much more than if you try to be someone else.

Finally we discussed beers, what we've been watching during lockdown and the odd nature of meeting famous people.

Great to be joined by Ben this week, founder of Witterings Fitness, a gym based on the south coast. It was awesome to get into the ethos behind Ben's gym. The reasons behind having no mirrors on the walls and why it's not all about giving you the 6 pack for the Instagram and more about allowing you to keep your body and mind stronger so you can get the most out of life.

We discussed the mental blocks that stop people from working out, why exercising itself is unnatural and how, whether we like it or not, we are all fitness people.

Enjoy

Honoured to be joined by the mighty Ed Goodman this week! Ed started a group called Freelance Heroes on Facebook in 2016, with a view to create a space for people working from home to have a community of others in the same situation to rely on. Whether its advice on tax to ideas for a future venture.

We discussed why Ed started Freelance Heroes, how successful it has become since, his views and advice on becoming self employed and the pro's and con's of going it alone. I had an idea of how this podcast was going to go. But as has often happened, we ending up talking about things I never thought we would. We discussed social media at length, Irn Bru being the cure for Covid, swearing in front of your parents and why we both can't wait to go to Edinburgh for some beers.

Most importantly though we discussed our coping mechanisms of what to do when you're working from home and feeling low, and some advice for people looking to go out and do their own thing as a freelancer.

Enjoy 🍻