What does it feel like to grow up disabled, be told no one would marry you, and carry 17 years of silent pain — all while building one of the most respected charities in the Midlands?

Amo Raju OBE sits down with Naroop Jhooti for one of the most raw, unfiltered conversations The Dad Project has ever hosted. Amo shares the stories he's never told publicly, the aunties who wrote him off at age 8, the 4-hour cry that changed his life at 17, eloping with the woman he loved against caste and family, a hospital chaplain's words that became his life's mantra, and 30 years of silent depression as a CEO at the top of his game.

This is a conversation about disability, identity, love, fatherhood, mental health and what it means to be a man who refuses to stay in the box others build for him.

(00:00:00) The Hospital Chaplain Who Changed Everything

• Growing up disabled in a first-generation immigrant family

• Being bullied at school and carrying it in silence

• The emotional breakdown at 17 that became a turning point

• Eloping - marrying against caste with a disabled man no family wanted

• 25 years of in-law rejection and what it taught him about love

• A mini-stroke, a hospital chaplain, and a mantra that changed everything

• 30 years of secret depression as a CEO

• Receiving an OBE and what Mrs Raju said on the drive home

• Disability in India, donating 650+ wheelchairs, and fighting global inequality

• What it means to become "King of Disabled People"
  

About The Dad Project
The Dad Project is a podcast and community for real, unfiltered conversations on men's mental health, fatherhood, and the struggles men carry in silence.

Follow Andrew Pritchard
Instagram: @amorajuofficial
LinkedIn: dr-amo-raju-obe-dl-1253a634/
Facebook: @amo.raju.39
TedTalk: He Walks Like a Man

Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq (https://www.instagram.com/thedadprojecthq)
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq (https://www.tiktok.com/@thedadprojecthq)
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq (https://www.youtube.com/@thedadprojecthq)
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-dad-project)

#MensMentalHealth #DisabilityAwareness #TheDadProject #AmoRaju #MensWellbeing

What happens when a man who smuggled £100 million worth of cocaine walks back into the same prison that once held him, but this time as the person offering hope?

Andrew Pritchard lived several lives in one lifetime. Sound system operator in the acid house era. Warehouse rave promoter hunted by police task forces. International drug smuggler moving metric tons of cocaine. High security Category A prisoner facing 15 years. And now, prison reform advocate, charity founder and living proof that redemption is possible.

But this conversation isn't just about crime or punishment. It's about identity, fatherhood, legacy and what it truly means to rebuild when everything you thought defined you is stripped away.

Andrew grew up mixed race in 1960s Britain, the son of a white builder and a Jamaican mother who arrived during Windrush. He never had brothers to guide him. He chased belonging through sound systems, illegal raves and eventually organised crime. He became addicted, not to substances, but to the adrenaline, the dopamine hit, the validation that came from being someone people feared and respected.

Then one day in HMP Belmarsh, his father walked into the visiting hall. Andrew saw a broken man. The strong builder he remembered from childhood was now frail, aged, destroyed by his son's choices. That moment changed everything.

In this episode Andrew speaks openly about:

• The visit that shattered him and made him question everything

• Growing up mixed race and the identity crisis that shaped his choices

• Sound system culture and the warehouse rave scene that defined a generation

• Why crime is an addiction just like drugs

• Creating One Postcode, a revolutionary prison program that resolved 93% of gang conflicts

• Walking back into prisons as an authority instead of a prisoner

• Meeting the judge who sentenced him to 15 years—and what happened next

• The three people every man needs: champion, mentor and sponsor

• Writing Empire of the Dirt, his legacy and historical document

• Why legacy matters more than money, status or reputation

• Where there's life, there's hope, and how to rebuild from rock bottom

(00:00:00) Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health(00:02:31) The Visit That Changed Everything: Seeing His Father Broken(00:07:07) Growing Up Mixed Race: The Identity Crisis(00:11:33) From Sound Systems to Warehouse Raves: A Life in the Shadows(00:24:17) The Addiction to Crime: Understanding the Dopamine Hit(00:27:37) The Hollowness Inside: Why He Chose Crime(00:30:01) One Postcode: A Revolutionary Prison Program(00:41:20) Common Sense Solutions: Fixing What's Broken in the System(00:49:00) From Prisoner to Authority: Walking Back Into Prisons(01:12:56) Meeting the Judge Who Sentenced Him to 15 Years(01:30:55) The Three People You Need: Champion, Mentor, and Sponsor(01:21:11) Empire of the Duck: Writing His Legacy(01:29:36) Where There's Life, There's Hope: Final Words of Wisdom

"A leopard may not be able to change his spots, but a leopard can change his mind. You can change. You have to have a reason for changing. If you find something which is better, or something which is more really connecting to you, you won't go back on that road."

🔔 Subscribe for more honest conversations about men's mental health, identity, redemption and what it truly means to rebuild your life.
Follow Andrew Pritchard
Instagram: @andrewpritchardofficial
LinkedIn: Andrew Pritchard
Book: Empire of the Dirt
Website: AP Foundation
Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq (https://www.instagram.com/thedadprojecthq)
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq (https://www.tiktok.com/@thedadprojecthq)
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq (https://www.youtube.com/@thedadprojecthq)
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project (https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-dad-project)

What happens when a young boy desperate to fit in becomes a man who finally learns to stand out?

Ketan Dattani grew up as the only Asian family on a council estate in South East London. Every day was hostile. Spat at. Punched. Racially abused by neighbours, teachers and strangers. He hid his pain from his parents, mapped routes through school corridors to avoid skinheads and learned to survive by pretending to be someone he wasn't.

At 11 he met two Jamaican brothers who invited him to the youth club. Suddenly he had protection. Respect. A new identity. He became Ket -gold teeth, bandanas, street persona. But beneath it all, he was still the kid who loved nature, who spent hours in libraries reading about ecosystems and who dreamed of a life beyond the estate.

Years later, Ketan would leave gang life behind, fight his way into university despite having no GCSEs, complete a master's degree and build a successful environmental recruitment business, all while navigating a world that told him his name wasn't good enough, his background didn't fit and his face didn't belong.

In this episode Ketan speaks openly about:

• Growing up as the only Asian family on a hostile council estate

• Daily racial abuse from neighbours, teachers and strangers

• Finding acceptance in gang culture and creating a fake persona to survive

• Hiding his secret passion for nature and ecology

• Community service that reconnected him to his childhood dreams

• Going to university with no GCSEs and feeling like an outsider

• Being told to change his name to get responses from employers

• Keith Draper's 87% interview success rate versus Ketan's silence

• Leaving corporate life to start his own business from his parents' box room

• Two mortgages, two kids and pretending he had an office in the city

• Missing his son's first crawl and deciding to change everything

• Building a well in Uganda and reconnecting with his family's roots

• Monthly food distribution events and supporting adults with learning difficulties

• Running eye treatment camps in India and organising school talks

• Fighting for diversity in the environmental sector

• Learning to love himself and stop living in comparison

• Being the father he wished he'd had and raising grounded children

• What true masculinity means beyond the stereotypes

(00:00:47) Introduction: Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health(00:01:58) Growing Up on a Council Estate: Daily Racism and Violence(00:11:56) Finding Refuge in Libraries and a Secret Passion for Nature(00:09:10) The Turning Point: From Gang Life to Gold Teeth(00:16:02) Community Service and a Great Crested Newt That Changed His Path(00:33:19) The Keith Draper Experiment: When Your Name Determines Your Future(00:41:32) The Box Room Hustle: Building a Business From Parents' Home(00:39:05) The WhatsApp Video That Changed Everything(01:01:52) Building a Well in Uganda: Completing the Triangle(01:14:52) Redefining Masculinity: The Provider, Not the Performer(01:10:19) Daily Rituals of a 52-Year-Old Who Looks 35(01:06:39) Fatherhood and Phone-Free Forest Walks(00:56:05) From Food Distribution to Eye Camps: A Life of Service(01:18:55) The Mission: Diversifying the Environmental Sector

"I can only compare me to me and I can only compare me to the person I was yesterday. No one else. My competition is me."

Ketan's story proves that your postcode doesn't define your potential. Your name doesn't limit your worth. And the world that rejected you can become the world you transform.
🔔 Subscribe for more honest conversations about identity, fatherhood, resilience and what it truly means to be a good man.
Follow Ketan Dattani
Instagram: @ketanova
LinkedIn: Ketan Dattani
Company: Buckingham Futures
Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project
#MensMentalHealth #Diversity #EnvironmentalSector #GangLife #Identity #Fatherhood #TheDadProject #Entrepreneurship

What happens when a man achieves everything he dreamed of and then loses the very thing that gave his life meaning?

Paul Sampson played 17 years of professional rugby. He was the fastest schoolboy in the country. He earned his England cap before he was 21. From the outside, he had it all—speed, talent, recognition and a career most could only dream of. But behind the tries and the caps, Paul was carrying something far heavier than any trophy.

When his father passed away, Paul didn't just lose his dad—he lost his anchor, his voice, his reason for pushing through. Rugby became the medication that kept him going. And when he retired, it felt like his father died all over again.

One Monday morning, Paul sat on his sofa with his head in his hands, crying uncontrollably. His wife walked in and asked him what was wrong. His answer: "I wish I knew."

This is one of the most honest conversations about life after sport, identity loss, grief, mental health and what it truly means to rebuild when everything you've known is stripped away.

In this episode Paul speaks openly about:

• Growing up with a father who saw his potential and pushed him constructively

• Being called into the full England squad at 17 with no preparation

• Making his England debut against South Africa in torrential rain

• 14 operations and nearly a year out with a devastating knee injury

• The loneliness of injury and needing support he didn't know how to ask for

• Losing his father at 28 and using rugby to numb the grief

• Retiring from rugby and feeling like his dad had died all over again

• Breaking down on his sofa and being given an ultimatum—get help or lose his marriage

• Therapy, feeling heard for the first time and discovering he was a good person

• The dangerous relief of suicidal thoughts and believing he was a burden

• Divorce, financial collapse and sleeping in his car to keep coaching kids

• Being betrayed by a journalist who twisted his story for tabloid headlines

• Starting a Master's degree with £80 in his account

• Training as a psychotherapist to help other men off the hook

• The relationship with his two boys and what it means to love them like his dad loved him

• Why men feel like burdens and how that bright idea is temporary confusion

• Asking the universe for help and refusing to stay silent for the sake of ego

(00:00:00) Introduction: Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health

"I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I was feeling an overwhelming sense of loss. My wife said to me, 'What the fuck is wrong with you?' And my response was, 'I wish I knew.'"

Paul's story proves that success doesn't protect you from suffering. Fame doesn't shield you from grief. And when life strips away everything you thought made you who you are, that's when you discover who you truly are.

If you're struggling with identity after a career ends, grieving someone you can't let go of, or trying to rebuild when everything feels broken—this episode will show you that it's possible to come back stronger, wiser and more aligned than ever before.

🔔 Subscribe for more honest conversations about men's mental health, grief, identity and the courage it takes to rebuild.

Follow Paul Sampson
Instagram: @paulsampson15
LinkedIn: @paulsampsonuk
Website: true-north.space

Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project

#MensMentalHealth #RugbyMentalHealth #Grief #IdentityLoss #LifeAfterSport #SuicidePrevention #TheDadProject #Fatherhood #EnglandRugby #HealingJourney #RealStories #PaulSampson #BreakTheSilence

What happens when a water cooler delivery becomes the spark that changes thousands of lives?

Shaz Memon was standing in his office when a heavy water bottle slipped from his hands and rolled down the stairs. In that moment, a simple thought crossed his mind, what if this could help solve a problem he'd known about for years? That thought became Wells and Wheels, a charity that has transformed the lives of thousands of girls in rural India.

But this conversation isn't just about charity. It's about fatherhood, purpose, identity, the meaning of success and what it truly means to be a good man.

Shaz is a businessman, a father, and a man driven by service. He runs a successful company designing websites for dentists across the UK, but his real fulfilment comes from something much deeper-helping young girls escape the dangerous daily grind of water collection so they can go to school, dream bigger and build a future.

In this episode Shaz speaks openly about:

• The moment a water bottle changed everything

• How fatherhood shifted his entire perspective on responsibility

• Why he turned down £800,000 in contracts to focus on one thing

• The reality of water collection for young girls in rural India

• Building a charity from a single Instagram post

• A $20,000 donation from a stranger who watched his documentary

• Schools in India complaining they're full for the first time in 20 years

• Mastering the art of switching off and protecting your mental health

• Why profit is in doing less, not more

• The difference between absent fathers by choice and absent fathers by distraction

• Why playing with your children is the most important thing you can do

• How his father's generosity shaped who he became

• What it means to hold yourself to a higher standard

(00:01:40) Introduction: Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health

"I'm a billionaire because I can eat where I like, I can buy clothes whenever I want, I can wake up and I've got freedom. There is no more money you can give me today that is going to give me more peace, more freedom than I have now."

Shaz proves that success isn't measured by how much you accumulate but by how much you give, how present you are and whether you're living aligned to your values. His story shows that one man with focus, belief and a desire to serve can create ripples that reach thousands.

If you're a father trying to balance work and presence, an entrepreneur chasing purpose over profit, or someone searching for meaning beyond the grind—this episode will challenge how you see success, masculinity and what it means to leave a legacy.

🔔 Subscribe for more honest conversations about fatherhood, purpose, service and what it truly means to be a good man.

Follow Shaz Memon
Instagram: @shaz.memon
Facebook: @digimaxdental
Website: www.digimaxdental.co.uk

Follow Wells and Wheels
Instagram: @wells.on.wheels
Facebook: @wellsonwheelsuk
Website: www.wellsonwheels.co.uk
Documentary: Available on Amazon Prime

Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project

#Fatherhood #PurposeDriven #MensMentalHealth #Charity #WellsAndWheels #ServiceOverProfit #TheDadProject #Legacy #Entrepreneurship #BeingAGoodMan #RealStories

What happens when a Premier League footballer achieves everything he dreamed of and still feels like he’s drowning?

Marvin Sordell lived the dream. Premier League football. England Under-21s. Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics. From the outside, he had it all. Inside, he was breaking.

At 21 he was playing for his country while fighting severe depression.
At 23 he thought about retiring.
At 28 he left football completely because staying was destroying him.

This is one of the most honest conversations on men’s mental health, pressure, identity and the hidden cost of success.

Marvin speaks openly about:

• Being rejected at Chelsea and rebuilding at Watford

• Breaking into the Premier League with Bolton

• How early success brought pressure he couldn’t explain

• Severe depression at the height of his career

• His suicide attempt that nobody knew about

• Therapy and understanding the weight he carried

• Why we teach people to handle failure but not success

• Feeling worthless when he wasn’t playing well

• The loneliness of suffering in silence

• Co-parenting with respect

• Running multiple businesses

• Redefining purpose away from football

(00:01:12) Introduction: Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health

He also reflects on childhood trauma, antidepressants, pressure from fans, and why tying your identity to performance destroys your wellbeing.

\"If you want to be grateful for all of the positive things in your life, you have to also be grateful for all of the negative things in your life. They both made you who you are. If you're happy with who you are, then you're happy with everything that made you who you are.\"

Marvin now focuses on mental health advocacy, building businesses that create positive change and raising his children with honesty, hard work and kindness. His story shows that strength isn’t about avoiding struggle. It’s about speaking before the weight becomes too much.

If you’re chasing a goal, dealing with pressure, or trying to find meaning after everything you worked for falls apart, this episode will give you clarity and comfort.

🔔 Subscribe for more raw, real conversations that break the silence around men's mental health.

Follow Marvin Sordell
Instagram: @marvinsordell
X: x.com/MarvinSordell
Website: www.swoop.social

Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project

#MensMentalHealth #PremierLeague #MentalHealthAwareness #SuicidePrevention #Depression #TheDadProject #FootballMentalHealth #BreakTheSilence #HealingJourney #RealStories #MarvinSordell

What happens when a trusted friend becomes a child's worst nightmare?

Jeremy Indica was eight years old when his father's friend began sexually abusing him. For over a year, in his own home, under his father's nose, a predator groomed and violated him and Jeremy told no one. Not because he didn't want to. Because he didn't even know he could.

This is one of the most difficult, necessary, and powerful conversations The Dad Project has ever aired. Jeremy takes us through the unthinkable—the details of his abuse, the decades of silence, the night terrors at 25, and the moment he finally told his father, shattering him completely.

But this episode isn't just about trauma. It's about transformation.

Jeremy left a six-figure aerospace engineering career designing Formula One parts to dedicate his life to protecting children. He now speaks in schools, trains teachers and police, runs the platform Something to Say, and fights to change the laws around child safeguarding in the UK.

This conversation goes deep into:
• The reality of child sexual abuse—what it actually is, how grooming works, and why children stay silent
• How childhood trauma resurfaces in adulthood and affects relationships, intimacy, and mental health
• Why the education system, parents, and schools must work together to protect children
• The dangers of online grooming, gaming chat rooms, and pornography's role in creating offenders
• What parents must teach their children about body safety and consent—at every age
• Jeremy's confrontation with his abuser, his arrest, and being taken to court
• Why we need to understand offenders to safeguard the next generation

(00:00:00) Introduction: Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health

Reshma Patel spent years living the life she thought she was supposed to live. A comfortable marriage. Children. A stable home. A successful career as a dietitian. From the outside everything looked perfect, but inside she felt lost, disconnected and unsure of who she really was.

When her marriage ended in her mid-30s, her entire identity collapsed. She had never paid bills, never handled finances and never lived alone. At the same time both her father and her ex-partner’s father became seriously unwell, creating overwhelming pressure and emotional turmoil.

Reshma describes locking herself away during lockdown, feeling broken and rebuilding her life piece by piece. She learned independence, bought her own home, started therapy and began putting herself first for the first time in her life. Fitness became her daily anchor, helping her rebuild confidence, strength and self-worth.

She also speaks about her culture, motherhood, friendships, divorce, emotional growth and the importance of choosing yourself even when it feels terrifying.

Today Reshma helps others understand their relationship with food, stress and mental health and has become a woman her children would be proud of.

This is a powerful and relatable story of losing yourself and finding your way back.

Themes

• Losing identity in marriage

• Divorce and emotional collapse

• Cultural pressure on women

• Rebuilding independence

• Mental health during separation

• Fitness and self-worth

• Co-parenting with respect

• Supportive relationships

• Reinvention and confidence

Why this episode matters

Reshma shows what many women live through silently — giving everything to others until there is nothing left for themselves. Her journey proves that rebuilding your identity is possible at any stage of life.

(00:00:00) Understanding Men's Relationship with Food

Jason Smith spent years climbing the corporate ladder until he realised he was outsourcing his entire role as a dad. He left his job to be present for his son, but when the routine disappeared he felt lost. His identity collapsed, his confidence vanished and his physical and mental health spiralled.

Within 18 months he was warned he was heading towards type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and fatty liver disease. He was drinking heavily, barely moving and felt deeply unhappy.

One day an image he saw online stopped him in his tracks. In that moment he knew he had to change. He quit alcohol overnight, started walking daily and began rebuilding his mind and body from the ground up. He posted every day for accountability, joined a sober community and slowly became the man he wished he had always been.

In this conversation Jason talks about identity loss, midlife crisis, depression, health fear, self-belief, discipline and how fitness became the anchor that rebuilt him. He explains why so many men struggle in silence and how simple habits changed his entire life.

Jason now works as a personal trainer and coach helping people aged 45–60 take control of their health, confidence and future.

This is a grounded and inspiring story about midlife transformation, presence and becoming the parent you always intended to be.

Themes

• Midlife identity loss

• Leaving career for fatherhood

• Depression and emptiness

• Health crisis and lifestyle disease

• Alcohol dependency

• Accountability and habit change

• Fitness as emotional recovery

• Rebuilding confidence

• Helping others through lived experience

Why this episode matters

Jason shows how quickly a man’s life can unravel when identity disappears — and how fast it can change when belief returns. His story proves it is never too late to rebuild your health, mindset and purpose.

(00:00:00) Introduction: Breaking the Silence on Men's Mental Health

Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project

#MensMentalHealth #MidlifeCrisis #HealthTransformation #SoberLiving #FitnessOver40 #Fatherhood #TheDadProject #LifestyleChange #RealStories #HealingJourney

Chris Davies grew up in chaos. Violence, instability and emotional neglect shaped his early years and left deep marks he carried into adulthood. After his father died, he felt a strong pull to create legacy and purpose, so he joined the Royal Marines. The training, the identity and the intensity gave him structure, but it also deepened the emotional numbness he had learned as a child.

In this conversation Chris speaks openly about childhood trauma, Marines training, emotional shutdown and the long period of his life where he cut himself off from feeling. He explains how leaving the forces left him without identity or direction and how the breakdown of a relationship forced him to confront everything he had been avoiding.

Chris shares how men’s work, breathwork, grounding and nervous system awareness helped him rebuild himself piece by piece. He now supports men through the same journey, helping them reconnect with their bodies, emotions and strength in healthier ways.

This episode is raw, honest and deeply relevant to any man who has learned to stay numb in order to survive.

Themes

• Childhood trauma

• Royal Marines training

• Emotional numbness

• Identity loss after leaving the forces

• Relationship breakdown

• Nervous system regulation

• Men’s work and breathwork

• Masculinity and vulnerability

Why this episode matter

Many men learn to suppress emotion to survive trauma, the forces or difficult environments. Chris shows what happens when that silence breaks and how men can rebuild from the inside out.


(00:00:00) The Burden of Becoming Your Best Self

🔔 Like, comment, and subscribe to support powerful conversations that men need to hear.

Connect with Chris
Instagram: @the_chrisdavies/

Follow The Dad Project
Instagram: @thedadprojecthq
TikTok: @thedadprojecthq
YouTube: @thedadprojecthq
X (Twitter): @thedadprojecthq
LinkedIn: The Dad Project

#MensMentalHealth #RoyalMarines #VeteranMentalHealth #TraumaHealing #ChildhoodTrauma #EmotionalAwareness #HealingJourney #MensWork #TheDadProject #Resilience #RealStories