About

I GREW UP IN LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA…

My mother Maxine worked part time in retail, my father Peter worked for Ansett Australia and my brother Mathew who was three years older than me, soon became my idol and I became his shadow wanting to follow him wherever he went. We lived in a three bedroom weatherboard house on the top of the hill in Outram Street, Summerhill.

I am a product of the public school system having gone to Summerdale Primary School and Prospect High School in the inner western suburbs of Launceston. I am confident to say that I was a strong student, who achieved good marks, was elected as class and grade representative, but my interests did lay outside of the classroom on the sporting field, music and the arts.

When I was seven years old, my parents separated and my dad moved to Brisbane to live. Although at the time it left a big void in our home, and had an impact on both my brother and I, it did also open the opportunity for adventure where Mat and I travelled around every corner of Australia on holiday with dad who was still working with Ansett.

After an argument with a Physical Science teacher in Grade 11 at Launceston College, I walked out of school and never returned. My hopes of becoming an Air Force Pilot to follow in the footsteps of my Grandfather who had fought for the Royal British Navy as a Fight Pilot in World War II, were shattered. I chose to escape Launceston where I was living, and moved to Brisbane to live and work with my dad. Dad had a transport business located in the middle of the city in Margaret Street. Even though this was my first job, I still managed to form some strong opinions on how things should be done, which would often lead to Dad and I locking horns like two wild rams. One occasion three years into my tenure with Dad resulted in me packing my suitcases and returning to Launceston without my mum knowing.

Without a lot of experience, no qualifications, but armed with a hell of a lot of confidence (some would say arrogance to compensate), I entered the world of retail banking with one of the major four banks. I was able to work my way to becoming a Team Leader of 20 Banking Representatives before i turned 21, and by the time I was 25 I had moved to Hobart and had become a Bank Manager. It was during this period of time that I started to become aware of what my brother Mat was experiencing. We had purchased a home together when I was 21 and he was 24 where we lived together. There would be times when he would isolate himself in his bedroom, where I could go days without laying eyes on him. When I did see him and attempt to speak to him about it, I wouldn’t be acknowledged or the topic would be brushed off. Outside of home it was a different story. Mat was a prominent local footballer who was unfortunate not to be drafted to the AFL. He had a long resume of achievements at local and state level, and could be seen on tv on the Friday night news or on the back of the Sunday newspaper most weeks. The contrast between what I would see in the football change rooms and at home was significant. However, at this stage mental health, specifically men’s mental health hadn’t yet made it onto the radar.

I first came across a suicide letter addressed to my mum when Mat was 18, and I was 15 after returning home from school one afternoon. Fortunately after searching the neighbourhood and chasing after him across the Launceston Casino Golf Course, we brought Mat home safely. On the night of December 10, 2008 it wasn’t the same story. On this occasion, the letter he wrote would be his last.

The loss of Mat had a significant impact on my parents, family and myself personally. Coming to terms of him taking his own life, and trying to piece together the lives of those closest to me, has taken over 10 years to come to terms with. During this period of time I faced my own battle after choosing to deal with what I experienced by self medicating with alcohol, recreational drugs, nights out, which led to me not just abusing and neglecting myself, but a lot of the relationships I had with people around me. I even moved to Melbourne to get away from the memories and constant reminders that I couldn’t bring myself to face. Instead I tried to distract myself with my career, a new circle of friends, and more partying. This eventually led me down a path where in the middle of 2014 I saw no other way out accept the path Mat had chosen six years earlier. Fortunately, I was able to get myself out of the headspace by prioritising the way that I was treating myself through my health. This meant making a lot of changes to my lifestyle, where I lived, who I surrounded myself with, and it led to me changing my profession into the health and fitness industry, and investing everything I had left to my name into GRIPT with a close friend.

I made the change into the industry because I had experienced the life changing/saving benefits improving my health had, and I wanted to help others to be able to experience the same. It is now six years later, and I believe that GRIPT has become a leader in the industry based on the experience we deliver, and our commitment to innovation and providing solutions to the problems within the industry.

Over the past 12 months I have spent a significant amount of time and energy with a Psychologist investing into facing the unresolved trauma that I have carried around with me. From a seven year old seeing my dad walk out the door, to carrying the casket of my brother off Youngtown Oval at his funeral, and facing into my own mental health battles. As terrible and tragic as some of these events have been, I have come to terms with each of us is on our own journey, on our own pathway and the universe has a plan for each of us. This will mean events like these may happen along the way because they are necessary for us, in this case myself, to shape who I am meant to become and get me to where I need to go in this life. As much as I would give anything to have my brother still with my today, his journey came to an end when it needed to, and I am thankful that I was able to spend as much time with him on it as what I was allowed to.

The process of writing about these events originally was about getting them off my mind and onto paper. It soon turned into the belief that by sharing these stories it could lead to helping other men that find themselves going down a similar path being able to make their way out of it. It has been a cathartic experience for myself being able to go through this process, delving into old memories, and thinking about the series of events that have shaped me.

I thank you for taking the time to join me on this part of my journey, even if has only been for a moment to read this.

Drew