I'm a big kid trying to understand the world we live in and I enjoy sharing what I find as I come across it. I have a background in radio, television and the music industry, with a long-standing love of hardcore punk, metal and hip-hop. I'm trying to promote conversations around being more loving humans and creating positive change in the world.

I've trained and coached in fighting and martial arts for more than 30 years. I started in Tae-Kwon Do as a kid, before moving to Muay Thai where I won a range of New Zealand Titles and got to fight in Thailand, Australia and Japan. I’ve also fought boxing and MMA. Now I’ve retired I coach both competitive athletes and people just looking for a fun and challenging way to stay fit and healthy.

I grew up listening to Hip Hop and Hardcore and through these music subcultures, identified a desire to challenge the status quo.  I worked in drug and alcohol harm reduction for many years, and have moved into speaking, education and advocacy work around masculinity, gendered violence prevention, and mental health.  I'm now a public speaker and educator, a social commentator and an occasional contributor to mainstream media.

I have founded The Rise Above Charitable Trust which works with people outside of mainstream education, in recovery, or in the justice system. We use martial arts, peer support and education to help people better their lives and break inter intergenerational cycles.

I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Political science and Spanish, an honours degree in Spanish (I wrote a dissertation on El Salvador’s Gang Culture, it was more sociological as much as it la lengua), and a Master’s degree in Sociology.

I’m based in Auckland, New Zealand, where I live with my beautiful fiancee and our two sons, Jack and Rafael.