When you think about your life, is there a moment that comes to mind which you know changed you indelibly?

Fergus Watts says that moment happened when he was 15 years old, and the legendary AFL footballer and Reach founder Jim Stynes changed his life by unlocking the vulnerability hiding underneath his masculine bravado to finally give him permission to talk about “real stuff”.

That encounter 21 years ago sparked in Fergus a lifelong commitment to getting the absolute best out of himself, being true to who he really is and making an opportunity of every opportunity.

This has seen him play professional AFL then have his career cut devastatingly short, found a powerhouse marketing agency employing 300 staff across three countries, and in a remarkable full circle, he’s now playing it forward as newly appointed CEO of The Reach Foundation scaling life-changing preventative mental health programs to thousands of young people across Australia.

The path hasn’t always been easy, or linear. But the lessons are loud.

This conversation will challenge you to think about how to get comfortable with failure, cast off the labels and roles you define yourself by, and undertake the self-discovery required to get to the core of who you really are.

Guest: Fergus Watts

Show Links: The Reach Foundation

Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet

Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax

Human Cogs is available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or via our website where you can also catch great conversations with previous guests :)

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A shock to the system