Forging Resilience

Aaron Hill
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There are people in this world with extraordinary stories, people who've been forged by challenge, transition, and adversity, and most of us will never get the chance to hear them speak honestly about it. Forging Resilience closes that gap.Host Aaron Hill draws on a deep network of military leaders, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, and coaches to have the conversations that don't happen in boardrooms or on stages. Driven by curiosity and presence, Aaron doesn't follow a script or stick to a format, he follows the story. What comes out is something rare: real, unfiltered insight from people who've been through the fire and come out the other side.Built for high performers, leaders, founders, and anyone facing a moment that demands more of them,  this is the show for people who don't fit the mould, hosted by someone who doesn't either. www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-hill-synergy-coachinghttps://www.instagram.com/aaronhill_79/

  1. 3d ago

    S3 Ep111 Louis Cole: The Price Of Being Seen

    Your life can be your work, your brand, and your public story. That sounds like freedom until you realise the camera can start telling you who you are. Aaron Hill sits down with Louis Cole, filmmaker and one of the original daily travel vlogging pioneers behind Fun For Louis, to unpack what it really means to grow up and evolve in public. We talk about the early rush of YouTube’s Wild West years: accidental virality, inventing a job that did not exist, and the relentless daily vlogging grind of filming all day and editing into the night. Louis shares the less glamorous side too: losing identity inside a channel name, missing moments because you are hunting the next shot, and the way social media comments can wreck mental health if you let strangers set your self-worth. From there we get into the hard modern questions: how to stay authentic without turning life into a highlight reel, what “grounded” content looks like when you are building a home in Costa Rica, and how to think about kids’ privacy and consent in family vlogging. Louis also tells stories from high-jeopardy travel, including being arrested in Mexico during a Central America school-bus adventure, and reflects on how fatherhood changes risk, purpose, and success. We finish by looking forward: the shift towards TV-style YouTube viewing, sustainable living content, and the uncertain role of AI in content creation. If you care about online identity, creator burnout, resilience, and building a meaningful life with an audience watching, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who lives online, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    53 min
  2. S3 Ep110 Leadership Roundtable: Lead Yourself First

    Jun 8

    S3 Ep110 Leadership Roundtable: Lead Yourself First

    Pressure changes people. So does transition. When teams shift, titles change, results matter, and the stakes keep rising, what does leadership actually require? In this first official Forging Resilience Roundtable, I’m joined by two returning guests who bring very different lenses to the same question. Air Commodore Robin Caine MBE brings the military perspective: fast jets, flying training, decision-making under pressure, human performance, and the importance of staying calm when there is chaos around you. Rich Hunwicks brings the sporting perspective: over two decades in elite performance across rugby league, including England, Leeds Rhinos, Catalans Dragons, and the realities of building teams that can keep showing up when results are not going their way. Together, we explore what military and sport get right about leadership, what gets misunderstood from the outside, and what happens when we try to lift a leadership style from one environment and force it into another. We talk about calmness under pressure, humour in adversity, servant leadership, decision-making with imperfect information, the trap of perfectionism, and why the best leaders simplify complexity rather than add to it. We also get into the less visible side of leadership: loneliness, fatigue, boundaries, support systems, and the discipline to lead yourself before trying to serve everyone else. This is a conversation about leadership in the real world and the systems that help us perform without losing ourselves in the role.  If you’re leading through pressure or change, this episode is for you or share it with someone carrying responsibility right now, and subscribe to Forging Resilience for more conversations on leadership, transition, and staying human under pressure. Reach out to Robin or Rich via their LinkedIn accounts.  Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    1h 2m
  3. S3 Ep109 Dr Sharon Pickering: The Permission Problem

    Jun 1

    S3 Ep109 Dr Sharon Pickering: The Permission Problem

    You can be disciplined, ambitious, and genuinely committed to other people and still be quietly running yourself into the ground. We sit down with Sharon Pickering, a human factors expert with experience in safety critical environments, to unpack why “permission” is such a sticking point for leaders, founders, and high performers. The tension is not laziness versus drive. It is the deep belief that we are only valuable when we are producing, carrying, fixing, or achieving, and the guilt that appears the moment we try to slow down. We explore what Sharon sees repeatedly across teams under pressure: a powerful sense of responsibility that leaves people putting themselves at the bottom of the totem pole. From boardrooms to operating theatres, the pattern is the same. When you feel you must take care of everyone else first, rest and recovery start to look like indulgence rather than a core part of performance. Sharon shares a striking surgical story and what it reveals about shared load, communication, and the tiny moments that keep judgement sharp. The practical takeaway is refreshingly small: micro recalibrations and mini transitions. Instead of chasing the perfect routine or spiralling into endless analysis, we talk about quick check-ins that take seconds, simple experiments that fit real life, and a dynamic “recipe” you can adjust as seasons change. If you want sustainable leadership, burnout prevention, and resilience that actually holds up under pressure, press play, then subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    36 min
  4. S3 Ep108 Ben Newton: Complete But Not Finished

    May 25

    S3 Ep108 Ben Newton: Complete But Not Finished

    Ben Newton has spent his life leading in extreme environments military, close protection, fire service, industrial rescue. But none of that prepared him for the hardest thing: leading himself. In this conversation, Ben and Aaron trace the thread that runs through every high-pressure role Ben has held and every identity he has worn. From a near-fatal anaphylactic episode on a rooftop in Afghanistan, to a nine-day cruise where silence finally caught up with him, to finding his tribe on a Brazilian jiu-jitsu mat before sunrise, Ben's story is about what happens when the character you've built starts to crack and what's underneath it. At the centre of it all is a deceptively simple idea: lead yourself first. Not as a performance. Not as a discipline hack. As the only honest foundation anything else can be built on. This one moves slowly and hits hard. If you've ever been the go-to person for everyone else while quietly losing ground on yourself this conversation is for you. Reach out to Ben via Kaizen Summit, LinkedIn or Instagram. Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    51 min
  5. S3 Ep107 Helen Lunnon-Wood: Transition Series #3

    May 19

    S3 Ep107 Helen Lunnon-Wood: Transition Series #3

    Belonging sounds like a warm word until you realise how often we settle for fitting in, shaving off the edges of ourselves to survive a culture.  We talk about that difference, from early military moments where the team feels like “little and big brothers” to workplaces where everything becomes an adjustment and you start questioning your place. We talk about how culture, not demographics, shapes whether people feel safe, valued, and able to show up fully. What happens when your sense of worth is tied to a uniform, a unit, a badge, or a calling like service before self? We explore the question “who am I now?” for veterans and especially for female veterans who adapted themselves to fit a masculine environment and then struggle to belong in civilian life. We also touch the sting of disillusionment, the idea that your last interaction with an organisation you love may disappoint you, and why Afghanistan continues to raise moral injury questions for many who served. The second half turns practical: journalling as a thinking space, deliberate planning that replaces military structure, setting boundaries that protect family life, and learning to separate who you are from what you do so mistakes stop feeling like a verdict.   We close the series with a clear message: do not white-knuckle transition alone. Build your own table of mentors, coaches, friends, and peers.  Find Helen on LinkedIn or via her website. Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    47 min
  6. S3 Ep106 James Malone: Honour the Impulse

    May 4

    S3 Ep106 James Malone: Honour the Impulse

    War doesn’t stay in the past. And neither does the identity you built to survive it. Parts of this conversation go to some heavy places, including suicide and mental health.  Today I sit down with James Malone, former Royal Marines commando and now founder of Palpa Films to explore what really happens when you leave one life behind and try to build another. James walks us through that shift. From Afghanistan to maritime security. From remote mines in Australia and New Zealand to picking up a camera and starting again. It’s not a straight line. It’s messy. At times, destructive. And honest. We talk about what combat leaves behind. The pressure. The responsibility. The moments you can’t control. And what it’s like when others see something in you before you’re ready to admit it yourself. This isn’t just about transition. It’s about what comes after.  The drinking. The avoidance. The turning point.  James shares the “burn the ships” moment that forced a different path and how small, consistent actions became a way out. We also get into the work he does now. Creativity. Storytelling. Learning to trust instinct. “Be ready. Honour your impulse.”  And what it means to make something about something not just of it. There’s a thread through all of this:  You don’t escape it. You learn to work with it. If you’re navigating change, carrying something heavy, or trying to figure out who you are after the role you once held this one will land. To reach out to James, find him on LinkedIn or via his website. If this conversation brings something up for you, don’t sit with it on your own. You can reach out to Save A Warrior UK for support.  Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    49 min
  7. S3 Ep105 Jack McMillan: Slow Is the Skill

    Apr 27

    S3 Ep105 Jack McMillan: Slow Is the Skill

    Most high performers are running on a nervous system that hasn't been given permission to recover. You feel fine. You're productive. And underneath it, you're running hotter than you know. Jack McMillan was an elite footballer who kept choking under pressure not from lack of talent, but from a nervous system he'd never learned to regulate. What he found, reluctantly, through yoga and breathwork, changed everything. Not just how he performed. How he lived. Now co-founder of Optima Performance, Jack works at the intersection of breath, physiology, and human performance  with elite athletes, football managers, and corporate teams of 400 people who all share the same problem: they know how to push, but not how to recover. In this conversation we get into the mechanics and the meaning. Why dysfunctional breathing quietly drives overthinking, poor sleep, and tunnel vision under pressure. How a single shift from mouth to nasal breathing can lower your heart rate before you've said a word. And why the pause the one most high performers skip might be the most underrated performance tool available. Jack also walks us through his breathing gears model for difficult conversations, the Reset Breath practice you can do in two minutes before sleep, and why the best athletes he's worked with are the ones who leave their ego at the door. This one is practical. And if you run on stress, it might also be uncomfortable in the best possible way. Reachout to Jack vias his website or LinkedIn  Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    57 min
  8. S3 Ep104 Helen Lunnon-Wood: Transition Series #2

    Apr 20

    S3 Ep104 Helen Lunnon-Wood: Transition Series #2

    Your service ends, but your decision load explodes. One day you are inside a system that tells you where to be, what to wear, and what matters. The next, you are choosing everything,for some, the smallest choices can hit the hardest. Helen Lunnon-Wood joins me again for part two of our transition series. As a former RAF fast jet pilot and the founder of High Flight Coaching, she brings a grounded view of what happens beneath the surface when you leave the military. We talk about the messy middle: the loss of structure, the shock of self-presentation after uniform, and the way work boundaries can collide with a lifetime of service-before-self. We also open up the deeper layer around values, ethos, moral compass, and how disillusionment can shape your next move in civilian life. From there we get into purpose, belonging, and the loneliness that can show up even when you are surrounded by people. We tease apart loneliness versus isolation, why so many of us seek “familiar” organisations after leaving, and how mentoring, coaching, journalling, and honest reflection can turn the boulders on your path into stepping stones. We finish by defining thriving not as glory, but as small moments, gratitude, and choices your 80-year-old self will thank you for. If this resonates, listen now, share it with someone navigating a veteran career change, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations on military transition and resilience. Find Helen on LinkedIn or via her website. Help us improve! I'd love to get your feedback... Forging Resilience supports Save A Warrior Save A Warrior works with veterans and first responders facing complex PTSD and the reality of suicide. Through this podcast, we’re supporting their work. If you want to get behind it, you can do that by buying a bag of  Major Stoke Blend coffee. All profits go directly to Save A Warrior. Good coffee. Real conversations. Work that matters. Support the show Follow my social media accounts | LinkedIn | Instagram |

    46 min
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About

There are people in this world with extraordinary stories, people who've been forged by challenge, transition, and adversity, and most of us will never get the chance to hear them speak honestly about it. Forging Resilience closes that gap.Host Aaron Hill draws on a deep network of military leaders, elite athletes, entrepreneurs, and coaches to have the conversations that don't happen in boardrooms or on stages. Driven by curiosity and presence, Aaron doesn't follow a script or stick to a format, he follows the story. What comes out is something rare: real, unfiltered insight from people who've been through the fire and come out the other side.Built for high performers, leaders, founders, and anyone facing a moment that demands more of them,  this is the show for people who don't fit the mould, hosted by someone who doesn't either. www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-hill-synergy-coachinghttps://www.instagram.com/aaronhill_79/

Information

  • Creator
    Aaron Hill
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    109
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Forging Resilience
  • Show Website
    Forging Resilience

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