Press Kit

On the isolation

“When your business goes into administration, the phone stops ringing. The people you thought were your network disappear. You go from employing 200 people and running a $50 million business to sitting alone in a room wondering what the hell just happened. And nobody, nobody, is coming to help.”

On the support gap

“I looked for help and there was nothing. Not nothing as in the waiting list was long. Nothing as in it simply didn’t exist. There is no infrastructure for a founder whose world has just imploded.”

On what founders actually need

“When I was going through it, I didn’t need a therapist. I needed someone who had been where I was. Someone who could tell me what to expect, what to do next, and that I wasn’t losing my mind. That person didn’t exist. So I’m building that for every founder who comes after me.”

On the identity crisis

“When you lose your business, you don’t just lose your income. You lose your identity. You lose your purpose. You lose the structure that your entire life was built around. Fortitude Foundation exists because nobody should have to face that alone.”

On why peer support works

“Founders don’t need sympathy. They need someone who’s been there, who can look them in the eye and say: I know exactly what you’re going through, and here’s how you get through this.”

On the personal cost

“I personally injected my remaining savings into the business in its final months. My wife used her savings to cover the last payroll. By the time the administrators were called in, we had been financially wiped out.”

On the culture of silence

“Entrepreneurship is celebrated when you’re winning. Awards dinners, conference stages, magazine covers. But when it falls apart, you’re on your own. People who called you a visionary six months ago won’t return your calls.”