Who is Andrew Pain?

What do you do?

I am a professional, mental health and TEDx speaker. I'm a podcaster and award winning campaginer for men and boys. Through my CPD accredited keynote talks, I help organisations create thriving workplace communities and equip people to deliver on their aspirations and responsibilites, but without burning out.

What drives you in your work?

• I want to be part of a society where the numbers of people dying by suicide is substantically reduced.

• I want to be part of a society where men, women, people work cohesively together as each other's allies and where people are included, feel listened to and are noticed (whatever their class, gender or ethnicity).

• I want to be part of a society where loneliness is no longer a 'current epidemic' but simply a sub-topic for a history lesson, and where psychological safety is understood and practised as a standard expectation, in our homes, workplaces and communities.

What are your pet hates?

You had high expectations for the session you booked onto, but then the speaker simply told you what you’d already heard a hundred times before. As a learner, I'm not a fan of 'same old, same old'. I can forgive a dry delivery to some degree, if the learning is teaching me things I didn't already know!

Outside of my work, I’m not keen on speeding drivers or waste of any sort either (food waste, water waste, energy waste, material waste, etc)

And I really don't like planes or heights. Let's be very clear ... I REALLY don't like planes or heights, which is why, at the age of 50 in July 2024, I jumped out of a plane to raise over £3,000 for Mankind Initiative, with the funding going towards their confidential helplines for male victims of domestic abuse. Sometimes in life, you just have to get on with it and face your fears head-on.

(Video evidence of the skydive is at the foot of this page. I totally recommend the experience but won't be signing up to another one any time soon!)

Outside your professional life, how do you spend your time?

I’m a happily married dad with 3 boys at home (aged 11, 8, 6) so this means I’m a; triage nurse, cook, maid, taxi driver, peace negotiator, war zone reporter, masterful blackmailer, health and safety officer, unappreciated fashion consultant and cleaner.

I juggle charity work, social campaigning and sport, along with a thriving business as a Speaker, Coach and Trainer, I’m a history geek and football fanatic and at 50, I still enjoy throwing myself about on the football pitch, although getting anywhere near the ball gets harder week by week.

As a working dad, what’s the biggest professional challenge you personally face?

GUILT (particularly during the school holidays, on inset days or when the kids are unwell and off school)

I feel bad when I’m working and not being a dad, but then I’m twitched if I’m not working, because I’m imagining all the lost leads, outreach not completed and lost preparation time.

When the kids are off, I have to: a) adjust my expectations of what I can achieve, b) remind myself of what is real and imagined, c) avoid trying to do childcare and work at the same time: do one, then the other, but not at the same time.