Nick Wilson is a veteran who has turned the negative into the positive. Serving in the British Army for 14 years, Nick eventually left in 2012 and went on to set up his own chauffeuring business, Purely Platinum. Unfortunately, during this time he began to struggle with depression and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, since his time in the forces, Nick has been left living with chronic spinal pain due to seven prolapsed discs and fibromyalgia. Nick has continually overcome adversity to reach the point at which he is today, battling through his depression and physical health problems to be the founder of his own mental health consultancy. Nick's chauffeur business quickly became well known too, shortly becoming a £1/4 million business over a two year period. Unfortunately not long after his business began to peak in success Nick suffered a mental breakdown, resulting in a suicide attempt.
Fortunately, Nick survived and went on to spend therapeutic healing with Combat Stress. After time to recover, Nick made the decision that he would not give in and he would instead fight back. He decided to sell his chauffeur business and have a fresh start. With a fresh outlook on life and a determined mindset, Nick decided that he would set up his own mental health consultancy company to help other people suffering from mental health issues. After careful planning, Nick founded Wellbeing 360. This organisation was established to help businesses provide support all-round, ranging from guidance to training and even one to one counselling. He also became qualified in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mental Health First Aid and Neuro-Linguistics Programming to better understand the way in which the mind worked.
As of 2020, 360 Wellbeing became 360Wellbeing CIC (Community Interest Company) with a new vision to inspire and empower individuals, helping them to better manage their mental wellbeing. They additionally aim to promote prevention via education as well as helping people work on self-care and self-help. Nick is very concerned with charity work, having raised over £75,000 for a number of causes. He has helped to plan a couple of prominent events as well, such as Basrah's first half marathon as well as a 1000 mile bike ride for the 60th D-Day commemorations. During 2018 and 2019 Nick also ran a number of campaigns that were notably successful. They had a high reach and impact rate, positively impacting around 250,000 people via the hashtags #Realmentalk and #Timetolisten and directly saving the lives of 10 individuals struggling with mental health.
Nick has since gone on to found Talk Mental Health CIC, a company dedicated to raising awareness of mental health through reducing stigma amongst men and providing such individuals with peer support groups. Pushing the importance of self-management, Nick dedicates his time to speak on the importance of mental health awareness with both public and private sector clients. Outside of Talk Mental Health, Nick is also a Global Goodwill Ambassador, a role in which he shares the critical importance of understanding the topical subject of mental health and illness. Most recently, in 2021, Nick impressively completed 385 miles on his recumbent specialised trike, a time during which he overcame extreme adversity such as heat exhaustion and debilitating pain from his spinal injury. He completed the feat to pay his respects to the 385 men that commit suicide every month in the UK, again demonstrating his passionate advocacy for mental health awareness. In recognition of his support to his local community and society as a whole, Nick was selected for an award at the 'English Veterans Awards' and was named Role Model of the Year in 2021, shortly followed by 'Changemaker' in 2022.
With a wealth of personal experiences, Nick is determined to not let his past define who he is, and makes for a truly inspirational and personable keynote speaker. Running countless presentations during which he trains both the public and private clients, Nick shares his personal experiences of mental illness along with the importance of mental health and disability awareness. Also sharing his experiences as a newly disabled wheelchair user, Nick inspires all with his personal story of recovery. Specialising in the topics of mental health, disability, self-management, transition and change, mental health and disability in the workplace, book Nick Wilson today when looking for a passionate story of overcoming adversity and increased awareness of mental health and disability.
How to hire Nick Wilson
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Nick Wilson for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Nick's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Mental Health, Disability and Self-Management - Providing a general overview of mental health and disability, the impact they have on the individual, the workplace and how others can best support someone with mental ill-health and/or a disability, plus the importance of us as individuals, accepting responsibility for and taking ownership of, our own wellbeing and how we manage it.
- Mental Health and Disability in the Workplace - Helping organisations to benefit from embracing inclusion, what this looks like and how to identify the strengths and abilities of someone who has a disability. Talking specifically about how to make the necessary adjustments in your organisation, ensuring you implement any specific training correctly, to benefit from maximum effectiveness, and how to best communicate and support those with mental ill-health and a disability.
- Transition & Change - Following a successful 14-year career in the military, Nick faced a traumatic decade long journey of transition, within a society which had become alien to him compared to the military, all whilst learning how to manage rapidly declining physical and mental disabilities. However, he has now successfully become an integral part of society, a well-known and respected member of his local community and an entrepreneur, creating two successful businesses and a men's mental health support group, that have helped thousands since launching in 2020.
- My Journey - Nick has had a tumultuous life to date, from living on the streets at the age of 16, starting his first business at the age of 17 and joining the Army, to building two successful businesses and launching a men’s support group on leaving the military. From surviving several suicide attempts, self-harm and battling with Complex PTSD, Depression, Suicidal thoughts and physical disabilities, to his personal growth, development and journey of recovery. Nick can adapt his personal journey to talk on any topics related to, Mental Health, Transition, ED&I, Disability and Post Traumatic Growth, ensuring to meet all of your specific requirements.
- Suicide Awareness and Prevention – Suicide remains to be one of the most challenging and taboo topics in the workplace and wider society, where arguably the associated stigma still results in the loss of life. Each death is one too many and can impact 135 people on average and attempted suicide numbers are estimated by the NHS to be 140,000 and so much work remains to be done. Nick has unique knowledge which any organisation would benefit from, with lived experience of attempted suicide and battling with suicidal thoughts, in addition to experience of helping others, whilst navigating the system
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"The event went very well! We have had a lot of fantastic feedback from employees and Nick was a fantastic final presenter who really drove home the message that understanding mental wellbeing is only the beginning, the real impact comes when you take the time to own it and ensure you are addressing it. I would really like to thank you for your support in arranging all of this with Nick, the process has been very straightforward which was greatly appreciated with the complexity of arranging such an event with multiple parties and the admin alongside." - Oscar, Amazon
"Nick did an amazing talk yesterday, everyone at Gilead found it useful and inspiring." - Deborah, Learning & Development Assistant, Gilead Sciences
