01/02/2026
10 years ago today I was released from prison.
I spent 9 months inside for selling drugs for a short period of time. This followed one of the lowest points of my life that I experienced while running my first business — a tattoo studio.
Things became toxic. I couldn’t see a way out. I was drinking multiple times a week and telling myself I was just a 19/20-year-old enjoying life, but in reality I was depressed and lost.
When I finally walked away from the business and got a job, I started feeling like myself again within days. I realised I didn’t like the person I’d become. I decided to get rid of the last bits I had — not much — and ended up getting caught while drunk in town trying to do exactly that.
The university of hard knocks is a great teacher.
I don’t glorify that period, but I’m grateful for what it taught me. I met one of my best mates , and everything I do now — the work, the talks in schools and colleges, supporting people in police stations who have been arrested (and more) — stems from knowing where I’ve been, the path I walked back, and the person I’ve become since.
If you’re going through something right now and it feels like the end of the world — I promise you it’s not. You can make it back. You can find a way.
Sitting in a prison cell at 21, after the pride of opening my first business at 19, was a shock to the system. I thought that was it. I thought I’d never recover. I thought Australia — and so many other things — were forever out of reach.
This week, I fly to Australia on a working holiday visa that took three years to be approved. It’s the place I’ve always felt drawn to.
For me, this is full circle.
I’m grateful for the path that led me here.
And I’m excited to see where it leads next.
