Telling It Like It is www.PeerGuidance.ca Featuring Derek Hill and Fabian Warner, Founders of MenzLeague his friends even knew he was sick. The loss
Please share the story of why you founded MenzLeague? Derek - MenzLeague. What a concept, and I am so proud and happy to be a part of this movement. When my best friend came to me, shared his story and explained this concept, something inside of me lit right up. The idea of men sharing real stories and becoming vulnerable with each other spoke to me, most likely because I have lived to see the massive value in what the idea can do. Pulling from experiencing my own hardships in life, I have come to realize that men don’t have to attack life alone. I tried that, and suffered because of it. We often try to lift the load of life on our own, and there is no need, as I can promise that men all over the world struggle with the same realities. This is for my mother, my sister, cousins, friends, ex-wife, ex-girlfriends and every woman in between. Men can be better, we can be honest and we can be vulnerable. And by doing so, our health, our relationships and our future start to look alot brighter. Fabian - To say 2019 tested me is an understatement.The entirety of the year was full of truly impactful moments riddled with loss and regret which seemed to flow one after another. It started with the sudden passing of a close friend to cancer, not a single one of 18 // Community Now!
continued with another good friend who had some complications with drugs. Near the end of the year while I was moving out of my home as I was going through a divorce my uncle suddenly passed away. I like to pride myself on being a logical person in control of my emotions and I thought I had handled the grief and loss and digested it but it wasn’t until I was dropping to the ground in public with what felt like a heart attack that I knew something was wrong and I needed some support. After discussing my personal struggles with a professional I discovered it was panic attacks that had taken hold of my life. However, I believe you choose your reaction to adversity. I chose to use those moments as fuel to begin shaping my impact on the world, beginning with MenzLeague. If I was struggling with loss, and regret how many other men were struggling. I owed it to myself and the men I lost in 2019 to live the rest of my life trying to maximize my life, to become a better man. Why are men struggling and having a hard time coming forward? Derek - Ego, upbringing, the sense that men are supposed to be superhuman and take on any battle life throws your way. Some may be ashamed or embarrassed. What every single of these men don’t realize is that they are
