From personal training to wellness consultant, entrepreneur Neil Hussey (BSc (Hons) Business Studies / Sport & Exercise Science 2003) champions accessible, relatable wellbeing across all aspects of life. In this profile he shares his career journey over the last 20 years, how burnout gave him a light bulb moment and his top tips on daily wellbeing practices.
Can you tell us little bit about yourself, and your role as a Wellness Consultant?
As The Wellbeing Guy, I help organisations, including businesses, charities, schools, universities and corporations to provide their staff and customers with personalised wellbeing content. This content ranges from newsletters and blog posts to onsite seminars, global webinars and social media posts. It covers all dimensions of wellbeing including physical, mental, social and financial assistance.
I feel that all content should be easily absorbed and be relevant to the specific demographic of the individuals, not just info copied from Google or AI. This allows everyone to relate the information to their lives and get the most out of it.
Tell us about your career journey
Following on from my graduation I completed a diploma in Personal Training, Sports Therapy, Exercise to Music and Nutrition. With the knowledge I had gained in my degree I set up my own personal training business, training people in their homes – identifying there were lots of people who wished to get fit but didn’t want to go to a gym.
This progressed into recruiting and managing personal trainers in the UK arm of the world’s fastest growing gym company and over 100 PTs in 30+ gyms nationally. Combined with project managing the development of my own gym it took its toll on my mental and physical health and I went back to 1-2-1 personal training. The mental difficulties I had experienced had lit an unlikely flame and, having worked for a wellbeing company for 12 months, diversified into the wellbeing space myself.
How did your time at University shape your career journey you?
My original plan was to enter the world of finance following my graduation. However, after a 4 hour corporate finance assessment I decided it wasn’t me. I loved it, still do and if I can put anything into excel I will, but I couldn’t see myself doing it as a full-time career.
“My time at university allowed me to mix with a wide range of people. Having grown up in a small village in the Chiltern Hills, and going to a small secondary school, it allowed me to understand and build relationships with a wide-ranging demographic.”
Do you have a favourite memory from your time at CCCU?
The summer balls were a highlight, could you last until the end? I lived in a house with 5 other guys and we regularly did Regency Roasts dinners. Five did the prep, one did the cooking. Amazing memories. Football away days, what was then, Churchills on a Monday night and Baa Baas on a Wednesday, Summer BBQs, laughs, friendships and life lessons.
What advice would you give a student about to start University?
I have 2 sayings I stick to always: “Nothing should fail because of lack of hard work” and “You never learn anything when you’re speaking”. I was also given a great piece of advice that I always follow which is “surround yourself with good people”.
And finally how can we all practice a little bit of daily wellbeing to support us?
Here are 3 simple rules:
1) Get regular, good quality sleep.
2) Don’t be afraid to say no to anything you do not think is right for you.
3) It’s ok to not be ok.