The motivation and passion for my work grew directly from the tragedy of my past. I was seventeen when my brother took his own life. That loss — and the long, painful journey toward making sense of it — became the foundation for the work I now do. It led me to write Standing on My Brother's Shoulders, an internationally published memoir about finding growth through grief and then to spend two decades as an operational firefighter and peer support officer working alongside the people I now dedicate my research to. My PhD, awarded the Chancellor's Medal at the University of New England, explored the impact of suicide on firefighters — work that sits at the heart of what I do today. I now work at Black Dog Institute in emergency services mental health and suicide prevention translating research into culturally responsive practice. My lived experience is not separate from my professional work — it is integral to it.