On a Mission Podcast 2.0

He Wasn’t Built For This… He Became It
 
Darren Grigas has completed a world first 127 mile foot crossing of the 55 million year old Namib, run 100 miles across a frozen lake in temperatures down to minus 50, taken on uncharted rainforest, and completed Marathon des Sables alongside Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
 
Most people look at extreme endurance athletes and assume they’ve always been wired differently, as though they were built for it from the start, but Darren’s story completely dismantles that.
 
This didn’t begin with a lifelong obsession for pushing limits. It started with a random morning, a car crash, and a body that didn’t work the same way anymore.
 
At that point, he wasn’t running ultra distances or training for deserts and jungles. He was living a normal life, working a job, following a routine, and struggling to run a single mile without his body breaking down.
 
What followed was anything but a sudden transformation. It was slow, frustrating, and at times painful enough that most people would have stepped back and accepted their limits, but instead of doing that, he started asking a different question around what the version of himself would look like if he actually overcame it.
 
That shift in thinking changed everything.
 
Over time, that mindset took him from barely getting through a mile to standing on the start line of some of the toughest endurance events on the planet.
 
It was great to have Darren back on the podcast for this one, because we go beyond the highlight reel and get into the reality behind it. The training around a full time job, raising kids, and dealing with pressure most people never see, along with the mental battles that don’t make it onto social media.
 
What stands out most isn’t just what he’s done, it’s how he thinks. The way he approaches pain, pressure and adversity, understanding the difference between discomfort and real damage, and knowing when to push and when to hold.
 
There’s also a side to this that most people wouldn’t expect, including personal pressure, family challenges and financial strain, all happening in the background while still showing up and doing the work.
 
That’s where this really lands, not in the extremes themselves but in the mindset behind them, and the idea that you don’t wait until you feel ready, you make the decision first and then build yourself into the person who can handle it.
 
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Key moments include:
 
✔ The car crash that changed everything
✔ Struggling to run a single mile after injury
✔ The mindset shift that drove everything forward
✔ Marathon des Sables alongside Sir Ranulph Fiennes
✔ A world first 127 mile foot crossing of the Namib
✔ Running 100 miles across a frozen lake in minus 50 conditions
✔ Uncharted rainforest and extreme environments
✔ Training around work, family and real life pressure
✔ Understanding pain vs real damage
✔ Building resilience through real life adversity
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Darren Grigas:
🔗 Website: https://darrengrigas.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darren.grigas?igsh=Mzgwb2wxZmlqZzI4
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/182m17a9ni/?mibextid=wwXIfr
🔗 LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/darren-grigas
 

Renowned performance coach Michelle Flynn works with high performers operating at an elite level, people at the top of their game who, on the surface, look like they have everything under control.
 
She was doing the same.
 
Training hard, disciplined, performing at a high level, until her body shut her down. Twice.
 
It’s something she now sees constantly, high performers still delivering, still pushing, while carrying chronic stress and having no real understanding of what it’s doing to their body.
 
This goes far beyond mindset and habits.
 
We get into mental health, suicide, hormones, menopause, emotional pressure, and why so many people who look “fine” are anything but.
 
Michelle also challenges a lot of the advice being pushed in the health and performance space, and why some of it isn’t just ineffective, it can actually put people at risk when it’s followed blindly.
 
This is about what’s really going on underneath performance, and what it actually takes to sustain it without paying for it later.
 
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Key moments include:
 
✔ The moment Michelle collapsed and no one could explain why. ✔ Why stress isn’t always obvious and can build without you realising.✔ The “work hard, play hard” lifestyle and its hidden impact.✔ How pushing through eventually leads to your body forcing you to stop.✔ The turning point that led her to completely rethink her life.✔ Why small daily habits matter more than extreme health routines.✔ How to manage stress and perform without burning out.
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Michelle Flynn:
🔗 Website: https://www.michelleflynncoaching.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleflynncoaching?igsh=cnhma2V1YjRpYTF6
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleflynn?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios

Mark Whittle is someone who’s spent years studying what actually drives human behaviour, performance, and fulfilment, and why so many people still feel lost even when they “have it all”.
 
From working with high performers, athletes and entrepreneurs to building his own platform, Mark has seen first-hand what happens when success on paper doesn’t translate to real happiness. Because for a lot of people, hitting the top isn’t the answer, it’s where the real questions begin.  
 
This conversation goes deep into identity, self-worth, and the unconscious patterns that quietly control most people’s lives. From building self-trust and discipline to recognising the decisions that shape your future, this is a powerful breakdown of what actually creates change.
 
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Key moments include:
 
✔ Why success often doesn’t fix how you feel.   
✔ The danger of tying your identity to what you do. 
✔ How to build real confidence by keeping promises to yourself. 
✔ Why most people operate unconsciously and stay stuck. 
✔ The “sliding door” moments that shape your life. 
✔ Why you need the right people around you to grow. 
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Mark Whittle:
🔗 Website: https://www.takeflightworld.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markwhittle_tf?igsh=eHp1bno2eG54aXF3

Caprice Bourret is proof that reinvention doesn’t have an expiry date. 
 
From becoming one of the most photographed women in the world to building a film career from scratch in her 50s, she’s lived multiple lives and she’s still not done.
 
Three years on from her first appearance on On A Mission, Caprice is back and this time she’s gone all in. Producing, acting, writing and running entire film productions herself, often with limited budgets and no safety net, creating opportunities instead of waiting for them.
 
This is a raw, unfiltered conversation on authenticity, social media, and the world we’re living in today. From online hate and parenting in a digital age to mindset, resilience, and life after surviving a brain tumour, Caprice doesn’t hold back. 
 
A powerful reminder that you can reinvent yourself at any stage, if you’re willing to do the work.
 
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Key moments include:
 
✔ Why Caprice believes authenticity is disappearing. 
✔ Building a film career from scratch and doing everything herself. 
✔ The mindset that’s driven her success: play the game, don’t play the victim. 
✔ Her warning about influence and why she says “don’t be a useful idiot”. 
✔ How she handles online hate and protects her energy.
✔ Life after her brain tumour and the shift in her priorities.
✔ Why it’s never too late to reinvent yourself. 
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Caprice Bourret:
🔗 Website: https://www.capricebourret.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capricebourret?igsh=MXR1d3VqYmY5dmZ2Zg==

Great to welcome back Dr. Dain Heer, internationally renowned speaker, bestselling author, and co-creator of Access Consciousness, a global movement active in over 170 countries. From a childhood marked by abuse and poverty to a career as a chiropractor who once felt suicidal, Dain’s life radically changed when he discovered practical consciousness tools that opened a completely different way of living and creating.
 
We always have so much fun when Dain’s on the show. In this conversation, he shares powerful insights on authenticity, self-judgement, and what it truly means to be you. This one’s for you if you’ve ever felt stuck trying to fix yourself, conflicted about success and spirituality, or unsure how to trust your own knowing, this episode offers grounded tools and fresh perspectives to help you create a more expansive life but be warned, we go off on a few very unexpected tangents.
 
Key moments include:
 
✔ Why Dain says heaviness is often a lie, and how truth tends to feel lighter.
 
✔ The difference between fighting darkness and feeding it, and why resisting something can strengthen it.
 
✔ Why becoming a brighter light is a greater contribution than living in constant reaction to the chaos of the world.
 
✔ The Access Consciousness tools Dain returns to again and again, including “All of life comes to me with ease and joy and glory”.
 
✔ How point of view shapes reality, and why what you decide to be true starts filtering everything you see.
 
✔ Money, receiving, and the belief that there is no such thing as a money problem, only an issue with what you are willing to receive.
 
✔ The conflict between spirituality and money, and why Dain believes money can be used to change people’s realities.
 
✔ Why force, control, and overplanning can block creation, and what happens when you start working with energy instead.
 
✔ Dain’s take on goals, five year plans, and why that structure may work for some people but not for everyone.
 
✔ The difference he draws between humans and humanoids, and why so many people feel like they do not fit this reality.
 
✔ Self judgement, awareness, and why having the thought “I’m so judgemental” may actually prove the opposite. 
 
✔ AI, authenticity, and why real human energy can never be replaced by data alone
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Dain Heer:
🔗 Website: https://drdainheer.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dainheer/
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDainHeer
🔗 Access Consciousness: https://www.accessconsciousness.com

In this episode of the On a Mission podcast, I’m joined by Jess Cunningham, TV personality and founder of Belief Coding.
 
Jess talks candidly about her time on the hit BBC show The Apprentice, the biggest opportunity of her life, when suppressed memories of childhood abuse surfaced out of nowhere, just as she was stepping into the limelight for the first time.
 
Trying to hold it together on the outside while everything internally was starting to unravel. What you see on the surface rarely reflects what’s actually going on behind the scenes, and this conversation shows you why.
 
We get into self sabotage, addiction and identity, and the messy reality that most people are reacting without even realising it. Jess doesn’t shy away from the dark moments as we dive into how Belief Coding originated and why she believes most people are stuck solving the wrong problem.
 
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Key moments include:
 
✔ The exact moment suppressed memories of abuse came back, just as she was about to go on The Apprentice. 
 
✔ Holding it together in public while everything internally was starting to break down.
 
✔ Why she was chasing validation and trying to prove herself on a national stage. 
 
✔ The reality behind her behaviour on TV and what was actually driving it.
 
✔ How unresolved trauma showed up through self sabotage, addiction and identity.
 
✔The link between childhood experiences and the patterns people repeat in adulthood.
 
✔ Why most people are reacting to life without understanding why
 
✔ How Belief Coding came from trying to make sense of her own behaviour.
 
✔ The uncomfortable truth that people are often solving the wrong problem.
 
✔ What changes when you stop avoiding it and actually face what’s underneath. 
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Jess Cunningham:
🔗 Website: https://beliefcoding.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprodigalfox?igsh=bWk0bGtlNTR4aWJq
🔗 LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jesscunninghamcfe
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EKy9pvsCQ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

As the biological uncle to Catherine, Princess of Wales, Gary Goldsmith is no stranger to media scrutiny, scandal and public controversy.
 
Gary made his millions in the IT recruitment world and was a prominent figure within the recruitment sector long before the press notoriety.
 
In this episode, we talk about all of it. Entrepreneurship, success and being part of the royal family. The scandal that landed him in hot water and the mindset required to withstand the public fallout.
 
Gary reflects on building serious wealth from the ground up, taking risks without guarantees, and what happens when private decisions become national headlines.
 
We also discuss what William and Kate are really like behind the scenes, his time inside the Celebrity Big Brother house, and the reality of having your character shaped in the public eye.
 
Key moments include:
 
✔ Making his millions in the IT recruitment sector and becoming a prominent figure in the industry.
✔ The risks, setbacks and financial decisions behind building wealth.
✔ The “shake” incident and the tabloid fallout that followed.
✔ Living through front page coverage and sustained media scrutiny.
✔ Royal family proximity and public perception
✔ The mindset required to handle controversy and reputational pressure.
✔ Inside Celebrity Big Brother and how reality television edits shape narratives.
✔ His candid views on Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne.
✔ Accountability, loyalty and standing by your decisions.
 
A conversation about business, notoriety, reputation and the resilience required when success and scrutiny collide.
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Gary Goldsmith:
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garygoninsta?igsh=MWNxZTR3NXBwZWd3MA== 
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garygoldsmith/

Greg Parkin has exited multiple seven figure businesses, completed Ironman triathlons, and in his fifties is preparing to run 108 miles across the Pennine Way in winter. His life has been shaped by pressure, risk, discipline and a mindset built around pushing limits.
 
This episode explores what it really takes to build and scale at that level. The appetite for risk. The tolerance for uncertainty. The resilience required when the stakes are high. Greg breaks down the psychology that connects entrepreneurship and endurance sport, and why the same mental traits show up in both arenas.
 
We go deeper into his relationship with alcohol and how it became embedded in business culture and high performance environments. Greg shares how stress, identity and drinking were more connected than he realised, and how stepping away from alcohol sharpened his thinking, improved his stress tolerance and redirected his energy.
 
Key moments include:
 
✔ Building and exiting multiple seven figure businesses.
✔ The psychology behind entrepreneurs who refuse to quit.
✔ The emotional comedown after major achievement.
✔ Preparing for 108 miles across the Pennine Way in his fifties.
✔ The mental breaking point in ultra endurance and how to push past it.
✔ High functioning drinking in ambitious environments.
✔ The stress patterns that fuel alcohol use.
✔ Turning discipline into long term sobriety.
✔ Why resilience is built through discomfort.
 
A conversation about ambition, identity, endurance and the discipline required to evolve when success alone is not enough.
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Greg Parkin:
🔗 Website: https://growthcoach.info
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkin.greg?igsh=YWR2bHBuOXE1NGsy
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-parkin-a7084227?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios

At 23 years old, he received a phone call that changed everything.
 
His father had travelled to India for work. Days later, he was missing. Weeks later, a confession came in. Murder. The body was never recovered. The assets were taken. The legal system stalled. And overnight, Gian Power lost his hero, his security, and the life he had known.
 
This is not just a story about grief. It is about what you choose to do next.
 
In this deeply moving episode, Gian shares what it was like to navigate an international murder investigation in his early twenties while sitting professional exams in London, facing alleged conspirators across the table, and writing his own legal letters because he could not afford representation. He speaks openly about the confusion, the anger, the injustice, and the moment he realised that nobody could control how he responded.
 
Instead of allowing bitterness to define him, Gian channelled everything into building something bigger than himself. He founded The Power of Storytelling with one clear mission: to make workplaces more human. Today, the organisation works with hundreds of global brands, using storytelling, neuroscience and lived experience to change cultures from the inside out.
 
We also explore the psychological tools that kept him standing. Meditation in office bathrooms. Emotional regulation. Gratitude as a daily discipline. Turning anger into focus. And the neuroscience behind why sharing your story can literally save someone else’s life.
 
Ten years on, the fight for justice continues. But so does the mission.
 
Key moments include:
 
✔ The phone call that confirmed his father’s murder and the body that was not his.
✔ Losing his inheritance, his childhood home and financial security overnight.
✔ Facing alleged conspirators and navigating international legal failures.
✔ Why he refuses to let anger define him.
✔ Meditation, emotional granularity and the psychology of resilience.
✔ The neuroscience of storytelling and how shared experiences change the brain.
✔ Supporting the Missing People charity and the reality of unresolved loss.
✔ Building a global organisation from tragedy.
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Gian Power:
🔗 Website: https://gianpower.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gianpower/?hl=en
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianpower

Aaron Moon is a Royal Marine Commando whose life changed in seconds in Afghanistan when his vehicle hit an IED. He died twice on the flight home, woke from an induced coma to life changing injuries, and later faced the letter that ended his military career for good. 
 
In this episode, Aaron talks honestly about what came after, the denial, the loss of identity, the darkest period where he drifted and lost direction, and the moment he decided to take control again. He shares the mindset framework he built through it, why he calls it the Rebel Mindset, and how it became the foundation for rebuilding his life with purpose, direction, and momentum when everything else had been stripped away. 
 
Years later, Aaron came close to dying again. Another life threatening moment that forced a hard reset and exposed how easily survival can turn into stagnation if you stop pushing forward. 
 
Now Aaron is taking his message into prisons, working with men written off by the system, and preparing for his biggest challenge yet. Cycling Route 66 solo, 2,570 miles across America on one leg, chasing a world record, funding the challenge himself so that every penny raised goes directly to charity. This episode is for anyone navigating darkness, rebuilding after loss, or refusing to let adversity be the end of their story. 
 
Key moments include:
 
✔ Being blown up in Afghanistan and dying twice on the flight home.
✔ Why losing his military career hurt more than losing his leg.
✔ The denial and drifting that followed recovery.
✔ How the Rebel Mindset was built.
✔ Facing death again years later.
✔ Taking his work into prisons.
✔ Cycling Route 66 solo on one leg for a world record.
 
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Connect & Follow
Follow Ellie McKay:
🔗 Website: https://onamissionpodcast.com
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellie_mckay_official/?hl=en-gb
🔗 On a Mission Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onamissionpodcast2.0/?hl=en-gb 
Follow Aaron Moon:
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.rebornmindset?igsh=YmQwYXJ2bWdnemUx
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oneleg87?igsh=bHFoMXpzbGt3cHBh
🔗 Donate Now - One leg, 2,486 miles, no rest: https://teamforces.org/aaron-moon