Who is HeartStrong?
About me
Hi! I’m Simon – Founder at HeartStrong.
I am a trained and registered counsellor, coach, speaker, and teacher with 12+ years of experience in supporting men and couples towards building the live’s that they want.
Leaning on my Christian faith, university education (a Bachelor in Psychology and Masters in Counselling) and extensive work and life experience, I created HeartStrong to support men and women in restoring and building strong, healthy, and thriving lives and marriages that can be celebrated daily – not just tolerated.
I am a husband – married twice to the same beautiful woman (more on that story below), a father of two adult daughters, a man who loves the outdoors – and I am deeply committed to my faith, family and friends.
My Values
Authenticity
I believe in the power of genuine connections.
Growth
Supporting you to evolve and expand your capabilities.
Empowerment
Guiding you to overcome challenges and reach your goals.
My marriage story.
This is my best friend and beautiful wife – Melissa.
Beginnings.
We started as high school sweethearts – meeting at 16, dating on and off for a few years, having our first daughter and then getting married at 21.
We definitely had our problems.
We had little emotional intelligence, self awareness, or understanding on how to be a mature man or woman of character.
But we knew we would “make it” because we had faith and were in love…as correct as this may sound, it was a big mistake.
A weak man.
I was not a man of character.
I did not have a deep understanding of who God was, or who I was. I had no idea about family baggage, unconcious belief’s, about being a lover, or about protecting, providing and leading my wife and family.
I was a boy in a man’s body.
So, with our second daughter on the way and feeling the stress and problems pile up…I left the marriage and left my daughters.
I also walked away from my faith and my church community.
Reconciliation.
We were able to reconcile our relationship after a ten-year separation and have now been remarried for 16 years.
Our renewed faith was a foundation for our reconciliation; however, this did not just lead to a “happily ever after” moment.
There have been no “hacks” or shortcuts but every moment has shaped the marriage adventure that we are on today.
A lot of practical work has been involved – counselling, forgiveness, prayer, growth and new skills being practised – both as a couple and as individuals (while learning to have fun along the journey!).
One of the major tools of our healing journey was seeking the support of counsellors who were able to teach new skills and draw out our strengths to “doing marriage well.”
This became the foundation for me to become a counsellor – to support men in overcoming everyday challenges so that they can become intentional men, husbands, and fathers of character.