Shropshire man tells his story to inspire others after he ‘turned his life around’ to then become a director of the organisation which saved him.

A successful businessman, who used a personal empowerment programme after being thrown into a spiral of despair and depression due to changes at work, is now the Director of Business Development of the Shropshire organisation that ‘turned his life around’. 

Elliot Hughes, who is now a director of the Stay Mentally Healthy Hub in Bridgnorth, had been working for some high profile global companies for about 25 years when his whole world was seriously threatened by one email - just one email that was to have a major impact on his life.

Stay Mentally Healthy Hub is based on Faraday Drive and provides one-to-one sessions, group sessions, workshops and events through a team of qualified Self Empowerment Journey (SEJ) volunteers, all dedicated to helping people stay mentally healthy.

Elliot has told his story ahead of the launch of the hub’s "Communities Looking After Communities” campaign and the hub’s first open event for businesses to network and people across the county to find out more about what they do. The open event will be held at the hub on Tuesday October 21st 4pm to 6pm.

To book your free place at the networking and information event visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stay-mentally-healthy-hub-open-day-tickets-1679759147829?aff=oddtdtcreator

Telling his story in a bid to help others, Elliot said the “one email” transported him to a place of fear and before long increasing stress levels were affecting his performance at work, his relationships with his partner and friends, he started smoking and drinking heavily, was eating more in an attempt to feel good and was taking less exercise.

Elliot, who lives in Bridgnorth, found help through the Self Empowerment Journey (SEJ) - a guided self-help, accredited, evidence-based, psychoeducational process of personal empowerment. The SEJ is the process at the heart of the not-for-profit Self Empowerment Foundation founded by Mary Phillips, who also launched the successful Stay Mentally Healthy Hub, an initiative of the Foundation, in Bridgnorth earlier this year.

The SEJ turned Elliot’s life around from the turmoil he found himself mired in and the process proved so successful that he became a qualified SEJ Consultant and Trainer, and eventually a director of the Self Empowerment Foundation and now wants to share his story with others who would benefit from his experience.

“I had been working in business for about 25 years with some very large corporate organisations. Then, eight years ago, I was working for a large American IT company. I was very successful, good at my job and was very happy,” said Elliott.

“One day I joined a new team and on the first day an email came out to say we were launching a new product and everyone needed to record a 20-minute sales pitch that was going to be graded.

“For some reason it kicked off something in my head that said ‘I can’t do this’. I was driven into a place of fear that started a ripple effect that not just affected my work but also other areas of my life. My performance at work was starting to suffer, I was stressed out and didn’t even want to go to work.

“It began to affect my health. I started to eat more in an attempt to feel better, began drinking more frequently, taking less exercise and started smoking - something I hadn’t done for years. It began affecting my relationships - my partner was becoming stressed, wondering if it was something she had done. Of course it wasn’t, and I was also withdrawing from my friends. All this from one email!

“My solution was to use the SEJ process, something that can be done in the moment and within a short space of time I had journeyed from a place of fear to a place of joy. It was something I should have done earlier, however, it ended the ripple effect and turned my life around.”

Elliott said that by the following week he had received feedback from a Vice President of the company and  was graded joint first out of 97 people with 100%. He had successfully started new ripples that improved his life on several levels.

“I was in a place of fear and it was permeating all areas of my life, all generated from one simple email - it shouldn’t have had that effect but it did! The SEJ helped me create a new career ripple in my life, a new health ripple and a new relationship ripple,” said Elliott.

“People do get very stressed, anxious and worried about things but if it is not addressed it can quickly have a major impact on your life. The SEJ is a process that has helped me and its profound impact on my life has led to me volunteering as a Consultant and Trainer at the Stay Mentally Healthy Hub.

“The SEJ helps you reach a place of joy and your full potential to be the best version of yourself. It means we have the power to stop these negative ripples that go out and out and out, and replace them with positive ripples. The SEJ can help anyone from any walk of life with any concerns.”

Elliot is now urging anyone who feels “stuck in a rut” or is struggling to navigate their life at whatever stage that is, to contact the Stay Mentally Healthy Hub and book a free wellbeing assessment.

For more information about the Bridgnorth-based Stay Mentally Healthy Hub, visit https://www.staymentallyhealthy.org.uk/