Jason is the founder of The Setback Collective and host of the Dropped Balls and Big Calls Podcast.

I grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, overweight, unsure of myself, and constantly chasing something I couldn't name. Music and sport were my escape. I picked up the drums at 13, was touring semi-professionally by 16, and moved to Melbourne at the age of 21 to chase the dream fulltime, joining Melbourne band Ten Thousand and later performing with the likes of Aimee Francis and Catholic Guilt.

But life has a way of throwing curveballs, experiencing the trauma of the Christchurch Earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, I lost my best mate in tragic circumstances, walked away from music. I battled depression, regret, and the weight of feeling like I’d let something slip through my fingers.

Eventually, I rebuilt, in Recruitment and Home Care, of all places. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was real, and it had meaning. I found a new kind of purpose in helping people rewrite their stories.

It wasnt long later I became a father, started running Marathons and began to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Australia. I began clawing back parts of myself I thought I’d buried for good. That’s where Dropped Balls and Big Calls and The Setback Collective were born, out of a belief that we’re not defined by our highlight reels, but by the hardships we survive and our relationships with ourselves and others.