Um, I wouldn't say that GTC's big at

all, even in, within its own space.

You know, it's a very niche

world that I live in and, uh,

and it's a very competitive world

What was your inspiration to

want to join the Royal Marines?

And, and why the Royal Marines, why not

the Infantry, the REME, a- anyone else?

That's the large reason why there's

a disproportionate between, like,

military that take their own lives

or services that take their own lives

versus civilians, because they ha- they

can adapt, they can figure out a way of

doing it, and they'll carry it through.

And there's a larger proportion

of people that do that in the

services than on the outside.

Guys, welcome back to

the Combat Fuel podcast.

Today we are joined by former Royal Marine

commando, owner of GTC, and a questionable

human being because he drinks Dr. Pepper,

and he says it's better than Pepsi Max.

PJ, thank you for your service,

welcome to the podcast.

Thank you, mate.

Please introduce yourself.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Yeah, so, uh, I'm PJ.

I served in the Royal Marines, then I

went into the fire service, um, and now

run GTC, which practically means that I

just sell short shorts on the internet.

So it's not that exciting,

um, but it keeps me busy.

Yeah, pretty lucky.

Nice.

Nice, and you know, GTC's

done pretty well with your...

Do you call them silkies or skillies?

Silkies.

Yeah, yeah.

Silkies.

So silkies is probably our, uh,

sort of what we're known for,

what your bog-training company

is known for, is those silkies.

Um, but depending on who you talk to,

we've got a couple of products that

are, like, quite close behind that.

Like, the flannel shirts are- Yeah

probably the next one that people are

like, "Oh, yeah." If they don't know us

for the silkies, they know us for that.

Um, and then sort of everything else

comes really below that, to be honest.

Um, but yeah, they're, they're silkies.

And they're not an original product, they

are an improvement on an existing product,

uh, with our sort of spin on it really.

Absolutely.

I mean, well, look at us, we

didn't invent supplements, we

just do it incredibly well.

Uh, and you know, it's... I think

it's one of the first things I bought

off you was, was my short shorts

that I use for struggle cuddling

other men- ... which are apparently

questionable because they're small.

But to start off, like, where

we came from, um, your mum, I

imagine, where did you grow up and

where was, like, your childhood?

Yeah, yeah, so I did come from my mum-

Good, good ... um, which is a good start.

Not... Al- although you do look like

you may have come from a test tube.

Yeah, either a test tube or just,

like, Shrek or something, but-

Yeah, so I was born in, uh, Essex,

and grew up mainly in around Essex.

I did, um... My parents sort of split

up when I was probably nine, 10-ish,

and then we moved over to Wales.

We lived there for a few years,

then we came back to the same sort

of area in Essex, in and around

sort of Southend, Rochford area.

Um, and that's where I sort

of finished growing up, and

then at 18 joined the Marines.

So- It was pretty sort of moved

around a little bit, but basically

Essex and Wales How, how was...

You know, it's, it's very common, isn't

it, for lads to, and lasses, to join

the military that come from, and I

say it with no disrespect, but from a

broken home, mom and dad have split up.

Was that any motivating factor for you?

You know, I want to join and, and

how did it affect your childhood,

like mom and dad not being together?

Yeah, I mean, I think there's always a

positive or a, a correlation between the

amount of people in the forces from those

broken homes, and I think probably for a

bunch of different reasons, but like it's

one of those things of like if you don't

have a lot of opportunities when you're

growing up, the forces are a good one that

can give you that if you're not like...

If you don't have other

opportunities being presented to you.

But for me, it was more just I

think I was always wanting to

go into the forces somewhere.

Um, and the fact that my parents sort

of split up wasn't really a factor.

Um, I don't think it really affected

me in terms of a negative way.

Um, we sort of didn't really see my

dad as often, um, but we still had

a pretty good relationship with him.

It wasn't- Good ... between

like us kids and him, um, it

wasn't overly toxic or anything.

You know, there was times we would see

him a little bit more, times we'd see

him a little bit less, but it was all

relatively, um, sort of amicable from

our, our standpoint and, you know, we went

away and had trips and stuff with him.

Uh, my mom's the real rock star.

Like, she, she raised like... 'Cause

we had, uh... There was four of us

until my brother passed away, uh, which

we will touch on when we get there,

and then my mom ended up finding a

partner who also had four kids as well.

So there was like, at certain

points, eight of us in one house.

Um, and my mom pretty much raised us, bar

some of the older ones, like while she

was also working full time all by herself.

So she was the re-rock, real

rock star, and she had no sort

of real connection to the forces.

Um, so I, I don't think it

really negatively affected me.

Um, and I don't think it sort of

influenced me going into the forces.

I was always probably

gonna go that route anyway.

I mean, eight kids under

one roof is savage.

Yeah, it was some pretty crazy times,

especially when we went to Wales,

'cause that was when the time where

we're all sort of in, in together,

but my two older stepbrothers were

sort of coming and going at that

time anyway, so it wasn't sort of...

It was six to eight most of the time.

But yeah, it was, it was a busy time.

I bet, I bet.

And your... So unfortunately

your brother passed away.

Yeah, that was only relatively recently.

So my younger brother passed away.

Uh, he was at uni in Plymouth

at the time, and that was, uh,

would've been 2022, 2023 time.

Um, and that's sort of what triggered

me really to take some leave from the

fire service to then when I returned

from that, go full time with GTC.

So we'll, we'll talk- Be working

back into that again in a minute

anyway, probably no doubt Of course.

What was your inspiration to

want to join the Royal Marines?

And, and why the Royal Marines?

Why not the infantry,

the REME, a- anyone else?

Yeah, I mean, one, because, you know, I'm

not a hat, so, um No, I mean- Should have,

that was such poison as well Yeah, I know.

I tried to- ... and then

just had to crack up.

No, it was ... So I actually, when I was,

um, quite young, so I always wanted to

be a pilot, so I ... It's probably the

only thing that I wanted to be when I

was a kid that I could think of from, you

know, my early ages to sort of 12, 13-ish.

It was all pilot.

Um, and I joined the, the Air Cadets,

I was there, and, and that sort of

thing, and it was sort of as I was

going through sort of discovering

and being a real human at sort of 12,

13, 14, 15, I realized a few things.

One, my eyesight wasn't great.

Two, I'm borderline retarded.

Um, and three, I don't really

look that good in blue.

So it was sort of the combination of

three, I was like, "Oh, maybe it's not

really for me." So I started looking

more into the, the sort of greener side

of it, and more military soldiering,

traditional soldiering, rather than

pilot, a pilot sort of, um, route.

And one of my earliest memories was

going to my second cousin's wedding, and

he was a ... He went in the Marines as,

like, a normal bod, corps commissioned.

Then he, um, came out as a major, ended

up setting up a really successful, um,

consultancy firm based out in America,

and I've actually done work for him with

the hostile environment stuff years later.

So one of my earliest memories was

going to his wedding, and he had

like a honor guard of all the other

Royal Marine officers and stuff

standing outside, and that sort of

always stuck in my mind a little bit.

So when it was sort of like deciding

against the, the pilot route and

going more green skills, there was,

like, coming from an Air Cadet area,

people were talking about the RAF Reg.

So glad I didn't get sucked into that.

Um, and ended up just sort of going,

"Well, you know, I remember, um, Mike, his

name is, was a Royal Marine. Maybe I'll

look at that." So that was sort of first-

And was that what made you branch off?

'Cause I mean, that olive tree

there, you could have gone RAF Reg.

There's nothing wrong with it.

It's just ... They're,

they're, they're good lads.

They've got a stereotype- ... and

a five mile of death, but they're

actually not bad lads, you know.

No, they aren't.

They, they, they're great lads.

Yeah.

But so because of this guy,

Mike, that's why you went Royal

Marines rather than RAF Reg?

Yeah, essentially.

I think, I think it was one of those

things of especially at that sort of

age, I think I was about 14, 15, 16 when

I made that sort of conscious decision,

and I think it was like when you're

that age, as I'm sure you know and

other people have said, like, you don't

really know what you're talking about.

You don't know anything

really about the military.

Unless you've grown up in a military

family- You don't really know.

You see what you see.

You see the adverts, you know, the

99.9% need not apply w- was what was

being blasted on the TV at the time.

Um, Commando on the Front Line was out.

Yeah.

Um, Ross Kemp in Afghanistan was out.

Yeah.

You know, and it was essentially-

Albert Hall and- Yeah.

It, it's all that stuff

was, like, all you knew.

Yeah.

There wasn't actually

anything else you knew.

Other than that, it was the cheesy

brochures and any other adverts on the TV.

You know, social media wasn't a thing.

There wasn't- No ... quote-unquote

military sort of personalities.

There wasn't, there wasn't tags around

telling you little bits and bobs.

There wasn't- Yeah ... any civvy

to commando courses to go on.

No.

There wasn't Mike Chadwick doing

it from the para, uh, thing.

There was none of that, so it was

just sort of you didn't really know

anything, and it was just connecting

the dots of, like, knowing Mike and

knowing that it looked pretty cool.

Oh, yeah, I'll give that a go.

Yeah.

And I love that I'll, I'll give that a go.

Yeah.

Like, arguably, like, one of

the hardest basic trainings in

the world, I'll give that a go.

Well, I think, like I said, like, maybe

it's more just me not being very smart.

I don't think I realized what it was

until I'd already set my mind on it.

How old were you when you applied to join?

So I would've been ... Well, actually,

I applied to join, or I first went to

the careers office at, like, 15 and a

half, and walked in in, uh, Chelmsford.

The AFCO there-

Mm ... doesn't exist anymore.

I don't know where, how people

recruit now, but it doesn't exist.

And I remember walking in.

There was this massive geezer,

green beret on, and he was sort

of like, "What do you want?" And

I was like, "Uh-" I wanna be you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Can I be you, please?

Um, and I was just trying to sort of,

like, find out some information, see if

I can sign up, and I remember walking

in, and he said, "What do you want?" And

I said, "Oh, I wanna join the Marines."

And he went, "Well, there's

a pull-up bar there.

Do 10 pull-ups." And I was like, "Uh,

uh..." He was like, "10 pull-ups before

you can speak to me." And I was like,

"Oh, okay." So luckily, I managed to do 10

pull-ups and had a conversation with him,

and he essentially turned around and said,

"You know, unless you get a signature

from your parents, you can't join.

You n- you need to be older." So I

left there, went back home, tried to

sign up, and essentially my parents,

my mum was like, "I'm not signing

until you do at least A levels.

You know, maybe you don't wanna do

that," blah, blah, blah. So I thought

I was being smart, so I went to my

dad. Obviously they'd been separated,

and he essentially went, "I don't

have a problem with it, but I'm not

gonna take the wrath with your mum.

So if she's not signing it,

I'm not signing it." Yeah.

So I tried to play both

sides, but that failed.

And you know, it was one of those

things where if I wanted to press it,

I think I probably could have pressed

it with her, you know, expressed

how much I wanted to do it, and she

probably would've ended up signing it.

But- I didn't really press it that

hard and then ended up sort of just

going and doing my A levels and

relatively chilling out with it.

But, um, then as soon as

I was 18 I signed up then.

So I started training at, like,

18 and a couple of months and had,

like, 19th birthday in training, so.

Nice.

Love it.

Any regrets?

No.

No, not at all.

I think it was, it was one of those

things of, like, I, I obviously

tried to join a little bit earlier.

Sometimes I maybe would have thought,

"Oh, if I'd joined earlier I would

have got an Afghan." Um, and it's

sort of like I've never been naive

enough to say I'd wish I'd gone.

We all know people that either

did go, came back different, or

did go and never came back, uh,

both mentally and physically.

So it's like I'd never be naive enough

to sit here and say I'd wish I'd gone.

But I will admit there's that wish I

had the opportunity to test myself in

the role that I prepared for type thing.

So I wouldn't say there was a regret

at all, but there was a possibly

a missed opportunity with timings.

Um, but it all worked out how it

worked out in the end, really.

Good.

Good stuff.

Yeah.

And you know, it's pretty

young to join the Corps.

A lot of guys that join, a- and the,

the pass rate or the attrition rate is,

is relatively low, isn't it, you know?

And any of the Royal Marines we've

had on before, were you an original?

No, I wasn't.

No.

So- So it's the first one we've had

and, you know, there's no disrespect

in that at all, you know, but it

just shows that you still passed

out as a Royal Marine Commando.

Mm-hmm.

You know?

There's no shame in it.

What, what happened?

How come you didn't

pass out as an original?

Yeah, it's one of those things

with the original thing, like

it's definitely something that

should be celebrated, you know.

It, it's, it's ... It is an achievement.

Um, it's m- it's mainly if you do it

from a you never got injured point of

view it kind of is a bit different to a

professional failure, um, in the terms of,

like, how much it means to an individual.

So it, it is a good thing.

Well done to anyone that

does pass out an original.

Um, but obviously the ultimate goal is

the ultimate goal I guess for most people.

But- Yeah ... so my personal

experience is I got to week, I think

it was like 26, might have been 24.

I was on fogging tour and literally

I rolled my ankle and that was it.

It was we're doing a water crossing on

fogging tour which is like a ... It's

on Dartmoor, and it's a essentially like

your first introduction to ML type stuff.

Yeah.

Mountain leader stuff, and you do a

bunch of, uh, cave and ladder ascensions.

You do some river crossings.

You do a lot of getting beasted, and

it was literally we finished a serial

and it was like, "Right, go over there

to get ready for a river crossing.

Get changed." So you, you

essentially strip down.

All you have on is your, your

Garrett Gor- GORE-TEX bottom and

tops, and you put your, your silver

shadows on instead of your boots.

Everything else gets waterproofed in

your bag, double waterproofed, and

then you sort of run off to where

you're starting the river crossing.

As I was running, just went

over on the ankle, and that

was as simple as that really.

But it, it was really weird.

Um, so I only got back to... So I

started training with 139, and I

passed out with 140, so I only got

back to one troop where they were

in two-week intervals at the time.

And it was very strange

'cause I rolled my ankle.

I was in hospital for about two or three

days because the swelling was so large-

Yeah ... and the bruising was so large

they can't, they couldn't x-ray it.

Yeah.

So they weren't sure whether it was broken

or whether it was just a, a weak ankle,

as it turned out to be, twisted sock.

So I was in hospital for a couple of days,

then I was on the ward, uh, sick bay for

couple more days, pretty much that first

full week, and then it got to sort of

Thursday, Friday, and they were like...

Spoke to a physio, and I could

just about do enough mobility.

They were like, "Oh, okay, you

can go to hunter troop now." So

go and report to hunter troop.

So I had to go back to my old troop,

tell them that I'm going to hunter.

They said, "Okay, bye." Um, fill up

one of those, like, cages with all

your, your kit, wheel it over to, um,

hunter troop, and I reported there.

So I walked in, and the

sergeant was sitting there.

I don't know if it's usually as a

sergeant or how it's meant to work, but

there was a sergeant sitting there, and

he was essentially, "What do you want?"

So I reported, you know, and I said,

"Oh, I've just come out of sick bay.

Um, I've been told to come here."

And essentially he just

went, "Well, I'm covering.

What, what are you doing?" I

was like, "Well, I don't know.

I've been told to come here." You know,

"Well, why were you in sick bay?" I

was like, "Well, I rolled my ankle on

fogging tour." He was like, "All right.

Well, what do I do with you?" And I

was like, "Well, I guess I'm waiting

for the next troop so I can join the

troop behind me, so I can, you know,

carry on or start where I left off."

And he was like, "Well, you have to,

you have to redo four weeks. You'd

have to go back on the Monday," which

is actually the... I think it was a

nine-mile speed march on the Monday.

Yeah.

And then the Tuesday's fogging

tour, um, or it was back then.

So I was like, "Okay, yeah, I,

I think I'm waiting for that."

And he was like, "All right.

No worries." So at the time there was

a... It was like Charlie and Delta,

and it was sort of like Charlie was get

yourself physically back to where you

need to be, and then Delta was catch up

professionally so that you can go straight

into whatever troop you're joining. Yeah.

And he was like, "Go straight to Delta.

Go to this room.

You're staying there." So I got there,

and, like, speaking to all the, the other

nods that were in there, they were like,

"Yeah, no, you, you won't be joining the

next troop." It's just not how it works.

Like, you've got one more day, I think

it was on the Friday or something.

It was like, "Next Friday is

when everyone, like, gets moved

around to their new troops."

Yeah.

And he was like, "You're not ... That's

not how it works. You need to do

this test, this test, and this

test to get out of Delta, and then

you get to shoot a troop." Yeah.

And I was like, "Oh, well, just

what I've been told." You know?

So I literally did a week of,

like, just that sort of routine.

Little bit of phys, like phys twice a day.

Back to the y- uh, the grot, mainly

chilling out from what I remember.

Rolled around to the Friday, and

literally all parade outside.

It's quite funny 'cause people

are in different stages of biff.

Yeah.

People are standing there in

like boots and broken legs and

on their crutches and stuff.

And they were like, "Oh yeah,

so and so, you know, recruit

Smudger, you're going to there.

Ba-da-da, you're going there."

And they just went, "Recruit

Harries, yep, you're going to 140.

They're in this block.

Thin out." And I was like, "Oh, sweet."

So I dunno how it's meant to work in

Hunter, but I don't think it's meant

to work- No ... how it did for me.

No.

Uh, and e- and if anyone does get

like back troop to Hunter, it's, it's

not like a, "Oh, you're a failure.

You're shit." Or anything like that.

It's just you've physically been

injured, or you need a little bit

more, 'cause we want the end product,

and the end product has to be good.

There's no, "Oh, he's, he was 90% there.

Let ... Give him a green beret."

It's not how it works, is it?

No, no.

There's, there's no shame in it.

There's no ... There's nothing bad.

It's just you need a little bit more.

You know?

Yeah.

We need to give you a little

bit more education or a little

bit of time to recover, and

then you're allowed to carry on.

And it's, you know ... So the first

guy I've had in there, and, you know,

except for Royal Marine, everyone that

earns their green lid is, and it's

Yeah, thank you for explaining.

Mm. Really good.

But- Yeah, it's one of

those things, isn't it?

It's where it's like not everyone's

gonna be great at everything first

time round, so professionally

you might fail something.

You just need another little retest-

Yeah, yeah ... and you'll be fine.

And it- And injuries, they're injuries.

Yeah.

You're doing something like

that, you, you're gonna need to-

Absolutely ... get a bit injured.

You, you touched a little on Afghanistan

that we'll come to, but you know,

saying you, you'd missed it for the

time you joined, um, Operation Herrick.

Had ... So obviously 9/11 had

happened where around late 2000 and

2012 you joined?

Yeah, January 2012 is

when I started training.

So it's- Yeah.

But was there any like ... Again,

you've got the Union Jack,

Union flag, on your chest.

Were you patriotic?

Was there a sense of like pride, like

I want to go and fight for our country?

I can see the boys that are doing this.

I've seen the, the content

that's been coming out with Ross

Kemp command on the front line.

I wanna go and fight for our country.

Or was it just, "It's a job.

Looks cool.

Could be mate.

Mike did it, and I went to his wedding."

I think it was a bit of a mixture.

I think my, my old man was in the

Met for 31 years, so he'd alw-

always sort of served In the police.

His, uh, dad was career army.

My, um, so my second cousin, as I

spoke about, he was in the Marines.

His dad left as a colonel in the army.

So there was always, like, especially

that side, and then my grandparents

on both sides fought in, uh, World War

II and, and all that sort of thing,

so there was always that underlying

wanna represent the country type thing.

Um, but I think it was more when I got

into training and everything was geared

towards Afghan, all the ditch you were

hearing, all of the stuff on TV, all

of the, uh, lessons being taught by the

section commanders and the corporals

were all real-life lessons that they

had done six months, a year- Yeah

three year, four years before,

TELIC, HERRICK-type lessons.

So it was always... I think there was

a little bit of patriotism, there was a

little bit of pride wanting to go and do

it, but I think that was overtaken by the

fact of wanting to do what you're being

trained to do, and do what all those cool

stories that people are hearing, or that

you're hearing and people are telling you.

So I think there was definitely

that draw to serve, but it was

mainly 'cause it looked cool.

Okay.

And you know, that's why

most of us joined, wasn't it?

Like, you know, a generation before us

was, I think it was inherently it was

something to do and it was a job to

get us out of trouble for, for a lot.

Whereas for a lot of our generation-

... it was there's an actual war going

on and we can go and experience that.

And it... For those that didn't know

at the time, like, we're like, "It

looks cool, doesn't it?" Y- you know?

It...

Perceptions may differ, but it

was a, it was a cool thing to see.

Who wouldn't want to go and get to

experience some of the hardest, harshest

war fighting since World War II?

And when you started to get that

realization that you weren't gonna

deploy, how did that make you feel?

Was that like a why

have I bothered joining?

No, I don't think it was a why.

Like, I don't think the regret, or

not the regret, but I don't think the

missed opportunity of not being able to

serve didn't really, uh, not being able

to do that job, um, in an operational

environment didn't really hit me, I don't

think, till, like, years later when I was,

like, looking at career progression and

going, "We missed that, so what's left?"

I think towards the end of training

it was still everyone thought we were

all going- Yeah ... on a HERRICK.

Um, and I was one of the last troops to

pass out in, like, in DPM, and it was,

like, that transitional period because

we passed out in DPM, got to a unit, and

you were almost immediately issued your

MTP as your hot weather issue because you

thought you were going on the next tour.

So it was sort of towards the end of

training, I think it was 40 that were

going out on the last HERRICK, might

have been 17, might be wrong, and I'm

pretty sure 42 had, like, just got

back from 12- If the numbers are wrong-

Yeah ... you know, uh, it was a while

ago now, so many a concussion since then.

And it was like, it was sort of more

of a slow realization that, oh, like,

I don't think we're gonna get one now.

Um, and there was sort of talks of

go to 40, you might be on a BCR list.

Go to 42, there's gonna be like a collab

type 40, 42 final HERIC to say goodbye.

There was all these sort

of rumors floating around.

Um, and essentially I think 40 was,

like, pretty packed because they were

getting ready to do the last, what

turned out to be their last HERIC,

or, like, the corps' last HERIC.

So I think one, maybe two lads from

our troop ended up going to 40.

Most of everyone else went to

42 'cause they were, like, R1.

Um, and then they essentially,

or we did, like, the first

civvy, not civvy, but, like,

non-operational trips, um,

that they hadn't done in ages.

So they relived, like Black

Alligator came back, which was like

an old school, like, America trip.

Uh, Op- Operation Cougar, just a

big exercise out in the Middle East.

You know, that came back and

we were, like, the first, like,

units go and do that stuff.

So it wasn't necessarily, like, I noticed

it because the euphoria of getting your

green lid straight into the, you're

right at the bottom of the pile again,

um, and trying to fit into your unit.

And then it was like, oh,

we're going to America.

We're doing this.

We're doing that.

So I think the whole missed

out on Afghan thing came,

like, a few years later really.

So how was your time in

the corps overall then?

You know, you've, you've come out

training, you're bouncing around,

around lots of different opportunities.

How, how was the, the

general time you served?

Yeah.

Yeah, I, I enjoyed it.

I think it was, um ... I think early on

I probably made, like, silly mistakes.

I think perception from different

people was probably different.

I suffered a bit with injuries, um,

that, you know, I've had operations

for since then and stuff like that.

So it's like, there was always

those ups and downs, but relatively

speaking, I had quite a good time.

Um, I had quite ... Like, I was

there for four years, 11 months, like

five years in the end, and we did

STTs, we did, like, Cougar, which

involved a lot of different exercises.

Um, I sort of was in that massive

mentality of just volunteer for

everything, and that worked out for me.

We did, um, America trips, STTs to Africa,

got some really good trips, and overall

it was just a good experience, you know.

And it led on and really allowed me to

get a lot of experience that towards

the end of my career I could go and

do extra things, but only because I'd

already done that stuff in the corps

So yeah, it was overall it was pretty

good, to be honest Good man, good.

Highlight of your career?

Really hard to narrow it

down to a single highlight.

I think I had a lot of good times.

Um, the S triple T, as I say, to one in

particular to Cameroon was really good

because it was me, uh, another lance jack,

a corporal, and a boss, and that was it,

uh, with the USMC contingent out there.

So that was really cool

because we're just on our own.

Um, and there was elements of Cougar

that were really good, and elements of

Cougar that were like... Can, can I swear?

You can swear whatever you want.

Absolutely horseshit.

So yeah, I, I think it'd be

really hard to narrow one down.

I mean, I did get gifted a, a Longines

watch by the CG, um, as part of the Cougar

sort of package when we got back to camp.

So that was, that was really cool.

That has definitely gotta be

like a bit of a highlight.

Um, but yeah, that's, you know...

There's other times that are a lot more

subtle, like having my birthday bobbing

around on a, uh, a move in Scotland in

the middle of the night, you know, on

an ORC, freezing cold, trying to stay

warm, and, you know, the lads singing

me happy birthday, and then jumping in

the organ, and then almost- Oh, yeah

getting hypothermia.

That's- Banter.

Yeah, banter.

Um, that's always, like,

a bit of a good laugh.

Um, and they're weird sort of

highlights that, you know, at the

time you don't really remember.

All these years later you go, "Oh,

yeah, that was cool, wasn't it?" Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You don't... You live in the moment

a lot in the military, don't we?

We don't take that time to

reflect on, like, actually what

we do is pretty cool, you know.

We get to travel the world, meet new

people, the old saying, then kill them.

Not necessarily kill them these days.

Uh, but yeah, you get a lot

of opportunities to travel.

It's pretty cool.

The military has a lot to offer,

which I suppose can take this onto

our next question, which is why is

morale so low in the military overall

compared to, like, when you or I

joined, like, God, 15 years ago, or 16.

Yeah.

We're old, mate.

We are old.

We are old, mate.

But, um, w- why, why is morale so low?

And why, why are the guys and girls

suffering and ultimately a lot

of people taking their own lives?

Yeah.

I think obviously it's really...

It's either easy or hard.

Like, we are now outside looking in.

You and I both visit a lot of camps.

We get to speak to a lot of lads

and lasses that are serving now.

Um, and we get a very privileged

look at it 'cause we got experience,

and then we're looking back in.

Then on the same side, we're not in it

anymore, so there's always gonna be that

weird our opinions of what the morale

is like is always gonna be, uh, distant.

I think the big one is the common goal,

just like it is all the time, you know.

There was... I remember- I remember

there being a saying for, like,

training stripies when I was in the

forces, or when I was in the Marines,

and it was always like nothing builds

morale more than a good thrashing.

And at the time, you don't get it.

It's the worst thing ever.

Yeah.

But when you get a thrashing, you go back

to the grot, everyone has their tunes

on, you're cleaning, you're prepping your

kit, morale's through the roof again.

Yeah.

You don't even remember why

you were getting thrashed.

It's probably a made-up reason.

Yeah.

But you have a common goal.

You have a common enemy.

You have a common drive again.

And in peacetime, that disappears.

You don't have that anymore.

In wartime or even post-wartime,

people are still talking about that.

You know, I joined towards the tail

end of post-war, if you like, but

all the stories were still there.

Professionalism was at the

highest because we didn't know

whether we were gonna go again.

We didn't know whether there

was gonna be another Herrick.

You know, we weren't out of Afghanistan.

We only came out of Afghanistan-

Yeah ... a couple of years ago.

So there was always gonna

possibly be things happening.

So lads were always... Obviously lads

for us, 'cause I was in the Corps.

But lads and lasses were always directly

focused on, "It's just happened.

This lad had done it.

That lad had done it." You know,

everyone had done tours, the people

you were looking up to, so you

wanted to almost impress them.

Yeah.

Maybe there's not so much of that anymore.

You know, they haven't

got that common drive.

There isn't that war fighter aspect to it.

I think the other

element would be culture.

Culture changes in peacetime, and by that

I mean as an officer, a rank, anything,

to make a name in peacetime you've

gotta change something or save money.

If you're not saving money and changing

something, you're not making a difference.

If you're not making a difference,

you're not improving your SJR

empire, you're not promoting.

If you are saving money and

changing something, the people at

the bottom usually get seen off.

So it's like if you're doing that to

try and promote and progress in your

career, it's part of the system, you've

gotta do it, people are gonna get

more annoyed, morale's gonna plummet.

Or it could be there are not

enough people wearing silkies.

I would say it's that one.

Definitely.

Definitely.

And I'm... J- just to touch, because

at the moment it's very prevalent, um,

suicide rates in the, the military.

Mm-hmm.

Dare I say it, and not that it's...

implies in any way that it's an easy

thing to do, but why is it more common,

especially for us to see, like if we take

per 100 people that have, have served and

per 100 people that are civilians, the,

the, the percentage is higher- Mm-hmm

for the military.

Any takers to, to why?

Yeah, I think it's... It comes down to

the courage of conviction, you know?

And it really does.

So it's, uh, one capability- One,

isolation and two, courage and conviction.

You know, a lot of people that

are... So overall, the most people

at risk to take their own lives are

essentially young men between the

ages of sort of like 22 to 40-ish.

They're, they take up the biggest thing.

Of those of the people that

have served, probably very high.

Then when you look at all of the men

and women who are essentially boys and

girls that have taken their own lives

that have served or are still serving

at the time, that percentage compared

to their overall population, also huge.

The one thing that sets those people

apart is like the same 80/20 split that

I like to put on the whole population.

And that, by that I mean is the, the

qualities you get in the forces or the

qualities you have that are attracting

you to the forces, some you will learn

them, others you have them, that's

why you go into the forces, are, you

know, courage, punctuality, ability

to adapt, um, a lot of accountability,

all those sort of things that are

effectively taken for granted.

In the military, 80% of people have them.

80% of people are good,

good blokes, good lasses.

They turn up on time with

the kit they need, and they

know the job they need to do.

Relatively simple.

In the civilian world,

that's usually about 20%.

20% of people turn up when they

need to with what they got and

te- and do what they're gonna say.

80% don't.

That doesn't mean that in the

civilian world you have to be

serving to get those things.

Just means proportionately from my

experience what I've seen, it's only about

20%, but it's about 80% in the forces.

And it's sort of like it's that mixture of

are they attracted to the forces that 80%

of the people in there are what you would

consider good employees, if you like,

and then only 20% on the outside are?

But... Or is it that they had them, that's

what's drawn them to those positions?

But it's by the by.

The point is, is those people that

are that way inclined are more likely

to be more decisive, more assertive,

have the courage and the convictions,

make a decision, get the right kit

together, and put it into action.

And I think that's the large reason

why there's a disproportionate between,

like, military that take their own lives

or services that take their own lives

versus civilians, because they ha- they

can adapt, they can figure out a way of

doing it, and they'll carry it through.

And there's a larger proportion

of people that do that in the

services than on the outside.

Yeah.

That's, that's really interesting

to, to put it across like that.

I've not heard it come across

in that way before, that it's,

you know, the conviction of it.

I've decided to do something.

I can't deal with the thing they may

be dealing with That's my route out.

Get it done Yeah.

And I think especially for my generation

who didn't have that war-y aspect,

obviously from a generation before mine in

the Corps, like your generation and people

before you, probably the large reason why

they had such a high and still today have

such a high sort of suicide rate or mental

health issue rate is largely to do with

PTSD and trauma from those experiences.

From my generation onwards, there

may be some, um, survivor's guilt

type conditions, but I think it's

mainly for our guys, it's more like

being away from that club, being out

of ... lack of purpose, that kinda thing.

Yeah.

So I think that's always gonna

be a contributing factor as well.

You know, the, the external trauma of

those and, like, the mental if- is- uh,

health issues now are kind of different.

And, and that said then,

why did you leave the Corps?

Why did you leave the, the brotherhood?

So essentially I think I, I ended

up going into landing craft, um,

mixture of bad decisions and lack of

decisions, but I ended up doing that.

And, um, I was a lance corporal

looking at promoting to become a

corporal, and essentially it looked

like I would have to do a two-year

ship draft straight afterwards, and

I didn't join the Marines to- Yeah

to be on a ship for two years.

And it was sort of like try to explore

getting out, um, into a different

branch, but essentially if you didn't

wanna go PTIs, which if I was fit

enough I didn't really wanna do anyway.

I had aspirations to go SF when

I was, like, a junior Marine.

By the time I'd spent a bit more time,

whether I was capable of doing it or not

I'll never know, but it was never really

By the time I done a couple of trips, it

just wasn't what I wanted to do, didn't

wanna dedicate that much more time to it.

Um, whether I would've

passed or not, who knows.

And it was sort of like there isn't

really many other branches you can go

to and go, "I wanna do that instead of

this one," unless it's one of those big

I need to be released to go and do it.

Yeah.

So it was sorta like that, and

then, um, after trying to figure

that out, talking to my branch liar

about it, it was essentially I'm

not gonna be released 'cause they

needed LC2s, LC3s in the branch.

So I decided to, to pack

it all in really and leave.

Is that quite a big decision to be

like leave the Corps behind you?

I think it was a big decision not made

in a big way, if that makes sense.

Like I think at the time,

you know, that was what?

Almost 10 years ago now, um, or

about 10 years ago, so I was 23

I don't think any 23-year-old

makes big decisions in big ways.

Yeah.

I think at the time it was sort

of like, "I'm pretty bored.

Don't wanna do the next step." Yeah.

"Can't figure out any other options.

I'll pack it in." I think it's

only years later that you realize,

oh, that's what you left behind.

Yeah.

But I also think I left

at the right time for me.

I know a lot of lads, uh, one I was

chatting to relatively recently, Pablo,

um, he has just left and he's done some

courses, done some cool trips, but we

joined at the same time, did our first,

like, three, four years basically side by

side until I went to Gucci LCs and he did

some, like, crappy spec, you know, Snipes.

Um, and it was sort of like

up until that point we sort of

mirrored each other in quite a lot

of the decisions we were doing.

Yeah.

And then I went one way, he went

the other, but then he stayed

for an extra quite a few years

and progressed up the ranks.

But we talked very much about what

we wanted to do was go and do an

operational tour, and it never came.

I left and have done a

bunch of other stuff.

Yeah.

He stayed in and chose that route.

So it's like when I compare my

decisions to him, I'm, like, quite

happy with the way I took mine.

So I left at the right time for me.

Good.

You, you got inner peace with yourself

from- Yeah ... from when you left, yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

And what did you leave to do?

So I had aspiration to

join the fire service.

Um, but Essex, where I was living

at the time, weren't recruiting.

So I, uh, used the LCAS points and

trained as a, a personal trainer.

So I was doing personal training.

Um, I got in with Essex

Boot Camp in Essex.

Yeah.

Uh, Glen and Jim down there.

Yeah, wicked guys.

Glen, yeah.

Yeah, brilliant guys.

They gave me an opportunity, so I was,

uh, working with them for quite a while.

Ended up getting a franchise

with them and doing that route.

And then while I was doing that, I

was also doing hostile environment

courses and some anti-poaching stuff.

Awesome.

And then, um, as soon as Essex opened up

recruiting, which was, like, the first

time in nine years, I, um, applied for

that, slipped through the net, and, um,

started that as a whole time firefighter.

So that would've been... I can't

remember the exact dates, but a couple

of years after I left the forces.

A year or two.

How many fires have you put out?

Every firefighter never

seems to get to do any fires.

Like, real good fires?

Like, none, really.

None.

And just to set up real good fires,

like, you know, fireman, fire service-

Mm-hmm ... not, like, on about, like,

a house burning with children in it.

It's just you joined a, as a job, right?

Yeah.

And it's... But it, it, it's rarer

than what people think, isn't it?

Yeah, it really is.

How, how a serious fire would be.

It really is, yeah.

But again, go- I, I think I went six

months before I had my first, like, actual

BA wear, which is when you put the, like,

the respirator on and go into a building.

And even then it was like- Th-

there was nothing in there.

It was just to put out a relatively

small fire in the kitchen.

And it's like, it depends on your

perception of it, because there was

quite a few lads and lasses that I'd

ride on the back of fire engines with

that were very excited at every job.

Yeah.

And you don't know what you're going to.

You don't know what's gonna be there.

If it's persons reported,

everyone's a bit more heightened.

Yeah But if it's a house fire, if it's

a road traffic, if it's someone trapped,

you know, whatever it is, you don't

really know what you're going to get to.

So I think a lot of

people were quite excited.

Um, I would literally fall asleep on night

shouts in the back of the truck as I'm

on the way to shouts, and it's like...

I, I think it's the combination

of like, you know, at 18 years

old, I went through training.

Then at 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, I was

fast roping out of helicopters.

I was shooting guns.

I was driving speedboats.

I was- This is a little bit like it's

just, eh, it's just- It- especially after

the first couple of blue light- Yeah

runs, it's sort of like you turn up

and it's like, "Oh, someone's had a

fender bender. Oh, what are we doing?"

"Nothing. Let's go home." Cat in a tree?

No cats in tree.

Oh, right.

Cats on a roof.

There was a cat on a roof.

Actually, you're not a

real firefighter then, bro.

I'm definitely not a real firefighter, no.

No.

Definitely not.

Cats in trees.

That's, that's a thing, right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

That is the only thing.

That's a thing.

Yeah.

There was a cat in a bush once.

Um- ... and we ended up not

being able to get it out.

Um, so we gave up- Amazing ... and,

and just went home.

Um, I fed a fox off my boot-

Nice ... in, uh, Tilbury Docks.

That was good.

Um, no, it... You know, I...

There were some good jobs.

You know, it, it's really hard to say

because, like, some of the best jobs

are the worst jobs to talk about.

Yeah.

But they're the most challenging jobs,

and they're the most important jobs.

They're the ones that you're actually

doing the job and people are... You

can see the people you're helping.

It's the same as the military, right?

Like- Yeah.

Yeah ... you know, a lot of

guys join to go to Afghan-

Mm-hmm ... without understanding,

like, the true extent of what that is.

And once it had been experienced

by people, especially the guys that

did earlier Hericks, it's... No.

Yeah.

I knew it.

Yeah.

And, and it's that difference between,

you know, some people will look at

that and call it warmongering or, you

know, wanting bad things to happen.

But actually, I think it was, uh, Glen

Roberts from Essex who came and first

told me th- told me, told me this quote,

which was... And I think it was a Royal

Marine sniper in Helmand or something like

that, and you've probably heard it before.

And it, like, someone was on the ra- um,

like, a, a reporter or a, a journalist

asked him the question, you know,

like, "How does it feel to be here?"

Or, you know, I think they were rolling

into Iraq or, or Afghanistan or something.

It's like, "How does it feel to be

here?" And he said, he equated it to,

you know, "It's like being a premiership

footballer, spending the whole of my

career just on the bench, just training-

Now I'm about to pay the claim.

And I think it's the same

with the fire service.

You know, you want those big

jobs that never really come

anymore, for good reason.

Yeah.

Um, but you still want them

'cause you wanna do your job.

You wanna play in that- Yeah ... FA

Cup final, in that Premiership final.

You know, it's, it's not that you want bad

things to happen to people, not at all.

It's that you wanna be tested for the

thing that you've been trained in.

Yeah.

Absolutely, man.

Absolutely.

And then at this sort of time it's

also where you said unfortunately

your younger brother has passed

and you've had some time-

Mm-hmm ... off from the fire service.

Going to that second, had GTC already

started on the side at this point?

Yeah, so days and dates sort of

mold into one, but GTC started

in sort of 2020 as an idea.

Essentially that, uh, some of those

injuries that I talked about earlier,

I was in the fire service and I

was... I needed an ankle operation.

They had to drill it out to see if they

can re- regenerate some cartilage growth.

Yeah.

Um, essentially like throughout the time

I, I've got weak ankles and they're,

the cartilage has degraded, the...

there's bone on bone, and it's

caused like stress fractures and like

missing chips coming off the bones.

And so because of that they were

like, "Well, what we can try and

do..." I'd, I've had like, you

know cortisone injections, right?

Yeah.

Every time I have them they

say, "You shouldn't have too

many of these in your life."

Yeah.

Right?

And I say, "How many is too

many?" And they say, "Well,

we try not to do too many.

How many have you had?" I've forgotten.

It's at least four in each ankle.

Wow.

No idea.

And every time they say, "Ah, we'll

do one more. You'll be fine." Yeah.

Anyway, um, so after all of those they

were like, "We'll try and drill it, see

if we can regenerate cartilage growth."

And, uh, it ended up not working, but

because of that I was gonna be laid up

for a good few months not doing much.

And the missus essentially was like, this

was like in between two lockdowns as well

during COVID, was just like, "Come up

with an idea and do something." So I just

started playing around with some designs.

I bought like a refurbished tablet,

played around with some designs

and started making stickers.

Yeah.

And that's when like the first

logo was made and Established 2020

was made, and that sort of thing.

But I didn't actually start

selling them till 2021.

Um, and then, you know, all the years

later it's turned into what it is now.

But it sort of overlapped with GTC

was like started off then because

I couldn't really do anything,

then I was back on the run and I

was back in with the fire service.

Um, and GTC was sort of growing steadily.

At that time we were sort of

transitioning then from, um, we'll

probably go into a little bit more

detail, um, but transitioning from

like stickers to clothing to- Yeah

going from Etsy onto

WooCommerce, blah, blah, blah.

And, uh, yeah, I was on a night shift

and my brother, my younger brother, he

was down in uni in Plymouth, and I was

on a night shift and just got a call.

Um, he had been sick.

He had just, like, flu-like symptoms, and

my mom had spoke to him on the Wednesday.

I got a call, I think it was

either a Friday or a Sunday.

Um, again, it was the night

shift, so I think it was in the

summer as well, June or July.

He passed and, uh, we'd just finished

playing volleyball 'cause it's, it's

busy at the fire station, and we were

just in, um, cooking dinner, and I

got a phone call from my mom or my

brother, I can't remember which.

And I was like, "That's weird.

Never get a phone call from them while

I'm on shift." So I went outside, took

the call, and they were like, "Yeah,

you know, John's passed away." And

obviously it was like, he was 24, 25-

Wow ... at uni, just, like, passed away.

And it was like, "What?" He... I spoke

to him on Wednesday, three days before.

He had flu-like symptoms- Yeah

and, and that was it.

And, um, so that was all a bit weird.

The fire service were amazing about it.

They... Like, my boss at the time,

station, um, manager, was a guy,

ex-bootneck as well, called Richie

Green, and I literally walked back in

and he was like, "Go home. Go home."

And I, I didn't set foot back in the

fire station for, like, eight weeks,

and they just totally looked after me.

Good stuff.

Um, that all took a little bit

of a while to come to a head.

Went back to work.

Um, I say I didn't step foot.

I, I did a few shifts in between, just

'cause I wanted to be back with the lads.

Yeah.

About a few tours, but I

didn't have to come back.

Um, got all that sort of relatively

put to bed and then I was back on, on

the run, and I was just sort of like,

I just needed a bit of time away.

My missus had always, always

wanted to go and move to

Australia or- Yeah ... go travel.

Um, GTC was going quite well,

and we were like, "Oh," like, you

know, "Let's take a career break."

So I took a career break then.

Went to Australia and New Zealand.

Yeah.

Traveled around there for

about 18 months in the end.

Nice.

Um, and then by the time I

come back, that's when GTC

was really started taking off.

And, uh, January '23, got back and

been doing GTC full time ever since.

Awesome.

So, you know, l- with our

little cans of Monster.

Can you come and see this?

Little GTC.

Absolutely shameless plugs.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you for bringing

those drinks as well.

No.

But let's quickly chat about,

um, completely off-topic- Yeah

but as we have a drink,

Dr. Pepper and Pepsi Max.

Yes.

I mean, you are wrong.

Dr. Pepper is rats.

Mm-hmm.

Like, what, what, what kind of, like-

Mm-hmm ... sociopath thinks that

Dr. Pepper could beat Pepsi Max?

Well, just anyone that

is just, has taste buds.

Anybody that bangs their

head against the wall.

Do you know what?

I literally don't care.

Wow.

But I only- bring it up every

time I see you because I know

that you passionately care.

I do genuinely prefer Dr.

Pepper to Coke to thi- but I

don't even drink it that often.

This is- I don't really drink

soft drinks very often at all.

I actually drink a lot of tonic

water because I love gin and tonic.

That's very posh.

So that's literally it.

I am basically middle-class.

Um, it's literally, like, my favorite

Winston Churchill quote as well

actually is, uh, "The gin and tonic

has saved more lives, uh, more

Englishman lives and mind than every

doctor in the empire." Wonderful.

If that doesn't want, make you wanna

drink a gin and tonic, nothing will.

But my point is is I don't

actually care about the Pepsi

versus, uh, Dr. Pepper thing.

It is a fact that Dr. Pepper is

better, but I just like bringing

it up every time I see you.

According to who?

It's just- Cyril Hills ... nat-

nationally, uh, recognized-

No ... beverage association.

It's, uh- I'd say fight me, but

you're also a, a blue belt, so

you'd probably just sit on me.

Not a good one, so I

wouldn't worry about it.

Okay.

And at the moment I've got a biff back and

I've been in a cast for three weeks, so.

Okay, then let, let's fight about it.

Um- Yeah ... you- Turn the cameras off.

Let's go ... yeah, let's go.

And we're back, and I won.

Pepsi's better.

So you've had a career break.

You've traveled Australia.

Mm-hmm.

Um, awesome time.

You've come back.

Was there any point where you're

like, "Right, GTC," like, "This

is gonna be like my thing.

This, I'm gonna make this

big enough to employ me"?

I feel like it, it wasn't.

It was sort of like, this is just

gonna be... It's a thing to do.

I've... You, you've got an interest

in doing some pretty cool designs.

Yeah, 100%, no.

It was never, it was never

created to be what it is now.

I'm incredibly grateful that it is what

it is now, and I'm very grateful to be

doing this as a job and, uh, being able

to, like, bring some people on board now,

and we've got a HQ up in North Northants.

And- Yeah ... you know, we go to events,

and it, it, it's amazing, and I'm so,

so grateful, and all I wanna do is live

up to the reputation and live up to

the ethos that it's organically built.

But it genuinely didn't start like that.

You know, it started with me

making some stickers and a brand

around it for something to do.

Um, then after a little bit of time

and trying to put... So I, I always had

this vision that if I was gonna make a

logo, I wanted it to be like the Globe

and Laurel, like the Globe and- Yeah

Laurel and the Marines.

Yeah.

Every element has a reason behind it.

Yeah.

So when I first designed the crossed

dagger and fire ax with the GTC,

and even the name GTC, I wanted

it all to represent something.

So it was sort of like... And I

didn't want it to be too tactical.

So obviously commando dagger

crossed with the, uh, the fire

ax, relatively self-explanatory,

Marines then fire service.

Gibraltar Training Company, it was, the

Gibraltar bit is the, a not so nule,

uh, subtle nod back to the Marines.

And then the trading company bit is

like a, a nod to the, um, the British

industrial war complex that really

contributed to making Great Britain great.

You know, the, the, um, East

India Trading Company type things.

Also did a lot of bad things, but

we don't, we don't think about that.

Greatest empire ever.

Yeah, exactly.

And it, it sort of... It was almost

like a throwback to that type thing and,

and everything was built around that.

And then as the years went on, um, I've

always said we're community-driven.

And even one of our taglines in

the very early days was like,

"We're not a clothing company.

We sell stickers." That went

away relatively quickly.

Um, but like people were asking for

T-shirts, and I was like, you know, this

was... We're talking, um, 2020, 2021 now.

You know, the, the big

guys were out there.

You had Sinners Guild, Fight or Perish

were sort of on the, um, on the way up.

HR4K had been around for a while, but I

think HMG Clothing were around as well.

Maybe Reaper One Seven had started.

So there was quite a few

that are still around now.

Yeah.

And there was thousands that were

more that were around at the time.

And, uh, I didn't really wanna plan

to go down that route, it just sort of

happened, and people like, "You gonna

do a T-shirt?" So we did the, our first

ever pre-order, only ever pre-order, and

hopefully I'll never do a pre-order again.

The admin behind it

was- Oh ... horrendous.

Stress.

Oh, it was stressful.

It was just the feeling of holding

people's money- Yeah ... and not

delivering in a timely manner.

I was like, "I'm never doing that

again." Because you've got a good

sense of morals though, right?

Maybe.

A pre-order, a pre-order is great

business- It is great business

for the business.

But yeah, yeah.

Share, share the same ethos for it.

You know, we've done a pre-order

before, and I absolutely hated it.

Yeah.

Like, we've got people's money, and

we, you know, we know when the stock's

gonna come, but what if it doesn't?

Well, gotta give their

money back, you know?

Yeah.

Never done it again.

No.

There, there's been a few bits where

stuff's en route, and we know it's

100% shipping- Mm-hmm ... to us.

Um, such as our tubs have to come

from elsewhere because they're,

they're cheaper to make elsewhere.

But yeah, it's, oh,

it's a horrible feeling.

But it- It is, yeah ... I think

that's a brilliant sign of good morals

that you don't want to do that, so.

Yeah, I think it's- How did it go, though?

Busy?

It went, went really well.

I think we bought 50 T-shirts.

I think on the pre-order, um,

like the... Like we sold 50 in the

pre-order, and it went really well.

It was mainly to sort of like friends,

family, you know, people that were

from the core or had early found us.

But it went really well, and we

sold them, and it was like, "Oh,

amazing. This is a thing." But it

was like, I just didn't like it.

As you say, I didn't like holding the

money and not delivering the product.

Yeah.

I don't look down on people

that do the pre-order model.

I fully get it.

It makes perfect sense.

Most of the time it

works for both parties.

Good luck to them.

And there probably will come a day that

GTC will do pre-orders in the future.

It is part and parcel of, of life.

Yeah.

But I'm gonna do everything I can to avoid

it- Yeah ... 'cause it felt horrible.

I think it's different- But it went

really well ... when you've got a

pre-order of, say, stock you have

and you're going to release it- Yeah

as opposed to, "I wanna do a

pre-order 'cause I need the money,"

to then going- Yeah ... order

and buy- Yeah ... a product.

And I think that, that, to me, shouts

that I'm not confident enough in the

product I'm selling, so I wanna get your-

Yeah ... money first, then I'll go and do

it, 'cause I don't wanna take any risk.

And I think if you're gonna put your

position in business, 'cause businesses

are to make money, though, right?

Mm-hmm.

And it, it, it's not a dirty word, but if

you're gonna do it, and again, speaking

for myself here, you should do it with

a good product, you should do it morally

for the right reasons, and a fair price

and, and provide something that's,

that's decent- Mm-hmm ... for people.

Yeah.

So it's- I think there, there's a lot of

brands that do the pre-order model, but

what they do is then they have overstock.

Yeah.

So it's like they, they buy what they

think they're gonna sell, excuse me, it's

already on the way, and then they go,

"Right, here's a pre-order so you can

get it straight away." That's different.

I think that is different, and

that's probably where- Yeah ... we

would go if we were to do it.

Yeah.

But even that model, if I can avoid

it, and I can use GTC funds to

purchase the item, sell the item, store

it, much more comfortable with it.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Love it.

Mm. Um, what's your favorite product?

And you can only have one.

Hmm.

Hmm.

That's a very good question.

Uh,

does it have to be a specific product?

Because we've got 55 different

variations of silkies.

Will be 56.

Yes.

You've gotta pick- Right ... a product.

Right.

A product.

That's like me, you saying me

picking, I've gotta go protein.

Yeah.

What flavor?

So you've gotta do the flavor.

Right.

Okay.

And it would be jammy

biscuit, just so you know.

Yeah.

Jammy biscuit.

So good.

Biscuit runs the jam.

Uh, I dunno really.

I think at the moment I'm

wearing this gilet quite a lot.

Yeah.

So I think... I, we worked

quite hard on the gilet.

It took us about a year to get

right, get to manufacturing, get

out, and be of the correct standard.

Um, and I love a gilet, and I'm

wearing it quite a lot- Yeah ... at

the moment, so probably that.

But the fact that we did real handmade

wool cowboy hats, and they sold out in

four hours, that's also really cool.

So- You just said two things.

I did.

You've gotta pick.

Yeah.

You've got... Which one?

I'm gonna go cowboy hat.

Why aren't you wearing it?

Yeah.

It's too expensive to repair.

I was gonna say, you can't

say 'cause it's sold out.

Yeah.

No, I still have one, but

I just didn't wear it.

No.

I would say the cowboy hat because- Nice.

Different ... I don't know many

other brands that could pull off

selling... And they're not cheap.

They're... You know, we don't make a lot

off them, um, because they're handmade

by a company in the UK, then they're

hand customized by another company

in the UK, and then we sell them.

So it's like they're not- That I think

they retail, like, 165, and I think we

make, like, maybe a 10 off each one.

It's like... But it was mainly

out of a passion project.

Yeah.

You know?

That's cool as well, man.

Can we do it?

That's cool.

Yeah.

It is cool.

That is wicked.

I, I, I rarely wear it, but we can

sell cowboy hats, which is really cool.

Nice, nice.

Is there anything else that you

wanted to, like... Products that

are coming that you can say about?

Anything that's different?

I think this year is...

One of our biggest faults with GTC

is that we, we grew our variety and

our size so quickly, so it's like

we can't keep a lot of our stock in.

Yeah.

You know, especially the silky,

especially the flannel shirts.

They come in and go so fast.

Like, we've got incredible support, great

community that we're building, and it's so

hard to keep up with the current demand.

You know, w- every time we, we buy more,

we batch more, we get them in, and they

sell out just as fast, if not faster.

So I think this year for us is very

much, we, we invested quite a lot

the back end of last year, especially

with things like the gilets,

our grafter jackets and things.

We bulk bought more than we thought we

were gonna sell, so we can still hold

them going into hopefully next year.

Although, well, this winter, which

is looking less and less likely.

But do you know what I mean?

We, we tried to get ahead.

Um, and we've got our biggest restock of

silkies landing any week now that we've

ever done, which is- And I can finally-

... incredibly scary ... get one at this fair.

Yes, you can.

Hopefully.

Just saying, I've been

waiting long enough.

It... And that's my point, is, like,

I would love to do the fun, sexy, the

fun thing of creating new products-

Yeah ... exploring new things, and

really going out and, like, stretching

the thing, and we've got lots of ideas.

Um, but it's like it wouldn't be

true to our, like, our community

right now that we can't provide for.

So really this year is very much

about just building stock levels.

Get as many flannel shirts,

as many silkies, as many caps.

Like, uh, we've got 30-odd

different types of T-shirts, and

we just can't keep them in stock.

We've got awesome designs.

Our arts and craft designer

guy who runs, uh, Good Old Boys

Club, he's an absolute wizard.

I give him an idea, he makes it happen.

And it's like, because we've

got so many ideas lined up, it's

just hard to bring everything in.

Yeah.

So we have got a lot of cool stuff.

The restocks are the big thing this year.

Um, we're moving into

the jeans business- Nice.

Oh- ... which is really

cool ... I was just about to

ask, are you ever gonna do jeans?

Yes.

Love it.

Yeah.

So jeans are really hard.

Trousers are really hard in general.

Uh, trackies are quite easy to do.

There's a lot of white label ones

that are great quality, so you can

just sort of take that, embroider,

change them, you're good to go.

Um, jeans, trousers, tactical

trousers, that kind of stuff,

really hard to do because there's

a million and one different sizes.

You know, if you're a 34 th- uh,

34 waist, 32 leg, but then you

can be 34, 30, 34, 28 if you're a

midget, 34, 36 if you're a giant.

You know, there's so many

different combinations.

Then within those combinations

of sizes, you've also got cut.

Are you gonna go straight

leg, tapered, slim?

You know, the opportunities are endless.

So we've actually, we're talking

to a company now who's another

British company called Antur,

which is what these jeans are.

Yeah.

And they make, like, a performance jean.

And essentially, we're gonna be, um...

I'm not sure when this episode's coming

out, so they may already be out anyway,

but we're gonna sell them, um, as

almost like a trial to our community.

We're gonna- we've got a batch of

theirs coming in, which is what I'm

wearing now, and I think they're great.

They're not gonna be for everyone.

You know, they're, they're

slim, but they're not cut.

They're not tight.

They're got five-way stretch.

They've got reinforced

panel in the crotch.

But they're still jeans.

They're not jeggings.

So they're not gonna be

perfect fit for every person.

Yeah.

Some people like them

more slim and be skinny.

Like, I've squatted once in my

life, I can't wear skinny jeans.

Um, and also as much as I like wearing

cowboy boots, like, I wear trainers and

Vans more, so I can't have boot cut- Yeah

'cause I'd just be- Yeah ... stepping

on them all the time.

Yeah.

So it's like they're not gonna be for

everyone, but we are releasing them

probably before this even comes out.

We might even have sold out by that point.

Um, and essentially if that goes well,

then we're gonna work with them and their

designers and come up with, like, our

take on the jeans and create something

that, like, our community would want

but with their kind of expertise and

their knowledge of the business already.

Love that.

Well, this is probably controversial.

Cowboy boot, cowboy boots- Yeah ... and

you're talking about a boot cut.

So the- Yeah ... trouser goes over.

Yeah.

But cowboy boots typically have

a lot of cool designs on them.

They do, yeah.

Why would you then want to cover

that cool design with a trouser?

Why can't you tuck it in?

It's the perfect reason why we made, uh,

Daisy Duke denim Silkies because you can

wear your denim Silkies and your cowboy

boots and- Yes ... you're laughing.

There you go.

Um, I, honestly, it doesn't matter.

Like, none of us in the

UK are real cowboys.

If you wanna tuck your, your boots in

and show off your, your gilded ankles,

you show off your gilded ankles.

Nice.

I'm not a cowboy.

I can't even ride a horse,

and I've got cowboy boots.

I sell cowboy hats.

Loads of our brand in is cowboy related.

You do you, king.

Yeah.

Love that, love that.

Flash those boots.

Love that.

I love that.

That's wicked.

Cowboy boots or cowboy hat?

What, if you could only have one?

You've gotta have one.

Hat.

Done.

Love it.

Yeah.

'Cause I wear actually Vans more than-

Yeah ... anything else anyway, so.

I wear white trainers.

Yeah.

Well, I'm actually surprised you're

not in a gray Under Armour- leggings.

I didn't, uh, trackies.

I didn't realize you owned- You

were right the first time, leggings.

Yeah, yeah.

They're tight enough to be leggings.

Same as me in slim cut jeans.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I don't think I've

ever seen you not in gray Under

Armour- Uh, this is the other pair-

... trackies ... of trousers that I have.

The, the other ones.

Um, they do have holes in them.

Um- ... if anyone's watching

that owns a brand that wants

to, like, donate me clothes.

Um, I just don't- It's-

It's really bad, isn't it?

Like, I've got some

clothes and I wear them.

I wear Combat Fuel stuff, and, you

know, you sent me a few bits before.

I've bought bits off you and off

our, uh, other friends in the

community, and that's enough for me.

I'm- Mm ... I'm not really...

Obviously, I have terrible fashion.

I would wear this everywhere because

it's comfortable and it's warm.

Um- I work in fashion.

Like, this is my favorite

thing- ... to tell people, right?

When people ask what do I do, I'm like,

"I work in fashion," and then they look

at me and go, "You sure?" Yeah, you sure?

And it's like, I technically

work in fashion, but, like, I

literally wear the same thing.

I'm either in Foul Ravens or I'm, now I'm

in these jeans or our trackies, and then

I'll wear a hoodie, my gilet or one of...

Like, I just live in my own stuff.

Mm. And I'm just... That's effectively,

with GCC, every product is either made

because the community asked for it-

Yeah ... or because I want it, and I

usually reflect what the community want,

'cause it's that kind of... Like, we're

all the same sort of person deep down.

Yeah.

And it's like, oh, I haven't

really got socks, so we made socks.

Yeah.

You know?

And I'm, like, working on thinking

about under, uh, our underwear now, but

then, uh, Danny from In the Deadground

released underwear, what, last year?

Yeah, they're brilliant.

They're banging.

I've got a few of his- They're

banging ... pairs of boxers.

They're abso- Yeah, they're really-

Exactly ... do you know what?

Hands down, not just because

you brought them up, they are

the best boxers I've owned.

They're cracking.

They fit me nice on my tummy.

Yeah.

My gut, we'll call it.

They don't ride up.

They're not, like,

constantly pulling them out.

Mm-hmm.

They're, they're, they're

good thick material.

They're, they're genuinely- Exactly

the best boxers I have.

Amazing.

And, and honestly, mate-

Danny, pass them over, please.

Yeah.

Yeah, Danny can send me some.

And it's like, um,

they're, they're cracking.

So it's, like, I wear everything

that we make essentially.

Um, and although I work in fashion, I look

like I've been dragged through a bush.

Um, but yeah, it's, it's just...

I think as well, like, the veteran-owned

space in such a good position where

people are starting all the time, bringing

out stuff that if you're not making it,

someone in the veteran-owned community

probably is soon or they are now.

Yeah.

You know?

I know you're the same.

Most of my grooming products, which

for me involve soap a- and soap-

I don't know what I did before tea

came along from Combat Clipper Co.

No, and that's it.

Did we even wash?

I didn't bother.

No.

Well, I did 'cause I was in the Marines,

so- Yeah ... yeah, you wouldn't have.

Well, you- Long hair ... better

have smelled of soap, wouldn't it?

Um- Bend her over to reach it.

Yeah, exactly.

I'd go through buckets of that, uh, Combat

Clipper Company body wash, buckets of it.

Oh, mate, they're three in one.

Five Dobies a day, mate, me.

Once a week would do me, honestly.

That's, that's pretty good.

What's been the biggest

challenge in business so far?

Do you know, now- Yeah ... GTC

is not a small brand anymore.

It's, it's, it's doing pretty well.

Um, don't please get into

numbers or anything- Mm-hmm

but, you know, it, it's good enough

that this is your full-time thing.

This is what you-

Mm-hmm ... do for a living now.

What's been the biggest

challenge to overcome so far?

Yeah, I think we're, we're

very privileged, you know?

It, it's always a hard one.

I'll touch on that first is, like,

whether we're small, whether we're

big, whatever, I think, like, you know,

according to revenue and according to HMRC

classification, we're a small business.

Um, and it's like... But, you know,

we have not one of the biggest

social media followings on Instagram.

Um, but we've probably got one of the

bigger off-Instagram communities in terms

of our- Yeah ... WhatsApp group and our,

um, mailing list and things like that.

Like, it's almost disproportionate.

But... And our, our s- you know, our,

um, support offline is, is amazing.

So it's sort of... It's so hard

when you see the outside image

of how well businesses are doing.

You know, some businesses have

hundreds of thousand of followers,

and they're not selling anything.

Others have one or two, and

they're incredibly, like,

massive businesses, you know?

So it's... That's always

a weird one for me.

Yeah.

Um, I wouldn't say that GTC's big at all,

even in, within its own space, you know?

It's a very niche world that

I live in, and, uh, and it's

a very competitive world.

But I would also... And I hate

compliments, but I do also

recognize that it's got to a

position where it's paying my wage.

We're managing to reinvest in the

business, moved into the unit last

year, and we're at a point where we

need that to support the structure

of the business, so it is growing.

I think the, the biggest challenge,

which I'm sure you'll agree with,

is just consistency over time.

That's the hardest thing with

business, is staying consistent.

When it's, when it's really easy, and it's

within three to six months, and it's all

going well, everything's selling and, and

you're laughing, it's, it's easy to do.

Over the course of two to five

years, or for yourselves, what,

eight, nine years, it's never steady.

It's ups, there's downs, they're

stressful, and it's that consistency

is, is the hardest thing.

And it, it comes down to

life, really, you know.

That was the hardest bit in training

as well, in recruit training- Yeah

in the Marines, was the consistency

over the period of time.

I think, you know, where I say, like,

if you've gotta wish for anything,

don't, don't wish for success.

Wish for, like, the

power to endure, right?

Because there's never plain sailing.

Incorrect.

You wish for unlimited wishes.

Come on.

That's, that's route one.

That's route one of genie in

the bottle, that is You, but

you... The genie literally says

you can't wish for more wishes.

That's a crap genie.

That's a Will Smith genie, that is.

Don't listen to that one.

That's not a Will Smith genie.

That's... Oh, man, I forgot his name.

What's his name?

Oh, this is really bad, isn't it?

We're gonna be working on genies.

Fraser, man behind the camera,

what's the genie called?

From what?

From Aladdin.

The cartoon.

Oh, Robin Williams.

Legend.

Yeah, he is.

He is the OG.

Yeah.

He said it, so you can't- Mm. Yeah.

You can't, you can't dispute that.

I miss Flubber.

He is... What a film Flubber was.

Flubber, oh my God.

It was banging, wasn't it?

Flubber was amazing.

It was banging.

Oh, mate, geez.

Gonna start getting out

my VHS collection soon.

Yeah.

I w- People watching this

now will be like, "What's a

VHS?" Can you get VHS anymore?

Oh, somewhere, mate.

Yeah.

That's a new business idea, isn't it?

Yeah.

It's gonna start going back.

Like, everyone's putting stuff

from, like, onto, like, CDs and

onto, like, making it digital.

We're gonna g- Jesus ... go into reverse.

Yeah.

All these- Backwards

digitalize everything.

Back to VHS's.

VHS memes.

Yeah.

Sega Megadrive stuff.

You don't know what you're gonna get.

Where... So you, you know,

you're six years old now.

A lot of businesses- Yeah, almost, yeah

... don't make it past the first five years.

Mm-hmm.

Six years old is getting good.

Y- you're at the best part

of the way to 10 years.

What's next for GTC over the

next few years, a- a- and

where do you see it going?

Yeah, I think that's a really good

question, and I think the, uh,

easy and quick answer is no idea.

Um, and the more drawn-out

idea is I really have no idea.

Um, it's, it's one of those where

I'm really privileged with GTC,

where none of this was planned.

None of it was, "I wanted to hit this by

this year, that by this year", whatever.

It's sort of like we're

reacting to the community.

We're building, and we're just trying to

stay to our, like, true to our e- ethos.

You know, our, our ethos of hard work,

integrity, and sacrificing service is,

is just how I operate the business.

The... It's cheesy, it's chad, but

it's just literally that's what we

tick off the boxes to be able to do

it, and it's about being consistent

with that and continuing to grow.

It's one of those that, like,

I saw something the other day.

Someone actually sent me a screenshot,

and someone was talking about the fact

that, like, silkies in the core are

a thing, and I... it blew my mind.

I was like, "Sorry, they're a thing?

Like, what are you talking about

they're a thing?" So making more

of our products a thing- Yeah ... I

think that would be really cool.

Nice.

Um, and just over the next,

like, few years it'll be really

awesome to rescue some people from

jobs they don't wanna be doing.

I like that.

Um, so that they can come

and live what I'm living now.

Um, and we're not far away

from being able to do that.

We've got some people that work

in, like, uh, contractor-based

and, like, part-time things.

Yep.

Um, and if we can get that to being,

like, even just part-time contracts

or, um, like, part-time hours or

even full-time roles and then-

Really lean into our, the fun stuff.

Like, we've done some really cool

trips last year with, like, our content

teams, like, uh, the CO Outdoors,

uh, Sword Media, where we go away.

Uh, Hackle Media is another one as well

that we've got, uh, lined up, where we

go away with them, and it's like a big

social, and you go and have a big project.

We went down to Black Bear Ranch,

and you're down there for a night,

two nights down in Cornwall, and it's

like they are the best times ever.

Most people there are

Well, they're, they're there

'cause I paid them to be there,

but- ... they're like, you know,

it's like buying your own friends.

They could say no though.

They didn't have to take it.

They could say no.

Yeah.

Right.

And they didn't actually

get paid that much.

Most of them helped me out massively.

So it's like- There you go

it's about doing more of those,

like, cool trips, and we've got

an awesome two planned this year.

Yeah.

And it's like if we can be in a position

where we can go and do these cool content

trips, but not just for me, that can

be the job and pay wages for more than

a couple of people, it'd be awesome.

And it

You know, if we can stay consistent, stay

true to our ethos, keep bringing out more,

like, cool products, that's all I can ask

for really, and not go out of business.

Do a sombrero.

Uh, we've got straw hats.

Bigger.

Bigger straw hats.

I've got the hookup now.

I can just- Bigger ... widen the brim.

Please do.

A sombrero would be sick.

I'll buy one.

Yeah.

You know, um- I want it so big

that I crash into our rack packing

orders ... you know sombrero is

literally just hat in Spanish, so

any hat in Spain is a sombrero.

So I can speak Spanish

is what you're saying?

I actually don't know if that's

true, by the way, as well.

So there's probably people

that are at home going-

"What is he on about? No, it's not."

But I said it with confidence, so- Royal

Marines and Infantry ... clip it Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Clip that.

I speak Spanish.

Chorizo.

Chorizo.

Doritos.

Wow.

We are so cultured.

This is like Duolingo, innit?

If you listen to this podcast

enough, you'll be fluent- ... in

nothing but bullshit.

Oh, man.

Oh, no, I can't even say that.

I can't say that.

Um- Battle of racist ... it was gonna

be something to do with, um, Gibraltar

and Spanish, but I will offend people,

so I, I will not because- Every

now and again we do get messages in

Spanish which translate to, "Gibraltar

will always be Spanish." Yeah.

Every time all they get back is a

Union Jack, and then they get blocked.

And a cup of tea.

It's my favorite thing.

Uh, talk us through a normal ... A

day, what's a day in the life of PJ?

So I'm really lucky.

So I, um, I don't really

have a set routine.

Um, and that's the way I like it.

My routine is I've got a bunch of

things that I tick off throughout

the day, but usually it's wake up.

I either take the dog out first- Um,

or I'll go for a run with the dog.

So I usually like to do something

that isn't work straight away.

I fell into a trap a little while

ago of literally waking up, getting

a coffee, starting work- Yeah ... and

then before I know it, it's 3:00 o'clock

in the afternoon, and all I've done

is stare at my phone and my laptop.

So I like to now either go for a run

or take the dog for a walk first thing.

If I'm not doing that, then

it is effectively get up,

coffee, straight to work.

Um, but I work mainly from home.

So me and the Mrs. are at home, got the

dog, got the cat, work away, and it's

essentially the first thing I like to

do is respond to social media stuff.

Yeah.

Any customer service, I like to tick

those... So the customer service things

and responding to people asking questions

is what I like to do first, 'cause they're

the ones that are keeping the lights on.

Yeah.

They're the ones that actually

wanna be part of the brand.

They're the ones that are like,

"Can I get the discount code?"

'Cause we do military discount code and

services for veterans and everything.

So they send us the ID, and

then we'll send them the code.

So it's like they're the

ones I wanna speak to first.

It's the guys that have bought

something that have got an issue with

their order or, you know, the system's

messed up, which it always does.

Or, you know, they wanna ask a

question about sizing and... Or

they're just engaging with the brand.

So I like to respond to the emails,

the WhatsApps, the DMs, and stuff

before anything, 'cause they're the

most important people, the people

that wanna be part of the brand,

wanna be part of the community.

Then move on to prepping the

orders, packing the orders.

So what I usually do is prep it all at

home by, like, the computer-based side

of it, and then the systems, talk to

the systems- Yeah ... get it all set up.

And then usually while that's sort

of being done, head to the gym, go

and train, come back from the gym,

grab some scran, head to the unit.

I'm really lucky, again, the unit's,

like, a seven-minute drive from my house.

Bring my dog, he's with me all the

time, employee of the month, and

Ted, the head of arts and crafts-

Yeah ... will be devastated about that.

Um, well, I'll just get that right, Ted.

So yeah , I go to the gym, go to

the unit, pack the orders, and then

it really depends from there on

what's coming in, what's going out.

Um, if we haven't got any deliveries, I

usually do a little bit of the admin, sort

stuff out, take the dog for another walk,

um, get back home, and I'm usually home

sort of mid-afternoon, 3:00, 4:00-ish.

Yeah.

And then that's that time where

I sort of get on the mats at jits

Tuesdays, Thursdays, leave about half

6:00, and then I'm there till about

10:00, and then come home, go to bed.

But if I'm not at jits, then

those evenings are where I stop

working, and by... You, you know

what I mean by stop working.

I continue working, but I'm doing it in

front of the TV, and it's essentially

that's the time where I'm working on the

social media stuff, talking to people-

Um, and a lot of the planning does...

like, happens then as well.

A lot of ideas will come

to me writing stuff down.

A lot of the people that we work with

for content or, um, our designer and

stuff, or even our digital marketer,

a lot of them have... They're either

doing stuff during the day, or they're

looking after kids during the day.

So the evening time is a lot of,

like, communication back and forth.

So basically doing that if I'm

not on the mats, and then go to

bed and start again the next day.

Love it.

Mm. Wicked.

Yeah.

And just to touch on quickly, 'cause

relationships are a hard thing

to maintain at the best of times,

yet alone being a business owner.

Um, but you've been with your

partner for a little while now.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, so we've been together

18 years.

Yeah, 18 or 19 in May.

So we've, we've been together a long time.

We had a little break where she went off

to Australia for the first time when she

was in uni, and I joined the Marines.

And then basically when she, she come

back from that, we, um... It was never

really an official breakup, never really

a official start, but then we've sort

of been together ever since, and we were

in communications the whole time anyway.

And it's- Um ... a piece of advice,

or just how do you make it work?

You know, going through being in

the military- Yeah ... it's hard.

You're always away.

Yep.

You're always busy doing something.

And our business, you know, I- Mm-hmm

... not get it in the ear a lot, but I'm, I'm

reminded that relationships take work.

You know, f- for me at the moment,

it's very much 90/10 against me.

Like, I've got, like, 10% of

my effort that I can put in.

You know, when I can, I really do try.

But how, how have you

made it work for 18 years?

Yeah, I think there's no simple answer.

I think we, we grew up together.

Um, my missus is an absolute rock star.

She's also got... Although we're

completely different people,

our values and ethos and things

are, like, almost identical.

She's also, beginning of this... beginning

of last year now, beginning of 2025, she

went, um, full time for herself as well.

So, like, she's got that same

entrepreneurship mentality type thing.

So because we're both in that world,

she arguably works harder than me.

Um, she's working just as much.

And I think the, the key for

us, I would say, would be that

we grew up together anyway.

We picked the right people.

We got really lucky.

We picked our person, the right people

that complement us in the right way.

Hopefully, I don't make her too worse,

and she definitely makes me better.

Um, and- So she's your carer.

100% my carer.

Yeah, without a doubt.

Right.

Um, but, like, you know, it was

sort of... I think we've adapted

and changed as the time's gone on.

We've grown together.

So, like, I'm not the same person I

was when we met, when we were in... I

was in the Marines, and you know, I was

commuting to Sheffield to see her when

she was at uni, that kind of stuff.

And I'm definitely not

the same person now.

But I think the biggest thing

that I could say is don't make

your relationship a trade-off.

I hear all the time from different

people, and if it works for your

relationship, please don't take this as

me telling you off or giving you advice.

You do you Just what works

for you though, right?

But what works for us is that it's

not a transactional relationship.

I don't do the washing

up because she's cooked.

Yeah.

She doesn't do the cooking

because I've washing up.

She doesn't walk the dog

because I'm earning more.

She- Yeah ... earned more

for most of our, our life.

I didn't go and do something

else because she's doing that.

It's like I do stuff for her, i.e.,

if I'm cleaning, cooking, uh, washing

up, buying her flowers because I

want her not to have to do that

role or I want her to treat her.

Absolutely.

And she does the exact same thing for me.

She does stuff for me because

she doesn't want me to do it.

And if you're both doing that, everything

gets done, but in a positive way.

Whereas, if you're doing it from

a point of view of, "Oh, well, I'm

doing this, so you can do this. Can

you do this because I wanna do this?"

Then there's always gonna be, "Well,

I'm only doing that because you asked

me to." Whereas, like, I'm doing

something so she doesn't have to or

because I wanna do it for her, and

she does it the exact same way around.

You've met my Rach a

few times, haven't you?

Mm-hmm.

I think that's why we

work so well, you know?

A- and very much so.

I mean, my work-life ba- I

don't have work-life balance.

I have work- Your work balance ... is,

yeah, my work balance- Work and

life ... and, and Rachel literally.

And, you know, it's...

She does everything.

Sometimes it really is

like she's my carer.

Um, but, you know, when I get an

odd bit of time off and I get...

I'll go and do... Like, "No, I'm

cooking." She's a better cook.

But I wanna do it 'cause I want her to

sit down and just chill and do nothing.

Mm-hmm.

I wanna do it.

I'm doing the washing up.

She's like, "Well, I'm gonna have to

redo it anyway." I'm like- Yeah, 'cause

you're gonna do it wrong ... but I'm

still, I'm, I'm making the effort.

I'm making the effort.

Actually, that's so important,

not making it transactional-

Yeah ... often in relationships where

it's been very much transactional.

"Well, you bought yourself

that, so you should buy me

this 'cause that's fair." Yeah.

I'm like, can't this, you know?

And the best present Rach whoever

said I bought her, it's so cheesy,

but was, um, you know, the meat

along big fits of party rings.

I literally- And- ... when you were

stretching your hands out saying, "Meat

along-" You do it ... I was like, "Don't

be silly, mate." But yeah, carry on.

Yeah, she's like... Yeah, because she'd

said at the start of our relationship,

"Oh, that's what, you know, I love my

party rings and- Mm-hmm ... and Jaffa

cakes." How she looks the way she does

on a diet of chocolate and cakes is

beyond me, but- We, we're very lucky

yeah, you know, I, I think that, that

was super good 'cause, again, like we

talked to your parents at the start- Mm

... divorce and separations of relationships

is super common, and it's even more common

in the military, you know, isn't it?

Yes.

It's, it's one of those things that it's

just... I don't wanna say it's normal,

but it's not, it's not a surprise that

it happens to a military family, is it?

So it's- This is meant to be a

professional podcast, and Fraser's

over there, like, coughing his guts up.

I know.

It's ridiculous.

It's, it's... Apparently it's

cold in here It's not cold, is it?

I don't, I don't know if we can hear.

Yeah.

We might have to, like, pause- Yeah

... 'cause the cameraman's gonna actually die.

He's literally dying.

Um, yeah.

He must have finished his Dr. Pepper.

It is.

That's what it is.

Yeah, that's Get that

man a Pepsi Max, stat.

That's why.

Hopefully it hasn't

stopped recording again.

Um, honestly, when you bring war artillery

into this- All goes down hill, don't it?

It's just, I know, it's terrible.

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's fire service as well.

Yeah, I know.

Can you believe that?

I know.

Honestly.

From his sins.

Wow.

It's 'cause he's bald.

All the best people.

'Cause he- All the bald

people go to the fire service.

It's the only reason I got in,

'cause I'm follicly challenged.

I mean, you're not far off,

are you, losing your hair?

He says I'm not far off.

I've got a full head of hair.

No, no.

And a nice... Well,

Aggie's got a full beard.

Back of your head.

He's stuttering again.

It's cute the way he stutter.

I can't hear him anyway.

No, I can't.

It's 'cause he's so short.

He is actually 4'10",

like- Get yourself a mic.

Mm. Yeah.

Yeah.

You need a mic to sit

here doing a training day.

He, he, he needs a mic.

Uh, we're gonna be... I wanna

be so egotistical here and

be like Combat Fuel now.

Mm-hmm.

You know, you've, you've bought off

the brand for, for years and- Yeah.

Why?

Why'd you pick Combat Fuel?

'Cause you know sports nutrition's

one of them things I think we've

done really, really well, you know.

We're against, like, a huge industry

with guys with, like, a lot of money.

We've have got no money to make

anything that's, like, fun and

cool in terms of advertisement

because our products are so good.

The margins are so terrible in them,

but how did you come across the brand?

And you know, you use

a lot of our products.

So when I watch the other episodes of

other people coming on, they've all said,

"Oh, I don't wanna, you know, talk you

up, but you know this." I'm just gonna be

honest, never used anything from Combat

Fuel- ... and I think it's all crap.

No, um, I- He's not lying.

Yeah.

I think, um, I think you guys got me

in just purely in the veteran thing.

I think I'd, um... I don't think I

actually saw it until... Obviously, I

was already out, um, in like 2018, so

I, I... And I wasn't on social media.

Yeah.

So I don't think I saw it until

COVID time- Yeah ... maybe?

2019, 2020, maybe even 2021.

And I think it was literally the

veteran-owned thing that drew me in.

Um, because it was sort of like, oh, I'm

trying to do something veteran-owned.

Didn't realize there was a

veteran-owned supplement company.

Yeah.

Saw you guys and was like, "Oh,

I'll give it a go." And then it was

just the fact that it worked for me.

It was decent products.

From the little I know, it, it worked, and

I was like, I'd much rather... Obviously,

as you know, there's a lot of snake oil

salesmen within the fitness industry.

I obviously did my, uh, PT courses,

so I thought I knew a little

bit more than maybe average Joe.

Yeah.

And then once you start looking into

supplementation, it sort of, you realize,

I know nothing compared to anyone.

But it was sort of like, it was almost

like the early days of multivitamins.

You know when multivitamins

were like- We don't think it

really works, but it might work.

But let's be honest,

they're not that expensive.

If you want, if you can afford

to take them, take them.

They might do something.

We're not sure yet.

Now, obviously, it's proven

that supplementation and, um,

um, they're, they're brilliant.

You should all be taking m-

uh, multivitamins and stuff.

But, like- If they're good

if they're good, obviously,

you gotta do the sources.

But it was sort of like I was

in that mode of pretty much

everything was supplementation.

It was like I didn't know whether

it was good, so I might as well

support a veteran-owned company-

Yeah ... and try it anyway.

So it was pretty much just the protein

powder, which obviously you were,

you were doing early days anyway.

Yeah.

And then as you've brought out more

products over the years, it was sort of

like, oh, they've got a pre-workout now.

I'll buy that.

Oh, uh, I started taking

ZMA religiously years ago.

Yeah.

When you brought out the first

edition of that- Yeah ... I was

like, "Sweet. Do that." Yeah.

Then you brought out, like, what is it?

The ultra- The ultra ... or the max?

Yeah Which you're doing the only one-

And that's the only one we do now.

Yeah ... moved straight over to that.

Um, creatine, I've always

taken creatine for years.

Then I've started, like, the more...

Have you noticed there's a positive,

positive correlation with the more

Joe Rogan you listen to, the more

creatine you take in your diet?

Yeah.

Really weird, that.

Man's 90% creatine now.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

And I listened for three hours f- on

a podcast on the way down here, so I'm

gonna have to double scope before I leave.

Um, so yeah.

I take... So and then I'll just, as you've

released things, I'd, I sort of take them.

I do... Saying that, though, I did...

I've just finished, uh, the ashwagandha,

and, like, I didn't really feel that

it added anything, so I'll probably

just not getting another tub of that.

But- Yeah.

And it's important to know

that, like, you know, not every

product is for every person.

Yeah.

A product it will...

Everyone should use creatine.

Yeah.

And arguably a good omega-3 fish

oil, unless maybe using things like

But anyway, creatine, absolutely.

Yeah.

So ashwagandha being a stress and cortisol

management tool, if you're gonna use it,

and you're absolutely not stressed at

all, and you've got a pretty good life,

it's probably not the product for you.

The same as if you've got a

really healthy, balanced diet

full of fruit and vegetables, you

probably don't need a multivitamin.

If you sleep well, it's good, you

can track it, you know where you're

at, you probably don't need a ZMA.

Um, zinc and magnesium, not

ZMA, 'cause it's a trademarked

term, and ours is better.

Yeah.

I love our forms.

Yeah.

I'm still gonna say- But no ... ZMA.

And it's- But yeah.

Yeah ... zinc and magnesium.

It... We all know what it means, don't we?

Yeah.

'Cause it, it came from there.

But yeah, ab- absolutely.

And, you know, but anyone that does

on the ashwagandha, ashwagandha's

for stress cortisol management.

Um, but taking it dosages of over a

gram a day, so ours is 600 milligrams,

taking two a day, guaranteed lab

tested, 99.99% pure, and you should

feel the effects straight away.

Other than that, it's seven plus days to,

to sort of have the effects come from it.

But as you said, absolutely, and I

think we pride ourselves on it, as

you do, you'd never sell someone...

If I come to you and say, "Oh, I want

trousers," and you turn around like,

"Why don't you buy a hat?" Mm-hmm.

Same with supplementation.

Like, okay, if you, you're not stressed,

like, don't use that product, 'cause

it's not the right fit for you.

And, and I think that's it.

I, I was like- I have reasonable levels

of stress, but I think it's what I

realized especially, like I've just

finished the bottle, I've got like one

or two left which I'll finish first.

But it was sort of like, "Oh,

I'll try it." But I realized that

my stress levels are just purely

correlated to how much mat time I get.

Yeah.

If I'm on the mats couple

of hours a week, I'm chill.

Yeah.

I'm not bothered.

Like stressful things

happen, they come and go.

If I can't be on the mats

my stress levels rise.

So like I don't think the ashwagandha

doesn't work as much for me, so I was

like, "Ah, I'll try it." Didn't really

work, more mat time- Yeah ... it is.

Um, and therefore all I do

now is take more Joint instead

so I can do more mat time.

Love it.

And Joint's a, yeah, a

really good unique product.

But, um, we'll touch on

jujitsu quickly- Mm-hmm

'cause it, it's massive in the military

community, and I think like you said

with stress, because we've all been

trained, uh, and whatever trade you are,

we are all trained to be soldiers first.

I know it sounds cliche and people will

argue till the hills come home, but

you're still, whatever you do, it's

always basic training of being a soldier.

Mm-hmm.

When you're trained to enact extreme

violence on another human, once

you've left the military, whatever

trade you were, you lose that.

Like you just can't go out and be

like, "By the way, I'm just gonna go

and do a bit of bayonet training," and

just like shank Harry on the street.

I mean, some people

that's what they get into.

Yeah, some people do.

But- Yeah ... you know, it's raining

really heavy and hopefully- It is,

yeah ... this unit doesn't get wet.

Um, there's someone outside on exercise.

Oh, I know, it's horrendous, isn't it?

I love that.

There's someone on Woodbury Common

right now- ... like literally

swimming in their basher.

We get so distracted, don't we?

It's, it's lovely, isn't it?

We get so distracted.

It's my age and experience

mixes with the autism.

I know.

It's terrible, isn't it?

We could be here for four hours and we

won't have said anything of substance.

I know.

No, but hope you're still watching.

Hope you're enjoying it.

Um, but no, like to...

why jujitsu for you?

Similar thing?

Is it that doing violence but

in a controlled way where... And

it's humbling as well, isn't it?

Yeah.

I think... So I think there's quite

a few reasons why I went to jujitsu.

So I started off, um, my jujitsu

journey, if you like, actually with MMA.

So I started when I was like 15, 16.

Um, just liked, uh,

UFC, wanted to start it.

Started those sort of classes

in and around South End.

Um, and then I sort of leant away from

it when I was like getting ready for

the Marines 'cause I didn't wanna get

injured, and i- that was very much

cross-training type MMA as a base.

I did a bit of jujitsu, no gi, bit of

wrestling, bit of, bit of everything.

Um, bit of striking, and then lent

away, joined the Marines, and because

I had that very loose bit of like

grappling training, it was about the

only time when I was in the Marines

where I had a slight edge fitness-wise.

I was like all the way through training,

all the way through my career really, I

was like- Mid to the bottom of the pack.

Like, very rarely at the end or at

the rear unless I had, like, injuries,

but almost never at the front.

And it's like the only time that I had a

slight edge was climbing ropes and, like,

unarmed combat, and that's literally just

because I'd done a tiny bit of jujitsu.

Like, my jujitsu now is still

terrible, but, like, you know

what it's like when you're

Even if you're a six-month white

belt and you've been consistent for

six months, that new person comes

in, it's like playing with a child.

You c- j- the, the ridiculous amount of-

Why do you know playing with a child?

As in- Royal Marines.

You're not doing- Yeah,

yeah ... any plays there, are you?

Jimmy Savile.

Uh, he was an honorary Marine as well.

Devastating.

But do you know what I mean?

It's like that you ... They have

no control over their own bodies.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's like ... And it was sort of

like that where I had very limited

understanding, but I remember we did

this big thing where it's like you're

in the gym and you're all in a big,

like, square, and the PTI just points

to two people, "Go into the middle",

and it's the first one to tap, um,

like, the other one stay- It's like

winner stays on, like Shark Tank- Yeah

type thing, and then the

loser has to go climb a rope.

And I remember being in there and, like,

the PTIs were like, "Right, next." After

a couple of minutes, right, I'd tap them,

bang, they would go out, climb a rope.

And it got to the point where five or six

... I don't know how many people, lads were in

there, but the PTI just went, "Fuck off.

Go climb a rope." And it was like I

didn't know what really, what I was doing.

It was just I had a slight edge.

So I think I started my

jujitsu journey just from that.

I dipped in and out of

it throughout the Corps.

When I left the Corps, it was I wanted

something to focus on that was that

humbling thing, that discipline, and

that's when I went into, like, gi jujitsu.

Yeah.

And then ever since then,

you know, what was that?

2017-ish, I've been sort of

picking it up, putting it down,

like, consistently from then.

And then when I went to, or just before

I went to, uh, New Zealand actually,

or Australia and New Zealand, I ... And

just before lockdown, I pretty much

made the switch fully over to no-gi.

Yeah.

Um, and I still train gi twice a

week now, but mainly because right

before or right after is no-gi.

So I think I started just because I

liked to learn how to sort of fight.

Um, and then I think now it's

more about testing myself,

staying active, mental therapy.

For some reason it just

makes me more chilled out.

Um, it's humbling.

It's fun.

I think the biggest aspect, like,

people try and equate jujitsu to a lot

of different things, uh, especially,

like I, I mentioned earlier, our

lord and savior J- uh, Joe Rogan.

And you know, he goes on about ... He's

been brilliant for the sport.

Yes.

Brought loads of people in.

And he talks about all the in-depth

benefits and negatives of it, of course.

I think for me it's just

the ability to play.

Like everyone play fights as a kid.

Like, up until, you know,

puberty really most girls then

don't bother doing it anymore.

Guys continue on and play fight

pretty much all their lives.

Yeah.

And it's like the ability to play with

nothing but just another friend and

something else is just so freeing.

It, it makes you feel younger.

It just releases all those

endorphins of just playing, you know?

And it's like there's... Joe Rogan again

had someone on about the importance of

play, and like how it can... playing

can reduce your chances of dementia,

and mental health, and all this rubbish.

But essentially it's just playing.

Yeah.

All you're doing is playing, and it's,

it's all those other things as well.

It's good for discipline, it's

good for, um, humility, it's

good for doing hard things.

It's, you know, you're doing a

combat, you're learning something

that in some certain scenarios

is a self-defense technique.

Not all of it.

I play a lot of legs.

Yeah.

I'm not gonna be grabbing

someone's hair in a straight

fight, but do you know what I mean?

It's gives you all that,

but I think it's just play.

It's just fun.

Yeah.

And it's just chilled.

Love it, man.

Before we finish, PJ, any misconceptions

about anything that you wanted to address?

Not really.

Not really.

I mean, I'm sure people will watch this

and have different perceptions of me, um,

whether it was from times in the Corps,

times in the fire service, or just,

um, outside looking in, seeing GTC now.

Um, and like to be

honest, it, it's all good.

You know, anything that I did back

in the day that may have been a

mistake, may have been a, uh, a good

thing, may have been a bad thing,

all of it led to who I am today.

Nice.

And I'm very happy with

who I am right now.

Um, there's a long, long journey to

go to be the best person I can be, but

like I don't really feel like I need

to dispel any rumors, explain anything.

Anyone that knows me will realize

I'm, I'm an all right guy, you know?

And it's like I don't think I really

put myself out there that much anyway.

Um, I'm not personally the face of GTC.

It stands for itself, so it's

like I don't really have anything

to dispel, which is quite nice.

But, um, if there is anyone

that's watching that's like, "Oh,

well this happened, and you do

that", if I did mess up, sorry.

Everyone's messed up.

But I am who I am now, so

I'm pretty happy with it.

Love that.

And all those mistakes, all of those

right decisions, wrong decisions,

they create who you are now.

And if you're happy now, then

you can't really regret those.

Then yeah, doing well.

But yeah.

Absolutely.

No, I haven't got anything.

Good.

Thanks for having me on really, brother.

Uh, where, where can people find you?

Uh, really simple, but you just have

to know how to spell the word Gibraltar

There's more Rs than you think That's

quite a long, that's quite a long word.

Yeah, it really is.

It was very hard for me.

Yeah.

I don't know why I picked it.

Too many syllables.

That's why I call it GTC.

Yeah.

Um, yeah, so Gibraltar Training

Company, fully written out on Instagram.

Um, or gibraltartrainingco.com

on the website.

On there we've got, uh, our mailing list.

If you're not on Instagram, you

can be on the mailing list, you

can be on our, uh, WhatsApp.

We've got two WhatsApp groups.

One is called Ascend It group,

and they'll be very happy that

I've mentioned this in here.

They're a bunch of de- degenerates.

Um, GTC holds no responsibility

for any communication, media, or

opinions put in the Send It group.

Um, if you like, for some reason

it's got its own folklore now

about tow bars, four-by-fours,

um, Brokeback Mountain memes.

It's pretty wild.

But it's a great community space,

and you can also ask us questions.

So you can jump on there, ask us stuff,

chat to other people in the community.

Or there's an announcement group one

which is just what we put in there.

We sometimes do polls and stuff like that,

but you can just see what's coming up.

Um, or just social media.

Um, and then if not then, we are around

at a few events, and also we do...

We did our soft opening at

the HQ up in North Norfolk.

Uh, when was it, October, November time?

November?

It was wet, that's all I remember.

It was wet and cold.

Almost as cold as it is in here.

Um, but this spring/summer we plan

to do some more events, so look out

and we'll, we'll have people over.

Appreciate it, Robert.

Thank you very much for

your time coming down.

Thank you very much for having me.

Thank you for your service.

It's been a pleasure.

Yep, thank you for everything, man.

Cheers, mate.