1 min read
%20(1).svg "Frame (18) (1)")
.svg "Close (1)")
2 min read
Dan Allen and Ed Ross are Co-founders and Directors of both TradeMutt and TIACS.
Ed and Dan met on a building site in Kenmore, Brisbane, starting work for a builder on the same day. It was a day that both the boys agreed, changed theirs, and subsequently, many others lives forever. Dan was a tradie, and Ed was starting out a mature-age apprenticeship. Getting lumped together as the newbies, a mammoth task waterproofing 150 lineal meters of block wall, as well as many laughs over our common love of Jim Carrey and just generally talking 💩, is what really forged their strong bond.
That bond would be pivotal, especially on the day that Dan received the tragic news about one of his best mates. Only three days before Dan’s mate rang excited about landing a mature-age carpentry apprenticeship, which he would be starting on Monday. This was a huge moment for him because he'd been looking for an opportunity like this for some time. Dan was stoked for him! However, on that Sunday, Dan got the heartbreaking call that his mate had taken his life, the night before. It was a day he’ll never forget. It is fair to say it affected both Dan and Ed deeply but in different ways. Dan just lost one of his best mates, and Ed was suddenly Dan’s number-one support network. Through this journey and lots of conversations later, the guys identified a glaring issue that needed to change, and it was this - although mental health is a serious topic, the tone of the conversation is far too heavy. Why would anyone want to talk about something that only ever seems to be discussed with a sense of doom or in whispered voices? They felt like something needed to be done to help reframe the conversation and make it more accessible. Their initial idea was to take a necessary job site safety garment and use it to start conversations about Mental Health.
Quite a few hurdles later, a deep belief in the idea and bloody hard work turned into a business called TradeMutt, a social impact Workwear Company by tradies for tradies with funky, eye-catching Workwear that starts conversations, making an invisible issue impossible to ignore.
Navigating the world of professional mental health support can be tough. What they soon came to learn was that when someone was having a conversation with a peer or loved one and felt professional support might be needed it was hard to either gain access due to cost, long wait times, needing a referral, not the right fit, or there were no services available in their location.
So….TIACS was born through the realisation that there were too many barriers to free mental health support for the blue-collar community. A free text and call service with qualified counsellors. Open Monday to Friday between 8.0am – 10.00pm.
Dan and Ed’s mission is for TIACS to be the mental health counselling service you tell your mates about.
TradeMutt - a social impact workwear company driving the cultural shift in attitude towards mental health among Australia’s blue collar community.
TIACS - TIACS is a free mental health counselling support service for tradies, truckies, rural and blue collar workers. Through TIACS results focused model of care, you can speak to a qualified mental health counsellor who will help you get from a point of vulnerability to a point of increased confidence and self-reliance.
Article written by TIACS
There is no better advertisement campaign that is low cost and also successful at the same time.
