REAL MEN USE SKINCARE

​Dishing all things masculinity, self-development and selfcare with Geraldton’s “top bloke” Brenten Wellington.   

From the moment you meet Brenten Wellington you can tell that he’s a “top bloke.” The Kind of bloke you bump into at the pub and end up sharing a beer or two well past closing. The kind of bloke you'd hit up at 3 AM for a heart-to-heart—or, just as easily, for one of those no-words-needed, let’s-just-sit-here-and-chill kind of hangouts. And the kind of bloke I wish my cousin could’ve known in his younger years—because Brenten's more than just a top bloke. He’s the role model young men don't even know they need.
We had the pleasure of catching up with Brenten, the mastermind behind ‘The Blokehood Project,’ a groundbreaking program that’s flipping the script on what it means to be a man today. It’s all about guiding young men through the ups and downs of growing up, helping them navigate that tricky path from boyhood to manhood with a healthy dose of self-discovery and a solid sense of self-worth. We dove deep into what makes this bloke tick, and why his approach to blokey self-care is exactly what we all need right now.
​
Read on for the interview… or listen below for the podcast!

Can you please start with your name and tell us a little bit about yourself and what your mission is?
​
So my name is Brenton Wellington, 34 years old and I developed the Blokehood project. My mission is to create safe environments for young men to explore masculinity and what it means to be a man.
 

Amazing! That's so good to bring that to Geraldton. I think as a regional town, we really need that support for young men.

Well, I think it's pivotal. I feel like, you know, masculinity is a real big hot topic now, and rightly so. I feel like it's an important thing for young men to grasp the concepts of what it what it means to be a man. You know, what purpose is in life, what an identity is, and then having mates and comradeship to do it with.

 
Yeah, absolutely. Can you tell us, when did you decide that this was something that you felt like you needed to start doing for the community? Was there an initial spark or an event that inspired that?
 
Yeah, definitely. It came from a place of real frustration. I'd gone through my own challenges in life. I was dealing with emotional things that I didn't know how to comprehend as a man and within myself. I just had no idea what to do when I started looking for answers, because I didn't want to suffer and sit in the pain any longer. So that's what kind of it forced me into the direction of personal development and finding ways to deal with emotions. I found a guy online through YouTube, a guy called Preston Smiles. And that was my first kind of introduction into personal development. From that point forward, it was kind of like I just immersed myself into personal development, understanding my own psyche and the way things work in the world. And that's where it kind of really hit me. I did a six-month coaching program with him, and then I kind of had gone through my own stages of what it mean and what purpose I wanted in life.
I finished a degree in environmental engineering. I went into personal training. I've been crayfishing. I've done so many jobs, but I realized none of them were my purpose. This isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. So, we started talking back in the coaching program and my mentor asked me what I wanted to do, but to be truthful, I really didn’t know. I told him “that’s what I'm paying you for! Please just help guide me and tell me what to do.” And essentially, he's like, well, “what do you piss off about? You seem pretty frustrated and agitated.” And I was “like, yeah, I'm extremely pissed off. I'm here at 25 and I'm figuring out the things that I needed to learn when I was a young man, at 16 or 17. Why hasn't anyone taught this to young men before?” It was an interesting conversation. And so that's essentially how the Blokehood project evolved. It began in frustration. I just wanted to teach young men everything I wish I had known at their age.
 

Yeah. Frustration is a really popular or a common emotion for men, isn't it?

Yeah. I think all of our emotions are valid, and there's a lot of power and beauty in anger and frustration and all these really raw, powerful emotions. It's okay to feel all emotions, but it's what men do with those emotions that is important. It's about our actions and behaviors and what we lead into after that, after feeling the emotions. So it's all right to feel everything. But we need to be able to use our emotions constructively and effectively, and that makes us more powerful men.


Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, sometimes our skin can have a really big emotional impact on us as well. We know that acne is something that a lot of men do experience. And it is one of the most common skin conditions that men can experience in commonality and severity as well. Have you ever experienced acne or some kind of skin condition that's impacted on your self-esteem before?

Definitely. Acne throughout the years, I still get pimples and stuff now. Blackheads. It's something that I'm always conscious of, and it's like when they pop up or when they show up on your face, it hits you a little differently. It makes you feel a little less comfortable in your skin or, you know, a little less, at ease in public. So it definitely has an impact on how you feel. And I think it's really important that you do feel good in your skin. You do feel comfortable and confident in how you look and how you present yourself to the world. Because I feel like respect is a huge thing in our culture, and if we can present ourselves well, look well and respectable and go about that, it really has dividends in, in our overall life and how we feel.
Self-love is a sign of self-respect. We can look after ourselves not only internally but externally. I think that is the biggest form of self-love and respect we can give to ourselves.
 

Yeah, absolutely. How do you encourage men to start taking care of their skin for, especially those people who might think that it's not really very important or it's not something they should worry about?

Well, I think men like to learn the hard way. I've had cancers cut out of my back and skin cancers burnt off my nose. And, I'm lucky that my face is probably more presentable than what my back looked like with the the big scar in my back from not looking after my skin. Like, there's a lot of guys that love being outdoors and even just having a good skincare routine to protect your face from the sun is massively important. And if we're putting things on our face, it's good that, you know, we're clearing that face up and protecting it for the future.
 

That's right. It's not just about beauty. It’s about health too.
 
Oh it's health. Yeah, definitely. And you do start to realize at some point, okay, it's time to start looking after these things, you know. And for me as well, I kind of grew up with a really youthful face. I had a kid's face or, you know, I grew up wanting to age quickly. Which I regret now because I wish I had protected my youthful face a lot, a lot more. But then there's also young guys that look a lot older and maybe should be protecting themselves and making themselves look younger. So again, it goes back to that respect. If we can look after ourselves, it’s a sign of more self respect.
 
What kind of advice? Maybe top three things would you give to people or to men who struggle with their self esteem issues in relation to their skin?
 
Hmm, I can give you one good one. We live in a world now where pain and suffering is not needed. I mean, it's great for young men to suffer and endure and go through tough times. But when you're concerned about things like your appearance, I feel like there is so many great professionals out there that can clear that stuff up. And generally, it's something simple or a simple routine or a new practice that you can implement in your life, and you can look 100 times better and feel 100 times more confident! Feeling confident within yourself just has such a big impact on the rest of your life.

Simplicity is key, so seek help.
 
And not only that, when we're seeking help, don't always get turned off by the first person you see. I feel like there's a lot of people and especially guys, who’ll go and work up all this courage to go and deal with something that they have some kind of shame or, embarrassment associated with and when they finally work up the courage to go and seek help, they go and see someone that might be the wrong person to see. They give them the wrong advice, or they don't do anything that's helpful and they just get discouraged so quickly and they go, well, I tried. I'm tapping out. You know, and that's not essentially what masculinity is. We want men to endure and get solutions and find the kind of the solution. So seek the professionals, get the good advice and don't give up.
 

Yeah, definitely. And I've just got one more question. What are some other examples of self-care that men can investigate if they're wanting to start taking better care of themselves and maybe focus a little bit more on self-improvement?
 
Exploring all avenues, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. If we can train our bodies and what we put into our systems, I feel like that has a huge impact on our skin as well. I feel like the healthier foods we eat, I noticed within myself as soon as I start binge eating or eating crappy, greasy, oily foods, my face will flare up. So physically looking after yourself. Emotionally, making sure you're getting enough sleep. Which all these things link to the health of our internal systems, you know. Internal health makes makes our external systems a lot brighter and healthier. And also, seeking that help and support when needed are all pivotal.
 
​
Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much. We really appreciated you coming to speak to us about yourself and your experiences and the Blokehood Project. So I want to give you a couple of seconds just to shout out to the camera.
 
Yeah, easy. So I'm under the blokehood project, a program that Transformative Growth Institute runs. If you get the spelling right, you'll be able to find it pretty easy. It's transformative growth Institute.org. That's our website. You can contact us through that. Or alternatively, Instagram, Facebook, all through Transformative Growth Institute. That's the best way to contact us!