My past has passed don’t let your past define you.
My childhood was hard being bullied about my sexuality before I knew it myself. Gay puff queer big chin big ears every day for all my school years.Having such low self-esteem no confidence I became cheeky to mask the fact of how I felt inside people would think I was confident but that was far from the truth. I hated the way I looked at all the years of bullying. I went on to have my ears pinned back fixed braces a chin reduction a hair transplant. If only I was happier inside!

I started drug taking when I left school before my sixteen birthday soft drugs at first cannabis speed ecstasy. By the age of twenty at rock bottom addicted to crack cocaine and a heroin and many other drugs.Then the icing on the cake flatlining heart stopping at the age of twenty-one. I had no self-control no confidence no goals no dreams no purpose. I died my heart stopped this was a turning point in my life. I turned my life around no medical help no substitute drugs I did it from my own strength the power of my own mind. Through my life, I have suffered from stress anxiety and depression but I was not going to let that stop me. Even in the present day I sometimes have down days but I have learned how to control it better and will not let it rule me. I have been on a journey of self-development and made a bad situation into something good. I am independent self-employed and living a purposeful life. I have lots of self-confidence and have turned out to be a good person.

All through my addiction I worked as a hairstylist and have always worked for leading names in the hairdressing industry. By the age of thirty, I decided to leave a paid job and set up my own freelance hairstylist business. This was scary leaving a paid job with a mortgage I knew to succeed in life you have to take a certain amount of risk. I have never looked back. I love hairdressing and still have my hair business today but last year I embarked on a whole new journey of motivational speaking coaching to help others. I wanted to take all the bad I have been through and turn it into something good. I have written my first book and now I am a published author too. It just goes to show no matter of your past everyone has the potential to shine. I truly know everyone has brilliance from within. Sometimes life can be a challenge but it’s so important to always have hope and keep moving forward. If I can turn my life around anyone can.

Now 36 years old I have lots of confidence but on occasions still have down days hey I am only human. I do still get stress and anxiety and it can last a few days and I am not ashamed to say I suffer from being down because I choose to bounce back and not let it take hold. A couple of years ago it would last for weeks now It lasts a couple of days because I recognise when it is taking hold. I work on my mindset daily take exercise well a long dog walk I drink plenty of water watch what I eat. I get enough sleep but don’t stay in bed for too long feeling sorry for myself that only makes it worse. I listen to upbeat music watch motivational documentaries. I have found this really helps me and now it’s very rare I get down but I know how to cope with the odd times I get down.
Life is for the living and that’s what I am going to do choose to be happy the past has passed.

Mark Stephen Pooler has a remarkable story. He has survived the type of hardship most of us only see in movies, from being bullied from a young age, combatting severe drug addiction and even cheating death. Now he works tirelessly to help others overcome adversity and bring out the brilliance that shines in each and every one of us.

By the age of 15 the bullying had taken it’s toll. Mark’s confidence had hit rock bottom. He had undergone several cosmetic procedures to try and improve his appearance and was struggling to come to terms with his sexuality. He left school with bad grades and the downward spiral into drug addiction began to take hold.

On leaving school, Mark trained as a hairdresser and started working for big name brands in leading hair salons. By the time he reached his late teens/early twenties he his addiction was spiraling out of control – using crack cocaine and heroin so he didn’t have to live in reality of his life.

At 21 Mark was at his lowest point. He was rushed into hospital as his heart had stopped. Against the odds he made it back and realised that things had to change. He vowed (and succeeded) to give up hard drugs, although he continued to use soft drugs for the next six years. At age 27 he was finally able to kick the soft drugs too.

Following Mark’s hospitalisation and rehabilitation from drug use, he continued with his hairdressing career. However he embarked on a huge journey of personal development. Thus started a freelance career in hairdressing in 2013.

Though he went on to build a successful hairdressing business and built a business in network marketing it seemed that misfortune continued to plague Mark. He faced relationship break downs, struggled with debt and found himself having to make more and more dramatic changes and ended up having to sell his home to start turning his business around.

Once Mark had got his business back on track and operating successfully he still felt something was missing. Suffering loss of jobs in his career, relationship breakdowns in business and personal life and having many dramatic life changes he knew a new direction was needed. He realised he was not following his true passion in 2017 made a big change in direction deciding to follow his true passion of helping and inspiring others.

With a vast amount of knowledge, business skills and life experience to draw on, Mark embarked on a mission: To help professionals to create brilliance out of adversity.
Mark can be found on his website, Twitter, and Facebook.