Pathfinder Announce Steve Heaney As Guest Speaker For Resettlement Expo

The Pathfinder International Armed Forces & Veterans Resettlement Expo is just over 2 weeks away, to be held at St James’ Park, Newcastle.

We are delighted to announce one of our main Guest Speakers (in addition to our break out sessions from various employers) in Steve Heaney MC. Sergeant Heaney MC left the British military in 2001, by which time he was the most experienced Military Parachutist in the British Army. He spent the last 13 years working as a senior military advisor to one of Britain’s key allies before returning to the UK. His two books “X Platoon” and “Operation Mayhem” are Sunday Times bestsellers.

Pathfinder Editor, Mal Robinson, caught up with Steve in advance of the expo for a short Q & A in order to get a flavour of things to come on the 1^st of November at St James’ Park.

Military personnel hold excellent skill sets, but they don’t tend to sell themselves, why do you think that is?

“Service personnel are by nature and by dint of their training fairly modest and humble people who are reluctant to take centre stage or speak openly about their skills and accomplishments, this is due in the main to the environment they have come from where any and all ‘boasting’ often leads to ‘micky’ taking or ridicule from their peers. Service personnel also have difficulty in articulating their particular skills and how they are relevant and transferable to the business environment such as – how they were resources managers, HR department heads, finance officers, budget managers, communications directors, strategists and information analysts, facilities managers, head chef’s, operations officers, photographers, data analysts, and the list goes on. We need to address that.”

What can we expect to see from you on the day?

“Since leaving the military every role I have undertaken has been fortified by the training and skill sets I received whilst serving. By applying the knowledge and experiences I gained I have managed to successfully make the transition into ‘civvy street’. Its been hard but again all of the soft skills such as resilience, determination, personal discipline, self reliance, motivation and communications skills that we take for granted within the military are priceless to any potential employer. I hope to talk about life for me after the military and the issues I faced, all things that no one really prepares you for. I will talk about how my books came about and how I have started my own business.”

Tell us a bit about your current projects and plans for the future?

“My new venture X Platoon which is a premier wilderness training, adventure and survival company. We work with a range of groups from the educational and corporate areas as well as private individuals and family units. Overseas, we conduct adventure experiences in the arctic, desert and jungle environments which are designed to provide an ‘adventure of a lifetime’ in some of the world’s most testing climates.”