The Death of a Mentor

I have been very lucky to have had several amazing mentors throughout my life, both in the business world and in the spiritual.

Back in 2005, whilst I was deeply involved in my music career, our band had just been dropped from a major record label. I was only 21 years old at the time. We were very active on the London circuit, playing at least three times a week to packed venues. It was a lot of fun.

A friend of ours had started working for an independent record label in a town just outside London and suggested he arrange a meeting with his boss. We obviously jumped at the opportunity.

A few weeks later we climbed onto our tour bus and our driver took us to the address we had been given. We pulled up outside a set of huge gates leading to what looked like a traditional English mansion. We all looked at each other and said, “Wow, this is going to be good.”

The gates opened and we slowly drove up the long driveway towards the house. Luxury cars lined both sides. BMWs, Mercedes, Aston Martins. Our excitement grew with every metre.

When we reached the entrance we were greeted by the owner of the label, a man who would go on to ignite a spark in me that I will always be grateful for. For the sake of this article I will call him John, as I want to keep his name private. He remained a good friend until his recent passing.

We stepped inside and sat down in his large living room. The room was filled with instruments. Guitars on the walls, drums set up in the corner, and a grand piano taking centre stage. We started talking.

But strangely, we spoke about everything except music.

We talked about the state of the world. We talked about religion. We talked about spirituality. The other guys in the band were far less impressed with the direction of the conversation, but I found it fascinating. By the time we finally left it was the early hours of the morning, and we were all a little confused about what had just happened.

A few weeks later he invited us back again. This time we agreed we would try to keep the conversation focused on the band as much as possible.

When we returned, we offered to play him a private show in his living room. Less talking, we thought. We played a short set and he thoroughly enjoyed it. But as soon as we finished, the conversation drifted back to spirituality.

During that conversation something strange happened. Whilst we were speaking, I suddenly heard a woman’s voice whisper in my ear. We were all men in the room. It startled me.

I stopped and asked, “Did anyone else hear that lady’s voice?” They all said no.

John calmly replied, “Ah yes, that will be my wife. She died just up the road in a car accident a few years ago. She hangs about a bit”. In that moment I realised we had just stepped onto the threshold of the rabbit hole.

We left again in the early hours of the morning, half joking that we would never return. Except I did.

I kept in contact with John for the next twenty years. I visited him several more times and spoke with him regularly right up until he passed over.

I won’t share his real name here. He was a hugely successful businessman who later went on to coach people and eventually risked his entire fortune trying to help others tap into their true potential. I won’t go into the details, but this was a man who truly walked the talk.

It is rare to meet someone who will stand by their convictions even when their entire life begins to unravel.

Many people eventually labelled him crazy. From the outside it probably did look that way. He went from the corporate world, making vast amounts of money, to wanting nothing to do with it at all. All he wanted was for people to "wake up". He spent the rest of his life living right on the edge and trying to help others see what he saw.

What he taught me most was the power of conviction.

I didn’t agree with everything he said, but he understood something very important. He understood the power of God. He understood that most of humanity is asleep, and that if the ego is left unchecked many will simply sleepwalk through life. He had an incredible knack for making you question your own beliefs, inspiring self-reflection that helped me personally dig a little deeper.

I will always be grateful to him.

He was the initial kick I needed to begin moving down this path.