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TJ Hendy on Mental Health, Career Setbacks and Finding Hope Beyond the Finish Line
Episode 47 • 15th June 2026 • Stories of HOPE: Inspiring Humans with Kerrie Atherton • Kerrie Atherton (StoriesOfHope.com.au)
00:00:00 00:44:05

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TJ is the son of legendary Australian Ironman Trevor Hendy, and from a young age he knew what it was like to live close to the spotlight. But behind the achievements, the races and the expectations, TJ has walked through some incredibly hard seasons. Career setbacks, long COVID, physical health challenges and deep emotional pain all brought him to a place where he had to look beyond performance and ask, “Who am I without all of this?”

In this episode of Stories of Hope Worldwide, I sit down with Ironman TJ Hendy for a beautiful and honest conversation about identity, pressure, heartbreak, healing and what it really means to keep going.

What touched my heart so much in this conversation was TJ’s wisdom around feelings, fear and learning to stop tying our worth to what we do. He speaks so honestly about the moments that broke his heart, the pressure of being so close to a dream, and the way he has slowly found his way back — not just to Ironman racing, but to himself.

This is such a powerful reminder that we are not defined by our titles, our careers, our achievements or even our hardest moments. TJ’s story is one of courage, surrender, resilience and hope. And as he says so beautifully, sometimes giving up is harder than keeping going.

Get in touch with TJ Hendy:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tj-hendy-34a3b6191/

Website: https://ironseries.com.au/meet-the-athletes/tj-hendy/

***

Thank you for listening to Stories of HOPE: Inspiring Humans with Kerrie Atherton.

Kerrie Atherton is an Inspiring Speaker, Professional Counsellor and Mental Health Coach. To find out more about "Stories of Hope: Worldwide", head to https://storiesofhope.com.au/.

Purchase books in the "Stories of Hope" series, written by Kerrie: https://storiesofhope.com.au/product/stories-of-hope-australia-books/.

With thanks to:

Music: "Pilgrims" by Daniel Pratt (artlist.io)

Editing & Production: Matthew Bliss (https://www.mbpod.com)

Mentioned in this episode:

Kerrie Atherton Offers Counselling Sessions to Support You

If the topics discussed in this episode resonate with you and you'd like to talk to someone, Kerrie Atherton is available for counselling sessions. Click the link to book a session with Kerrie today.

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Here at Stories of Hope, Kerrie Atherton's mission is to give people a platform to share their stories of hope with the world and we also want to provide the same chance to businesses that are passionate about mental health and want to support the podcast. If you'd like to partner with Stories of Hope and advertise your services on this podcast, send a message to [email protected] with your details.

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