One of the traps I believe people fall into, is they achieve something significant, and then slowly, almost without noticing, they stop seeking. They stop asking. They start believing that where they are is enough and that the next level is something they can figure out alone.
It is one of the most expensive mistakes a person can make.
I’ve built my entire career on the back of people who gave me their time, their knowledge, and their belief before I had earned it. I’m still doing it today. No matter what I achieve, I’ll always believe I can get better, and there is always someone out there who can help me. Someone who genuinely wants to. And this applies to all of us.
I see it all the time. People can even pinpoint the exact mentor who could help them do something great, in work or in life, but they are scared to put themselves out there and ask. Here’s what they forget. To reach that level, those mentors had mentors of their own. Someone helped them get there. So more often than not, they love paying it forward. They want to share what they know with the next person.
That is what this edition of The Run Within is about. The mentors who shaped me as an endurance athlete, and the ones I am actively seeking now as I grow into more corporate speaking, because the principle is exactly the same regardless of the arena. If you want to grow, find the people who have already done what you want to do, and ask for their help.
MY MENTORS
The first mentor who changed my trajectory as an endurance runner was Samantha Gash. In 2016, she ran across India for World Vision. The impact she made through that journey inspired me deeply. Reaching out to her felt like a stretch at the time, but she generously gave me her time and her perspective. She showed me what was possible when you combine endurance sport with genuine purpose. And it was Samantha who connected me to the two people who would go on to shape my athletic career more than anyone – Coach Jase and DJ. More on them later.
My next mentor was Dave Alley. The previous record holder for the fastest run around Australia. I remember being a nervous but excited 20 year old when I called him. I had a dream to run around Australia, but I knew it was years away. I believed in myself but I still felt out of my depth reaching out to someone who had actually done it. Dave didn’t see me that way. He gave me every chance to succeed. He shared his logistics, his preparation and everything he could. He didn’t have to do any of that. But he did. And I have never forgotten it.
Last week I had a phone call with another young man who has the same dream. Run around Australia for charity. Break the record that I now hold. I’m not going to share his name or the details of his mission because I want to let him do that. But like Dave helped me, I made it clear I’m in his corner and I’ll support him as I pass the baton on.
Matt Daniels
To build my mental toughness and my body, the first charity challenge I set was back in 2019, to run 50 marathons in 50 days as a 21 year old. I had heard the story of Matt Daniels on The Hidden Athlete podcast. Matt is an inspiring dad from Geelong, Victoria, who ran 55 marathons in 55 days in 2016. So like I did with Samantha and Dave, I reached out to him. Matt was a crucial voice in my corner. He shared his training philosophy, his recovery strategies, the real logistics of what that kind of challenge demands of a human body. And most importantly, he believed in me. That belief, from someone who had done what I wanted to do, and five marathons more, meant everything at that stage of my journey.
All of these people have become more than mentors. They have become friends I deeply cherish.
My first photos with mentors Samantha (left) and Dave (middle) in 2018, and Matt (right) in early 2019.
Coach Jase Cronshaw
I don’t even know where to start with Jase. Because if I’m being completely honest, Jase changed my life in ways that I’ll never be able to put into words. He pushed me into the athlete I’d dreamt of being since I was a little boy. I came to him with a solid fitness base and a strong mindset, but he helped me grow in ways I didn’t know I needed. Within four months of working together, he helped me run 50 marathons in 50 days. Then 4000km in 60 days from Cairns to Melbourne in 2022. Both were critical stepping stones toward my run around Australia, alongside several other races and multi day simulation events. Jase devastatingly passed away in 2022. Not a day goes by where I don’t feel grateful for everything he gave me. He believed in me deeply and I carry him with me everywhere I go 🧡🕊️.
DJ and Jase were best friends and business partners long before I came along. So it was the two of them who took me on as an athlete to prepare for my run around Australia, with Jase in the active coaching role day to day. DJ is a father, husband, lawyer, endurance athlete, coach and philanthropist. After everything they gave me, with my running, but also my mental health and as a person in general, I wanted to work alongside them. Because like them, I also wanted to improve the quality of people’s lives through running. So when COVID hit in 2020, I asked them if they would consider also becoming business partners with me. The three of us went into business with First42K from 2021 to 2024.
When Jase passed away in 2022, carrying First42K forward without him was emotionally too hard for both DJ and I. In early 2025, we decided it would be best for me to take the reins of the coaching business. After my run around Australia, I rebranded the business to Sean Bell Run Coaching. To this day, DJ continues as a coach for some of our runners, and a supportive and inspiring member of our community.
But DJ’s role in my life has always been far bigger than business. He is my greatest life mentor, like another father figure for me. The person I turn to not just when I need coaching advice, but when I need perspective on life. On who I am becoming and on the kind of person I want to be. I am genuinely grateful to have him in my corner.
DJ is the perfect example of something I want every person reading this to understand. Your most important mentors don’t always need to come from inside your industry. Sometimes the person who shapes you most is someone whose life looks different from yours on the surface, but whose wisdom, values and belief in you quietly changes everything.
Jase running with me during my 50th marathon in 50 consecutive days in 2019 (left), and DJ and I proudly repping our First42K singlets after a run in 2022 (right)
Here’s the thing. I didn’t wait until I was ready before I put myself out there. With Samantha, with Dave, with Matt, I reached out because I wanted to grow and I knew they could help me. And putting myself out there with Samantha opened the door to Jase and DJ. One brave conversation led to the people who changed everything. That took humility. It took putting my hand up and saying I don’t have all the answers and I’m not too proud to ask for help. And every single time I did that, something good happened.
Today my running mentors are still part of my life, but I’m also actively seeking mentors in a different arena. As I grow into speaking and building a business in the corporate world, I’ve had to be honest with myself about what I don’t yet know. I have never worked a single day in a typical corporate role. I built my career as a personal trainer and online coach before becoming a corporate speaker. So I sought out people who could help me bridge that gap.
Warren Tate has been in my corner since 2020. He is a communication expert who has been integral in building my confidence and stagecraft as a speaker. The craft of communication is something I take seriously. Warren has helped me grow in ways that go far beyond what I say on stage. It’s how I say it. How I carry myself. How I make a room feel something that lasts long after I’ve left it.
Chris Fudge or as I call him, Fudgee
And this year, as I step further into the corporate keynote space, I’ve been working closely with Chris Fudge. He is helping me bridge the gap between my athletic world and the corporate one, because I never wanted to be a speaker who could only inspire people with a story. I want to get better every single day at drawing the real parallels between my world of endurance and the challenges that businesses and sporting teams face. Chris is helping me do exactly that. And I prepare for every keynote with the same obsessive application I brought to running around Australia.
And this Thursday (25th June), I’m closing the ASTMA/GMA The Australian Sports Turf Managers Association/Golf Management Australia national conference in Melbourne, and it will be my biggest keynote yet.
Warren and I in 2023 (left), and Fudgee and I, moments after I finished my run around Australia (2024)
I think about mentorship the same way I think about The Run Within.
The Run Within is the battle between our two voices. We all have them.
Voice one is the default. For thousands of years our bodies have been built to conserve energy and take the easy path. So voice one always speaks first, and it is loud. Not today. I’ll start tomorrow. It accepts ordinary.
Voice two is the one on your shoulder. Discipline. Courage. Growth. It says do not be soft. Get to work. You can be great. Voice two is quieter at the start. You have to call it up. It refuses ordinary.
Every breakthrough, every achievement, every transformation happens when voice two rises above voice one and leads the way. Greatness is not your natural state. It is the override.
The Run Within is the daily fight to let voice two lead, even though voice one got there first. The inner work. The growth that happens quietly, on the inside, long before anyone sees the result.
Mentorship is voice two from the outside. It takes humility to go looking for it, and commitment to keep listening. And the people who benefit the most from it are the ones who never stop seeking it, regardless of how much they have already achieved.
Whether you lead a business, a sporting team, or a classroom, I want to ask you something directly. Who are the mentors in your world right now? Who inside your organisation is further along the path than you, and willing to share what they know? And who in your personal life, like a DJ in your corner, is helping you become a better version of yourself beyond work?
Because the best leaders I have ever encountered are never the ones who have all the answers. They are the ones always out there looking for better ones.
Never stop seeking. The Run Within grows every time you do.
Who is one mentor that has shaped you and your career?
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Sean
