Martin Fretwell talks concepts of heroism and the launch of his new book

Martin Fretwell is an entrepreneur, blogger, CEO, and soon to be published author. In other words, he does it all — and he does it well.

Two and a half years ago he founded his legendary company, Like a Leader, where he’s worked diligently to interview senior executives in order to determine trends and come up with strategies to combat war on workplace stress. Currently, he’s getting ready to launch a podcast called Ask a Leader, where Fretwell will continue this course of success in a live setting. Additionally, he’s also been busy constructing a third piece of the project: an accumulation of his work that will be published on Kindle and titled Heroism: How to use heroic values to inspire a better life.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Fretwell and discuss the launch of his new novel. The exclusive interview below outlines everything future readers could want to know, including some of the esteemed author’s concepts on heroism and what inspired him to write the book in the first place.

Where are you located currently, and where are you originally from?

MF: I currently live in Denver, which is where I have wanted to live since I was about 16 years old. I was born in Leeds in Norther England but grew up on the Isle of Man, a small island in between England and Ireland with a population of about 90,000 people. I moved to mainland UK in order to develop my career and then, eventually, had the opportunity to move to Los Angeles as a Sales director for an events company. I moved to Denver in June of 2016, six months after founding Like a Leader.

What was your childhood, or earliest, ambition in life?

MF: It’s very interested being a child because, as a child is when we have our greatest ambition. It’s funny how you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up and they will say Astronaut, Fireman, or Superman. Later down the line that ambition becomes being able to pay for the mortgage and put food on the table every month. Outside of early childhood, the first major career idea that I had was actually a lawyer, but I think that was what my mum wanted to hear. The first time I ever felt it was when I wanted to be a writer. I’d finished reading a fantasy series called the Icewind Dale Trilogy by R.A. Salvatore, which changed my life. From then on, I always said if I could influence two people the way that I’ve been influenced, then I would consider myself a success.

And a success Fretwell already is. He’s been inspiring people for years through his Like a Leader blog which, in Fretwell’s words, “was really just a product of a cumulative factor and collection of events that all seemed to happen at the same time.” Like most professional writers, Fretwell is an avid reader as well, and it’s the works of a combination of literary geniuses that have played a key part in motivating his own writing.

What authors do you like to read? What books have had a strong influence on your writing and beliefs on heroism?

MF: Even though R.A. Salvatore was probably the first author who influenced me (I think I’ve read everything he has done), I’d have to say that my greatest influence has been David Gemmell. He was one of the most respected heroic fantasy writers and he has an amazing story of how he and his characters were influenced by his step father, who was one of his heroes.

Who was your first real hero?

MF: My uncle, Derek. He was larger than character; 6’2”, bald head, and carried himself incredibly proudly — shoulders back and head up. One of my most exciting childhood memories is of going to see him and the rest of my extended family in Leeds, England. He would take us on adventures in the nearby woods and we would feel like heroes of legend on an adventure. Then in the evening, he would adlib a bedtime story about a Ninja Frog and his son Ninja Jeremy. Both my brother and I would be on the edge of our beds listening to these stories. Later in life, I attended the University of Wales, Bangor where I studied English and Creative Writing. I honestly believe that it was inspired by my childhood memories with my uncle.

Fretwell believes that it’s important to understand the difference between a hero and a mentor, a difference we delved into during our conversation. As he sees it, a mentor relationship typically involves personal communication and instruction, whereas a hero can be anyone throughout history.

“I would say there are three main things that make up a great hero,” Fretwell explained. “A code of conduct, a person of action, and a person who is flawed. Then, from there, it’s about how their values and beliefs resonate with yours. It’s also important to understand that an individual can only become a hero when someone else decides that they are one. It’s other people that make that decision.”

Tell me about some of your concepts on heroism. Why is the topic so important to you?

MF: Well, I didn’t have the benefit of great mentors, coaches, or teachers. I actually only had one teacher at school whom I particularly liked. When I started to enter adulthood, that didn’t change. Nobody took me “under their wing” so I felt like I was left to my own devices. Thankfully, I found heroes in life that would inspire me to perform certain actions, and the more I’ve reflected on this over the year or so of planning my book I’ve realized that actively choosing our heroes has a profound impact. Ultimately, it’s about choosing to be active of your influencers instead of passive.

What kind of further research have you done for the book?

MF: It was actually a difficult thing to research in its broad form, so I had to do research for different parts of it. I studied the narrative concept of the hero’s journey. I read about the heroism in psychology and I pulled together loads of statistics about who are our favorite heroes in the English-speaking world. It provided me with a lot of information, some of which I didn’t like at all. For example, how we connect heroism and violence. I remember once going to social media to find out some popular heroes and I was constantly directed to war heroes, but such information did allow me to explore why we make the connection between heroism and war.

Future readers can expect Heroism: How to use heroic values to inspire a better life to examine different theories on heroism as well as the psychology and philosophy of it. In a nutshell, Fretwell’s novel aims to answer three major questions: how to choose the right heroes, how to create a daily practice that allows you to embrace their qualities, and how to avoid dangerous heroes.

Fretwell plans to self-publish Heroism: How to use heroic values to inspire a better life, which will go down in history as his first official novel. A team of trusted individuals from Like a Leader will be contributing to the editing process of the initial launch.

Where are you in the book writing process?

MF: Well, it’s almost complete and actually has a release date of June 1, 2018 on the Kindle store, so I’m very excited!

Any last thoughts for our readers?

MF: I know this book isn’t going to be for everyone and it’s difficult to imagine that someone long dead or even a fictional character can have such influence. My only plea, whether you read the book or not, would be to take an active role in what influences you. Your behavior will in turn influence other people around you, your friends, family, and children. Think about what you want for them in life and be that for them. Be the inspiration that they need.

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