Article: REAL TALK - WITH TOMMY BRADY

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Jun 13, 2025

REAL TALK - WITH TOMMY BRADY

Since the age of eight Tommy Brady has been involved in competitive sport, shaped by routine and a regime designed for success. As a slalom canoeist he represented England, winning silver in European Championships. At the age of 25 Tommy segued out of racing and left behind a life so singularly focused on winning. This move away from purely physical endeavours and into a less routineised existence was a challenge to his identity, drive and purpose. Although now living a life fulfilled with more creative and cerebral pursuits, exercise and movement remain pillars to his way of life. Tommy shows a mature indifference to the vagaries of life and a great sense of self-awareness having struggled for identity after racing.

MF: Tell me about your day-to-day

TB: Day to day changes a lot...being a photographer and a content creator alike. Having created content for my own channel, I've always enjoyed the photography and curating the visual story from behind the camera.

These days I am doing much more work with brands and spend a lot of time hence, planning and preparing for shoots.

I train a lot too and my physical routine is like a roadmap for keeping me positive and driven.

If I get my physical work done in the morning, it sets me up brilliantly for a productive day.

MF: What would you love to do more of?

TB: I'd love to expand my production capabilities and photography skills, working with a range of people and brands. But I'm specifically motivated to help tell stories in a way that is unique to the individual or a set of brand values. I really enjoy showcasing narratives via my images, but paying particular attention to what makes the story distinct.

Before any shoot, I always want to identify what makes that person or brand tick. This informs how I capture the brief.

...Anddd continuing to train as much as I sensibly can! I just love feeling ready, ready to be challenged at any time. Feeling supremely fit and at my best, gives me great confidence.

MF: How does movement and exercise help you mentally and physically?

TB: I take a far more mindful approach to my life and training these days. I have a lot of gratitude for being able to do what I do and having been in sport all my life, I just love being able to train for the love of it, as opposed to being 'in training' for an outcome. I've been 'in training' since I was 8yrs old and having come out of olympic sport aged 25, now I just love training for me.

When I first left competitive racing I struggled to adapt to a new way of being. I'd left an identity and a routine behind. But the one thing that I could come back to, again and again is my fitness and training.

REAL thought: We cannot always control our circumstances, but training and movement reminds us that we are in control of bodies and what we can achieve. It restores our sense of agency in a hectic and competitive world.

MF: How do you cope with hard things?

TB: Gratitude.

MF: Niiice...

TB: When hard things arise, I find it's all too easy to look back on the past and imagine that things will be the same as they were, or I might find myself thinking forward, hypothesising about circumstances that may never actually materialise. It's then that I take a few breaths and bring myself back to the present. By feeling my feet on the floor, becoming aware of what I can see, smell, hear etc, I am reminded of what's available to me, however small and then hardship is far easier to contextualise or deal with. If you can be in the present, it's much easier to cultivate gratitude for what simply is. Gratitude is the antidote to hard things.

MF: What one thing couldn't you live without?

TB: I don't think there's any singular item I couldn't live without...errm, but I couldn't live without my mind. If I lost that, I'd be a bit f***ed. I want to protect that at all costs. So looking after myself in the right way, focusing on what grounds me, keeping myself moving forwards, feeling fit and with the confidence to tackle anything - that's my mentality and that's what I want to preserve.

MF: What's your favourite day of the year?

TB: hmm, probably Christmas or a family holiday, when everyone's together and switched off from distractions, present with each other. I love reflecting on the year ahead at Christmas, setting goals and intentions etc. It's also the one time of the year when no one is likely to contact me, as we've all switched off completely.

MF: What would you like to get off your chest?

TB: haha, nothing...right now I am at peace and feel very grateful for a time in my life when I don't have any sense that I need to do more, or be better. It's all ok.