A tough upbringing and bad decisions led Kina Usaia to prison in his teens and early 20s, but he embraced a new life of goodness and helping others.
Mr Usaia, 34, will begin running 700 kilometres from Newcastle to the Gold Coast on Saturday to raise awareness of suicide and mental health issues.
Mr Usaia's sister, Moala, died by suicide in 2015 at age 25. After her death, he experienced "some evil stuff".
He vowed to be done with violence, illicit drugs and crime.
"I made up my mind which side I was on. I was on the good side," he said.
"I was sick and tired of the cops and going to court."
He spent seven years behind bars since age 15 for various assault-related charges.
In 2017, his cousin was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder.
Mr Usaia then had a profound experience when he couldn't attend a bodyguard job, in which his colleague was shot dead.
"I saw that as a sign to get on the right path," he said.
Mr Usaia, who has Tongan heritage, was raised in a family of 11 kids. They lived in Airds, a disadvantaged suburb in the City of Campbelltown.
In 2019, his siblings got involved in a brawl outside the Flamingo Lounge in Kings Cross. Five police were hospitalised in the incident and his brother was jailed for eight years.
"I was pepper-sprayed trying to break up the fight," Mr Usaia said.
During the incident, he heard his sister's voice in his head warning him to stay on the right path. It was a religious experience of sorts and another reminder to steer clear of trouble.
He was charged over the Kings Cross incident, for which he was sentenced to 500 hours of community service.
He said this led him to become "a community man".
"The sentence meant I couldn't drink, touch drugs or go clubbing," he said.
He moved to Newcastle in 2017 to get custody of his son. He sought to fulfil his sister's vision of him being a better dad. He was in jail when his son, now 14, was born.
Mr Usaia later co-founded the Never Fold Collective charity in Newcastle with Nathan Griffin, following a few years of community work.
The grassroots organisation works with young people on issues such as self-worth, resilience and emotional awareness.
The collective's motto is "refusing to quit when things get tough and continuing to push forward when the road ahead seems impossible".
It works in schools and the community on mentoring, early intervention and education.
Mr Usaia and Mr Griffin co-founded the 88 Custom barber shop in Lambton through the collective. The name represents 1988, the year Mr Usaia's sister was born.
"As well as operating as a business, we run barbering programs with schools to engage students and guide them on employment pathways," Mr Griffin said.
Mr Usaia said the charity was setting up a retreat at a lodge at Wootton, near Bulahdelah, for people of varying ages with mental health challenges.
He has teamed up with Andrew Drain, who bought the land after the "healing powers of the bush" helped him overcome a motor vehicle accident that left him as a paraplegic.
"He said 'Kina, you're the person I've been waiting for'. I was seeking him and he was seeking me," Mr Usaia said.
Mr Drain said the first group of disadvantaged kids came to do work experience on the land on Thursday.
"They loved it and so did I," Mr Drain said, adding it fulfilled a long-held dream for him.
The plan is for troubled young people to attend three-day camps at the retreat, before helping them find work experience such as carpentry, landscaping, barbering or tattooing.
Mr Usaia said kids in these circumstances were more likely to listen to him than government officials, for example, as he had "lived experience of trauma".
"I'm trying to teach them it's about working hard, having passion and treating people how you want to be treated," he said.
He steers them away from a victim mentality and towards building inner strength and resilience.
"Don't say 'why me'. Use your struggle as fuel for your fire," he said.
"I went through all the struggles to give the guidebook to the next generation, so they don't go through what I did."
Mr Usaia is also a personal trainer, who teaches boxing to young people.
He competes as a fighter in World Bare Knuckle Fighting in Queensland.
"That's what I do to let my trauma out," he said.
He's been training hard for his run to the Gold Coast, including workouts starting at 3am on weekends.
"That's the time the demons are out, when people are on the streets affected by drugs and alcohol," he said.
