Meet Brad Hook

• Expert in human performance and resilience — global speaker and trainer with 20+ years’ experience.
• Expert in culture, values, and purpose — founder of the Values Institute and author of Start With Values (Penguin, 2025).
• Digital innovator — creator of pioneering platforms that enable human growth.
• Writer and storyteller — author of multiple books, magazine cover stories, and contributor to Entrepreneur.
• Filmmaker — director of Waves of Freedom, a documentary on surf therapy.
• Podcaster — hosts The Brad Hook Podcast, featuring global thinkers, scientists, and changemakers.
• Entrepreneur — founder of ventures including Surfd.com, Tick Green, meCentral, and Values Institute.
• AI pioneer — built one of the first resilience chatbots (Flowbot, 2018) and today develops AI-powered platforms for precision insights into values and performance.

A Career Across Mediums

Brad Hook is a writer, speaker, technologist, and storyteller working at the intersection of human performance, values, and digital innovation.

His career spans continents and industries, but the through-line is clear: creating systems, tools, and stories that help people and organizations grow.

From Early Web to Global Ventures

Brad began his career in South Africa, before moving to the UK in 1997 where he shifted from photojournalism into the emerging internet economy. There, he worked with organizations such as Unilever, Cable & Wireless, and Lloyds of London during the foundational years of the digital era.

A self-taught coder and designer, Brad went on to found a digital agency in Sydney, building platforms for National Australia Bank, Australia Post, and the University of Sydney. At the same time, he pursued creative passions: his photography and articles were published internationally, and in 2003 he launched Surfd.com, a global resource for surf culture, products, and storytelling that remains influential today.

In 2007, Brad created Tick Green, one of the world’s first carbon-offset platforms, planting trees to balance emissions from web server technology.

In 2008, he co-created meCentral.com with Ian Hutchinson (Life by Design), a groundbreaking life-guidance platform adopted by half of Australia’s top 10 companies.

Exploring Human Potential

This period sparked a deeper exploration into the essence of sustainable performance. Alongside his travels, Brad immersed himself in positive psychology, mindfulness, and neuroscience, cultivating a lifelong interest in how people grow and thrive. He spent several years journeying through remote regions, interviewing people from diverse cultures to uncover how they sustain energy, purpose, and resilience.

It was during this time, while recovering from illness in the Himalayas, that Brad wrote his first book, Surfing Life Waves. His writing from this era was widely published, including several magazine cover features.

Values, Technology, and the Future of Performance

Later, Brad settled in New Zealand, where he became a partner at the Resilience Institute and helped expand its technology, products, and reach. Today, he leads the Resilience Lab, pioneering new methods and AI platforms to strengthen resilience at both individual and group levels. His work has been delivered to PwC, Electronic Arts, Bridgestone, Schindler, and many more.

Brad is the author of Resilience Mastery (2020) and Start With Values (Penguin, 2025), and founder of the Values Institute. In 2025, he launched the world’s first AI-driven Values Assessment, designed to provide precision insights into personal and organizational values.

Storytelling Across Platforms

Brad’s creativity has always crossed mediums. He directed the documentary Waves of Freedom, exploring how surf therapy transforms lives, particularly for at-risk youth. He also hosts The Brad Hook Podcast, where he interviews thought leaders such as Miss Earth Lindsey Coffey, biohacking pioneer Dave Asprey, and human behaviour specialist Dr. John Demartini.

The Road Ahead

Brad is currently writing The Flame Method (2026), an exploration of performance, creativity, and meaning in the age of artificial intelligence.

Whether through a keynote, a digital platform, or a documentary, Brad’s work lives at the frontier—where values shape innovation, and where human potential can flourish in harmony with technology.Brad Hook is a writer, speaker, technologist, and storyteller working at the intersection of human performance, values, and digital innovation.

With a career spanning continents, industries, and mediums, Brad designs tools, delivers transformative experiences, and builds ventures that help people grow—personally, professionally, and collectively.