The Untold Podcast
UNTOLD Podcast is where business, family, and life collide—raw, unfiltered, and brutally honest. No fluff, no fake success stories—just real conversations about the highs, the struggles, and everything in between.
The Untold Podcast
Bonus Episode | Crashed Plane, Broken Mindset, New Perspective — Nathan’s Story
What would go through your head if the pilot just announced you’re about to crash?
In this bonus episode, Nathan Hobden shares the life-changing story he’s never spoken about publicly, an emergency landing, screaming passengers, fire engines lining the runway, and the aftermath of a moment that could’ve ended everything.
This isn’t just a survival story. It’s about what that moment did to his mindset — in life, in business, and as a dad.
We talk about:
- What nearly dying taught him about living
- Why work stress means nothing when family is at risk
- The balance between ambition and presence as a parent
- Gaming, escapism, and why it’s stealing your life
- And how to separate business from home — for real
This one's deeper than most, and we’re proud to share it.
🎧 New episodes every Tuesday, with bonus drops on Thursdays
📲 Follow us: @untoldpodcast.official
🔗 Watch + Listen: https://linktr.ee/untoldpodcast.official
I want to talk about life, Nath. Have you got any experience in life that you feel have shaped you to the man you are today?
Speaker 2:I'd probably say one of the biggest things is having an emergency landing with a plane. I never forget the day we're flying back. A tannoy comes on the pilot's on the speaker saying I had to make a crash landing, Screaming, crying. It's petrifying. Things like that really do change your perspective in life. Everyone says life's too short, you've got to live it, and it is true. You never know what can happen around the corner. Do you enjoy whatever it may be? Otherwise, what's the point?
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Speaker 1:While Nathan was here, I want to do a bit of a Brucey bonus for you all, because we know how you love a short episode coming out on a Thursday. This is off the cuff. So I want to talk about life, nath. I want to talk about I've been going through some stuff for the last 18 months obviously shutting a business down, opening a business and things, and I feel that there is experiences that happen in our life that, at the time, feel like they're horrible, but as you look back on them, they are actually what made you who you are today. I've been going for the last two weeks.
Speaker 1:The last four weeks of my journey in business has been very, very difficult, extremely difficult, to the point where I've questioned why am I doing all this? And then something switched in me. Don't know what it was. And I had a call last night with a group I'm in and they asked me. They said, right, ash, we've not spoke to you for a month because you've missed all the calls. What's been going on? And I said it's been really tough. But something's switched in me and I feel incredible. I feel de-stressed, I feel like I'm ready to take on the world. It's good. And I said I don't know the answers yet, but I'm working on the answers to try and find out what the bloody hell has switched in me.
Speaker 1:So I think that the experiences in life there are experiences we've had in life and when you sit and you think that I've actually shaped who you are, that can change things. A lot of people say that, um, a lot of people would say, as morbid as it sounds like a death of a parent can make you really see life in a different way. A death of a child I mean that would. I honestly don't even want it scares the hell out of me, being a dad to think about that. What about you? You got any experiences, experience in life that you feel have shaped you to the man you are today.
Speaker 2:Well, there's a number that I've come straight to my mind, a few of them probably for a chat in a pub. So we'll park those ones and not say on the the untold podcast. But I'll probably say one of the biggest things is having an emergency landing with a plane. So you know, a number of years ago now, around seven years ago now, I went on holiday with my ex-partner and children children at a time where you know, six months and just over sort of two year mark, and we were coming back from Tenerife. I'll never forget the day.
Speaker 2:And we're flying back long trip. As you know, four, four and a half hours or so. We're near Gatwick Airport, we're flying above it. Half hour later, still flying above it, hour later, still flying above it. You know, it doesn't take Einstein to work out something's wrong. So I've gone to my partner my ex-partner at the time, or part of time. I said to her you know, something's not right. I've been flying far too long. We're literally above the airport. There's something seriously wrong here.
Speaker 2:Obviously you probably shouldn't have said that to your partner at the time because she she started having kittens herself and throwing the toys out of her pram, saying why would you say that, but our clock sign wasn't up and, um, you know, a tannoy comes on pilots, on the speaker, saying, as you know, we've been circling the airport for a number of hours now. Um, the reason being is we're trying to run out of the fuel because we're going to make a crash landing and, uh, emergency landing, essentially. And, uh, they said the, the flaps were broken, the landing gear was broken, the plane, the list a number of faults, uh, of which people started having panic attacks, screaming, crying, the, the. The plane was broken up by two seats, six seats and two seats. Uh, I was behind my partner with my son, she had my daughter and, um, the family to my left, she looked to a whole of her family alongside her saying you know, if I, if we die, just remember that I love you and always will do. Of which I'm thinking, of which I'm thinking.
Speaker 2:Bloody hell, like what is going to go on here, like you don't know what to do in that situation, everyone's sort of frozen. And then, um, you know there's there's so much screaming, crying, you know it's petrifying, and, um, I just recall everything. And the brace position is being shouted nonstop by all the staff. Staff are in tears as well at the front or the hostesses. And as we come in lower and lower to land on the runway, obviously the wheels aren't working or engaging, so you're going to skid along the runway as we got lower and lower, look out the window and there's ambulances, fire engines, engines, police cars. I mean it was like a Christmas show down there. There was lights all the way along the runway.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking was it night time, or was it day time?
Speaker 2:between the two yeah, it was around, like sort of dusk time it was around 8ish and just coming down to it, I'm thinking, oh my god, god, like you've got no idea what's going to happen. Are we going to set on fire? Are we going to have to go out the tubes? I forgot this. You know you're trying to get in the brace position with a, with a six-month-old in your lap, thinking what are you supposed to do? My partner's going to me. What do we do? I'm like I don't know. You know, just gotta hope for the best and and and see and see what happens. You know, I mean, I'm not sure what you're doing that situation out of your control out of your control.
Speaker 1:I would be petra. I'm a control freak, I hate. Before I had kids, yeah, I used to love flying. Yeah, I used to think it was fun. Now I've got kids, I'm flying. Later today I'm going to spain and I'm all right. Once we're in the air, the takeoff yeah, my palms will be sweaty. I'll be holding on to the kids like this. They're like daddy, what's wrong with you?
Speaker 2:I'm like nothing, I'm all right yeah, I mean, I don't know what it is, but obviously I've jumped in there, but so what?
Speaker 1:how did you feel?
Speaker 2:well, you just feel like it's the end, like it's mad and it's cynical genuinely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you feel, you feel like it's the end.
Speaker 2:You're thinking. You know I hate this saying. A lot of people use it, but it is what it is. You and your fingers saw your control.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's just see what happens. You know you're on your brace vision screen crying, panic attacks, people collapsing to the floor. You can't describe it. It's like something out of a movie scene. And the plane slammed against the runway, skidded the whole way along for for endless. Then the obviously we had landed and there was no injuries, thankfully, in casualties. We we injuries, thankfully, and casualties we get off the plane. No one looked back, everyone just ran away from the scene. And then I was scarred from flying.
Speaker 2:For a number of years probably three years couldn't get on an airplane. And then the worst part is, for three weeks minimum, at night time I could hear this woman in my sleep that said like, if we die, like, remember I love you. And it stayed in my head for weeks and weeks and weeks. I couldn shift it, I couldn't sleep and then eventually it just it just eventually went away. But the day will never leave my mind and experiences that shape you as an individual.
Speaker 2:I feel much more resilient. I feel like I've gone through that and I can pretty much take on anything now. Nothing really fears me, especially when it comes to a business sense, wherever I'm going to do a big pitch, whether I'm going to do a meeting, whether it's public speaking, I think to myself you know, if I've gone through that horrific ordeal, there's nothing really that can top that. I'm just going to keep going as I am.
Speaker 2:And then when it comes to flying now obviously I've overcome the fear and it's a breeze I get on and I just sit there thinking it. And I just sit there thinking can't be worse than it was last time, and then everything's fine again. But things like that really do change your perspective in life and everyone says life's too short, you've got to live it. And it is true. You never know what can happen around the corner. So as long as you're living every day to your best and you're trying to do things that you enjoy and you're happy doing which is why I said do what you enjoy I think that's a vital piece of information, because you never know what's around the corner.
Speaker 1:No, you don't, you don't and it's uh, it. Sometimes things like that bring bring things to the forefront of your mind and it brings things into perspective that we, our time, could be any time, a hundred percent.
Speaker 2:And literally two nights ago we watched a diehard too. It happens to be an airport and the planes had to skin their stomachs and it just brought back everything instantly. That's why I'm talking about today, saying I don't really really talk about because it's such a traumatic experience, but having seen it in a film literally two days ago, I'm thinking that was me. I was in that position, um, and it really does strike you. You know, I'm sitting there watching that with all these flashbacks, thinking, oh my goodness, yeah, yeah, that's um mate, I didn't even know.
Speaker 1:I've known you for a couple of years.
Speaker 2:I didn't even know that was a thing I try and keep that one inside, but when it comes to things like what shapes you and experiences, that's definitely one that would come to the forefront of my mind of yeah, I can, imagine.
Speaker 2:I can now take on the world. That's how I think about. It's not about being cocky or or thinking you're better than people. It's about going. I've, I've gone through that. I can now take on anything. I believe in myself and I will go and conquer the next challenge or the next meeting or the next deal. And if things don't go well, it doesn't matter, because I've had things much worse in my life. That happened. Wherever you're losing a deal and it's worth X amount of thousands, it doesn't matter. You've gone through that. You're lucky to be here. Keep pushing through.
Speaker 1:Better things will be on the horizon, and that obviously happened for a reason why you didn't get that particular deal, but it's always the next one. You've got to keep your head up, and that's something I've been. Your brain will always give you worst case scenario. So in that scenario, everyone on that plane thought that was it. Their time was up 100. Yeah, and it didn't. And now they all live to tell the story exactly yeah, and you can take a lot of like business, business deals. Oh my god, if I don't land this today, then everything's gonna go to shit. It never does, though. Does it never does never does.
Speaker 2:And business is one thing. Health, family and life is another thing and you gotta decommensurate the two of them. You gotta separate the two of them. You know, don't bring your business home into your personal life. They don't want to hear it Live your personal life and so on. That's why things like that TV show Severance some people think I love to be severed, where you don't know your home life until you're to a work life, and I think if that was a genuine thing, a lot of people would do it. They don't want to take that home and stress his home. If that was a genuine thing, a lot of people would do it. They don't want to take that home and stress his home. If they've had a bad day at work, they shouldn't go home and take out on their partner, on their children, and be miserable and think about it. I know only recently you said that that started affecting your holiday. At the start of the trip where you had a bad day at work, your family were like separated the two. You would do yeah oh 100.
Speaker 1:And as a business owner, no matter what they say, you are never not working. Yes, you are never, ever not working. As a business owner, now, I would class you for the couple of years I've known you as a bit of a workaholic. Um, but that's why your way your brain's wired and I would do the same, and sometimes my wife would be like right, switch off, switch off, switch off. I can't switch off. As much as I'd love to switch off, I can't switch off because I've got so much going on. Yes, which leads me into the next part of this big Brucey bonus. What do you do to switch off?
Speaker 2:What do I do to switch off? I'd say that one of the biggest parts of my life is is is is my tennis club. You know Wicklands, you know wherever it is now called a country club or whatever. It's been redone by David. Then there's a little plunge pool, then there's the little jacuzzi and the sauna. But every time I walk into my space of rest I feel like I'm on a holiday and it's a relaxation. So no matter what day I've had, I can go in there. Factory reset.
Speaker 2:The next day begins and without that place, in particular, my sort of my, my escapism, I don't think I'd be the same person. I really need that place, essentially. So, as long as it could be anything, it could be going home to your family, could be going home to a place where you find rest and stress free. There's so many factors, but for me it's having that ability to escape the world essentially and go into my place of of resting, yeah, um, and then obviously going home to the family and the antics of carnage and and you know what it's like with children yeah, it brings on you, but sometimes you have to escape life and go and sort yourself out, because if you go home with that stress. Then it pushes onto your family. They can read it and your children. But first thing is to clear it, escape it and go back with a fresh mind yeah, and your kids and your, your kids.
Speaker 2:Don't care about whether you landed that deal, no well, mine do, because they won't know if they got the next toys or christmas presents or socks.
Speaker 1:That's it but your kids don't. They don't, and that's something that I've learned the kids they don't care if you've landed that deal. What they care is that their parents are present. They care that they're in a loving, supportive home. If they can't have that next toy, they're not gonna. In the moment they might be, but what they'll remember, they'll remember when you went on that family holiday when daddy was fun and he won the belly flop competition in the pool because that was me, what god, eight years ago. Yeah, like I can't imagine me doing that now. They did a thing we're going to do a belly flop competition. There's me won the bloody thing, getting up in front of the kids, and that's what they'll remember.
Speaker 2:It's good on you. I mean, I've been so guilty of it where you're spending time with kids, you're on your phone, you're checking emails, you're checking a deal. I'm one of the worst people for that and it's saying that I've self-reflected and recognized. So when the children around, there's no screen time, we don't do TVs, we don't have a games concert in my house anymore. We got rid of it all and it's now about park time, play time, one-to-one time, and that's something that they appreciate more than anything, more than any toy is getting you about. You can go take a football down the park for an hour. The smiles and the jaw on their face is much bigger than you having a game on call of duty or fortnight, wherever it may be. And and that's saying that I'm only realizing really, the past sort of two years is get out, go do stuff, leave the phone behind and be humans really that's something that my wife said to me last night.
Speaker 1:I said when we go to, when we go to Spain, I'm going to try. She's like no, no, no. I heard from a therapist you never say I'm going to try. You say I'm going to do so. I've set myself strict. I work for one. I'll set a one hour a day. Um, I might even delete the email apps from my phone. I'm constantly checking.
Speaker 2:They can wait. Emails they can wait.
Speaker 1:Nothing's as urgent as their family time Out of the office is going on and I'm going to do everything I can. I'm going to try. I'm going to try to really I will enjoy this time See my parents for the first time since January when they moved out to Spain, and yeah, but my way of switching off is is consoles.
Speaker 2:Is it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, my way of switching off is consoles. Yeah, in the summer I don't touch it. The console does not go on in the summer. Yeah, because I'm out doing things. Yeah, of course, in the winter or on a Sunday and stuff Cold evening or whatever it may be in a winter's evening.
Speaker 1:I will. I'll play a bit of golf on a console. I'll play a bit of golf on a console, I'll play a bit of call of duty, and it is literally I switch off doing it, I lit. It's like the only time my brain will switch off and focus on that one thing. Otherwise my brain's like a washing machine on a spin cycle, yeah, and it's thinking of this and this and that, and this and this and that. And I really like what you said in the in the other episode about having ideas and putting them in three columns what needs to be done now, what can wait, what prioritizing things. I think that's fucking brilliant and I think that's a real golden nugget that anybody listening to that episode could take from it of course, 100 always prioritize what needs to happen now, the short term and the long term.
Speaker 2:But when it comes to gaming, I completely understand it's that escapism. But my dad struck me hard a number of years back, around 15 years ago, I was really proud to get to a certain level in whether it's a call of duty or a fifa game, and I used to play all the time. You know, when you're going from school, you're on it straight away. You get to a certain level and you become a bit of a geek. And I was an absolute geek, like I was nailing everything top of whatever. I said dad, dad, I'm number one in the country for this month in terms of goals scored or whatever. And he turned around and go what does that actually mean? What does that mean? What are you actually gaining in any way in life from that? And I'll never forget when he said to that and it just struck me so hard I'm like I look at the amount of time I've played a game 32 days on Call of Duty. I'm not kidding you, 32 days, and that's on one particular game. Then you go to the next one, 50 days, whatever. I've worked out I've probably lost a whole year of my life just gaming, sat there and that's time you're never going to get back. And that's one of the biggest things for me that I think parents in the modern day need to understand is those, those hours and days you can't get back. You can't and you need to limit it. If you can, one hour a day or something like that. Some days you plan it three, four or five hours and the day just gets away. Yes, you can escape the work stress and so on. However, hours and the day just gets away. Yes, you can escape the work stress and so on. However, if you can be proactive and productive in that time period, think of the amount of skill sets you can, you can develop, you know, whereas if you're game for six hours in a day, you can literally learn how to build a website in those six hours, and then where do you go with those skill sets and so on and so on, so on.
Speaker 2:So I haven't touched the console for a number of years for those reasons. Because when you do self-reflect go, what does that actually mean? If I am number one in Call of Duty, it means nothing, like it literally means absolute nothing, and the amount of passion and stress. I can get across to that, since my dad said it is, is is endless. Cause you don't think about it. You think, oh, I'm just game for a few. You look at your total game time 30 days. That's a month, mate.
Speaker 2:I've just sat there sat there, yeah, doing nothing, and that's on one game and then the next one release, it's another 30 days exactly scary, isn't it, when you look at it like that it's scary and that's years of your life just gone, and there's times that you'll look back on and go. I can't believe I wasted that much time in a game because now that means nothing. No one, no one goes. Oh, this is ash, number one quality player. It doesn't exist.
Speaker 1:No, it does now, though, don't it fortnight oh, it does if you're in competitions 15 year olds making absolute keiko money. If you're in the competitions, yeah it's a full-time career.
Speaker 2:But if you're the average joe, like I was, you know you're nothing and that's the sad reality. Until you get that reality check, it's um, it's dangerous I think all technology and screen time is dangerous.
Speaker 1:When I was growing up I grew up when a bit older than you, when I I grew up when the internet was invented and in order I remember I'll never forget the day my dad bought the first pc home. It was a dell pc and it come in about 35 boxes. You had the speaker, the keyboard, the monitor was the size of this chair and we had this box and it was like we sat it in the middle of the living room and all you could do on it was I don't remember what you could do. It was like MS-DOS or something stupid. You could play like Pac-Man and stuff. And then MSN Messenger came about and MSN Messenger was when it started getting a bit. I MSN Messenger came about and MSN Messenger was when it started getting a bit.
Speaker 1:I used to get bullied on MSN Messenger, did you? Yeah, I used to get bullied on MSN Messenger by a load of girls in school. I used to stand outside my window. One day, I think as a kid, like 13, 14, you're dancing in your living room in your pants, and then I'd get messages on MSN. We saw you dancing, we're going to tell everybody at school and stuff, and I think that's when it started with MSN Messenger. And now I worry for the youth of today. One, because they're watching highlight reels on Instagram and TikTok. That's another reason why. Why I wanted to do this podcast was to for it to be raw, to for it to be real and unfiltered, because there's not enough people telling you business owners, that they'll post the Lamborghinis and the Ferraris and the their success, but they won't post the days when they were crying their eyes out because it was all about to go to shit, and that was one of the things. So that's one of the big things for technology. And two is, like you said, it's a massive waste of time.
Speaker 1:I waste hours hours and hours and hours scrolling through TikTok, scrolling through Instagram for that next dopamine hit. And I'm at a point now I'm like, why am I doing it? I'm hoping it's just a fad in my life, yeah.
Speaker 2:I completely understand.
Speaker 1:When you're trying to run a podcast, when you're trying to run a business, it's important to understand how this is me like defending the fact that I spend too much time on it. It's really important to understand that. That is the number one way to market anything these days is short form video content and seeing what's working, seeing what's not. But I think it's important that we my daughter, who's 11 tomorrow, she's oh, daddy, look, I've had 150 views on a video. Not, she's not allowed to put her face on. She does her makeup and cleans her thing up and then she'll get or the dog or stuff like that.
Speaker 1:And I said it doesn't matter wholesome content. Yeah, I said it doesn't matter. I said it's brilliant that you want to do it because it's very important to understand it. It's good to build up a resilience. She said, oh, someone's commented no one cares. I said so, you don't care. And it's important to build up kids resilience to online trolls is they should educate them in schools about social media and tiktok and how it's important not to get overwhelmed by not everyone's gonna like what you do, but as long as you can be yourself and enjoy it and enjoy it. The day you stop enjoying making content. Stop is the day that you stop correct.
Speaker 2:Couldn't agree more so do what you like. Same thing as we discussed in the other session was do what you enjoy. Work wise, whatever it may be. Otherwise, what's the point? If you're not enjoying your video making and content, it's likely that the viewers won't enjoy it because your passion, drive and ambitions in that video is not coming through. And that's the key part Do what you like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those who say they can normally do. Those who say they can't normally don't yeah, a wise man once said. A wise man once said so let's finish it there, nath. Thank you for your time. I'm sure we'll have you on again to talk about the other stories in your life, because I know you've got a few. But that has been the Untold Podcast, a bonus episode. If you've got a story to tell, if you've been through some interesting life events and you're open and willing to be honest on camera, then we'd love to hear from you. So reach out to us, comment on this video, dm us, you can email us socials at theuntoldpodcastcouk, and we would love to have you on sitting in the chair as a guest and we'll drill into you and get some good content. Let's help other people build a community and smash it.