Meet the co-founder of Movember - the man keeping men healthy, and alive

Men die six years younger than women and are more often victims of suicide. Rita de Brún meets the Australian trying to change all that.

NO MATTER who he is or what he does, there’s really only one way to open a conversation with an Ozzie man, on meeting for the first time.

We’re sipping coffee al fresco, at a riverside café. Rowing boats float by in the sunshine, but the thoughts of Movember Foundation co-founder Justin Coghlan (aka JC) are elsewhere.

My enquiry as to what sort of barbecue he cooks on in Oz has cast a shadow of homesickness across his face. “A Weber,” he enthuses nostalgically.

He penned a book called Cook Like a Man. As for what precisely that involves he says: “Well, for a start, never touch another man’s barbecue tong.” He laughs then, but it’s clear he’s deadly serious.

What, besides the thought of another man interfering with his Weber, freaks him out? “The refugee crisis. We should look after people who have shit going on in their country; give them a five-year process to prove themselves and remember that they’re not bad people, that they’re just the same as us.” Entrepreneurs give him hope: “They should run the NHS, not politicians.” I guess what’s coming. “I’d love to run the NHS,” he says right on cue. “When it’s working it’s one of the greatest health systems on the planet, but it needs to be fixed, as otherwise it’s going to break.”

JC with Dublin hurler Mark Schutte. The founder of Movember was in attendance at the announcement of a partnership between Movember, the GAA, and the GPA, at Croke Park.

Nobody could accuse JC of being all talk. Chat with him and you chat with Action Man personified. Movember, the foundation he set up with three friends in 2003, is now the largest men’s health charity on the planet. Supporters grow Mos, host events and take on ‘move challenges’ for the month of November, so as to raise the money the foundation needs to stop men from dying too young.

What was the Movember dynamo like as a kid? “Overactive.” One word is all I get and he changes the subject. I coax him back. “I got brought up with ‘Harden the fuck up’ ringing in my ears,” he offers. “Literally that was the saying. I had an amazing dad but in Australia a kid’s upbringing can be tough. My dad grew up in the school of hard knocks and brought me up that way. I came up in Manly, a pretty good, affluent area. I had a privileged childhood. My folks worked hard for that.”

He adores his wife, Sarah: “She runs the Movember programme. She’s an incredible woman; one of the smartest people I know.” They’ve been together 18 years. That’s a beautiful gift: “It is. It’s amazing. She makes me a better person every day.” Is he in touch with his feminine side? “I think so… ish!” He laughs.

What would his wife say? “She might say… probably not. I don’t know. I live with five females, I’m in touch with the feminine side. Whether that’s my feminine side or theirs I don’t know but definitely, I know the feminine side.” How does it feel to be the only man at home? “I’m cycling the whole time,” he deadpans, then laughs for a long time.

Watch this video to see the three ways you can participate in #movember this year and sign up today: https://t.co/jIxIbvg6Dz pic.twitter.com/amJY3uFPGb

— Movember USA (@Movember) October 3, 2016

JC’s a happy man; contagiously content. Steady, focussed and positive to the core, he’s also a man on a mission.

“Prostate cancer claims 370,000 lives every year. Seventy-seven percent of suicides are men. One guy takes his own life every minute. Men typically die six years earlier than women,” he says. “Movember’s going to change all that. It’s changing our world for the better. By 2030, I want men to be living as long as women. That’s the Movember goal.”

Cancer research will play a key role in that achieving that aim, as will reducing the suicide rate for men. “Movember is funding cancer research. As a result, massive discoveries are being made; details of which will be made public when the time is right.” Men tend to be gentler, more vulnerable than women. Would he agree? “Definitely. We men are little puppy dogs inside. We need those who love us to break down our barriers.”

Do Mo Bros have funny handshakes? “Nope, he replies. You working on that? Nope. But there is a nod, he concedes. “As in one Mo growing Bro may nod at another who is clearly doing the same thing.” We talk moustaches. Freddie Mercury had a good one, I offer. “Dali’s was amazing,” counters JC, “as was Magnum PI’s and Hulk Hogan has a great big retro one.” He also likes Errol Flynn’s. Pencil moustaches are uber stylish, I say. “Only a certain type of man can wear one,” he replies.

Around the world, 3 out of 4 suicides are men. This is #WhyWeMo: to stop men dying too young. Read Kieran's story: https://t.co/cMahGCqzh7 pic.twitter.com/gWX9bEDLBi

— Movember New Zealand (@MovemberNZ) October 20, 2016

High maintenance? I suggest. “Very,” he agrees.

Shaving etiquette. Does he give a rat’s ass about that? He does, admitting to ‘love nothing more than sitting in a barber’s chair and getting a proper cut-throat.’ “I’ve got a beard at the moment, so I use a trimmer,” he says.” For shaving, I use exquisitely sharp blades. I have to as I’ve got really Australian bristly gingeries, as in rough, steel-wool type hair.” I try not to laugh at the inclusion of the world ‘Australian’ in that sentence.

Movember’s JC is Ozzie to the core. But that’s just part of his charm; the rest is his love of man and the strides he’s making in keeping them not just healthy, but alive.