When 54 year-old Brett Sheehy, artistic director and chief executive of Melbourne Theater Company, was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he experienced a mix of emotions. Despite suddenly feeling an intense appreciation for life around him, he was also overcome with an immense sadness at the thought of things he may never experience. Sheehy, always known as a hyper-driven worker, decided to continue to work through the news, discretely, so as to not have his work team wonder if he was still capable.

However, Sheehy soon began to feel as though he was lying by saying nothing. Specifically in November, as team members began growing facial hair to support research for prostate cancer, Sheehy decided to speak up. Sheehy is using his experience with cancer as a platform to implore men to get checked out and to get more conversations going.

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