About
The Resilience Builders Story
Resilience Builders was founded in 2017 by Dr David Buttifant and Nick Farr, two leaders who arrived at the same mission from very different worlds. One came from the pressure cooker of elite sport. The other from the thin air of the Himalayas and the frontline demands of policing.
What united them was a shared belief that resilience is not a mysterious trait reserved for the gifted — it is a skill anyone can learn, refine and strengthen with the right guidance, environment and tools. Their vision was simple: build a program that blends evidence based content with real world experience so people can perform, lead and thrive under pressure.
David brought with him more than 25 years at the absolute peak of elite performance. His work with Olympic athletes and AFL teams had shown him what separates those who endure and excel from those who burn out. His expertise in exercise physiology, leadership and behavioural change shaped the backbone of our methodology. Planning, habit building, self reflection and accountability are central to his approach, and he has spent decades teaching people how to make these qualities part of their daily life. His doctorate, MBA and hundreds of delivered programs speak to his technical mastery — but it is his lived experience guiding people through high stakes environments that gives his work real depth.
Nick’s path could not have been more different, yet it led to the same truth. As one of Australia’s most accomplished high-altitude performers, he has stood on the summit of Mount Everest and operated in some of the harshest environments on earth. With more than 30 years leading teams across Nepal, North America, India and Australia, he understands how people think, behave and adapt when the margin for error disappears. His two decades in Victoria Police further shaped his understanding of leadership under pressure. Today, Nick draws on this blend of mountain leadership, expedition psychology and frontline policing to help teams and organisations build resilience that lasts — not the kind found in textbooks, but the kind earned through experience, hardship and growth.
our formula
Resilience means different things to different people, but at its core it is the ability to respond to adversity with adaptability, clarity and strength.
Our programs are built on four solid pillars of resilience — physical, emotional, social and psychological recovery — giving people the tools to manage pressure and navigate uncertainty with confidence. We combine evidence-based strategies with lived experience to deliver programs that genuinely shift behaviour and mindset. Whether through workshops, outdoor development programs or online learning, we teach the skills that build resilience, shape positive leadership and support high performance in real world environments.
At Resilience Builders, trust is earned through action. Families, schools and organisations rely on us to look after their people, and we take that responsibility seriously. Our facilitators bring decades of experience working with AFL and Olympic athletes, corporate teams and even twelve year olds trekking to Everest Base Camp. But it is our personal experience with adversity that gives our work its authenticity. We have lived the resilience we teach, and that depth of understanding allows us to design programs that are practical, engaging and transformative.
Everything we deliver is geared toward one outcome: helping people perform under pressure, recover well and thrive in a changing world.
our relationships
We have worked with respected organisations such as Victoria Police, Telstra, Adobe, Bluescope, Clinical Labs, Delta Air Lines and the Victorian Department of Health, and these partnerships reflect the depth, quality and credibility of our work.
When teams and leaders from such diverse and high performing environments trust us to deliver resilience, wellbeing and psychological safety programs, it reinforces the responsibility we carry. Their expectations push us to deliver practical, evidence-based training that is grounded, relevant and immediately useful in the real world.
Working with organisations across policing, aviation, technology, healthcare, government and industry gives us a unique window into the pressures people face and the support they genuinely need. These experiences shape the way we design and deliver our programs, ensuring our frameworks are tested across different contexts and challenges. It means that every workshop, every program and every learning experience is informed by what actually helps people adapt, collaborate and perform under pressure — not theory alone, but applied insight gained from working alongside some of the most trusted organisations in Australia and beyond.
