Available to book
Farard Darver
Farard Darver helps organisations build resilience and lead through uncertainty, drawing on his path from British Army Major to founder of HEMPE, the first CBD gel NSF Certified for Sport.
Farard Darver is the founder and CEO of Healthcare International Research (HIR), the company behind the CBD wellness brand HEMPE. He built the business after nearly seventeen years as a British Army officer, including two tours of Afghanistan.
Farard reached the rank of Major and was earmarked for early promotion to full Colonel before leaving the military to commit fully to HIR. Under his leadership, HEMPE became the first CBD gel to achieve NSF Certified for Sport status, a standard that opens its use to professional athletes and military personnel across regulated markets.
Years of operational strain culminated in a hip replacement at forty-three and a growing scepticism of relying on pharmaceutical pain management in high-performance environments. That question, of how people recover well enough to keep performing again and again without long-term cost, shaped an evidence-led, rigorous approach that now underpins how Farard runs his company and leads his teams.
Audiences leave his sessions with a clearer view of what it takes to lead through uncertainty, make high-stakes decisions without a guaranteed outcome, and build an organisation on trust and compliance rather than shortcuts.
Book Farard for a founder's account of resilience, discipline, and building a compliant, internationally trusted brand from first principles.
Topics, sessions and talks
Farard Darver traces the real path from an early concept to an internationally distributed healthcare brand. He covers the investment challenges of building Healthcare International Research from scratch, the work of entering regulated markets, and the decisions behind securing retail channels at scale. Drawing on the same evidence-led rigour he applied leaving the British Army, Farard shows how founders can move a product from idea to compliant, trusted brand without cutting corners along the way.
Farard Darver draws on nearly seventeen years as a British Army officer and his experience founding Healthcare International Research to explore what leadership actually requires under pressure. He examines how to lead teams through uncertainty, make difficult calls without a guaranteed outcome, and hold standards when the easier option is to lower them. Farard's own move from Major to founder gives this session a lived, rather than theoretical, account of decision-making at the sharp end.
Farard Darver gives an honest account of what building a business actually involves, beyond the pitch decks and milestones. He covers raising investment, managing setbacks, and the calculated risks behind growing Healthcare International Research into an international brand. Farard is candid about the points where the journey became harder than expected, and what kept him committed regardless. Founders and prospective founders leave with a realistic picture of the discipline required to see a business through its hardest years.
Farard Darver connects the discipline of military service with the demands of running a business, showing how personal fitness, mental resilience, and structured execution shape performance under pressure. He explains how the habits that carried him through nearly seventeen years in the British Army now underpin how he leads Healthcare International Research day to day. Farard offers a practical account of building the focus and consistency that high performance actually requires, on the parade ground or in the boardroom.
Farard Darver speaks candidly about the setbacks behind founding Healthcare International Research, from early rejection to a hip replacement at forty-three that forced him to rethink how people recover and perform. He shows how resilience, purpose, and belief kept him and his organisation moving forward through uncertainty rather than derailed by it. Farard's account is grounded in specifics rather than platitudes, giving audiences a clear-eyed view of how setbacks can be converted into lasting strength.
Testimonials
often considered together
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Business Strategy
Strategic Decision Making
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Resilience
Adversity
Mental Health
Ollie Thorn
Disability Awareness
Diversity and Inclusion
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
To book Farard Darver, email farard.darver@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Farard's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
Farard Darver structures his sessions around a first-person founder's account, tracing the sequential decisions behind building Healthcare International Research from concept to internationally distributed brand, using his own transition from British Army Major to CEO as the through-line that connects leadership under operational pressure to commercial decision-making.
Farard Darver's sessions cover brand-building and market entry, high-stakes leadership and decision-making under pressure, and the realities of founding and scaling a business. He founded Healthcare International Research and led it to produce HEMPE, the first CBD gel to achieve NSF Certified for Sport status, after nearly seventeen years as a British Army officer, reaching the rank of Major.
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