Mike is known online as MS Warrior Gaming, where he streams, connects with a growing community and uses his platform to advocate for people living with multiple sclerosis.
But becoming a creator was never part of his original career plan.
Before streaming, Mike spent 20 years working in the security industry, a career he says he loved every minute of. When multiple sclerosis increasingly affected his mobility, however, continuing in that career was no longer possible. Mike now relies on mobility aids including crutches, a rollator, wheelchair, mobility scooter and FES machine, and ultimately had to retire much earlier than he had expected.
The change left him looking for something new to work towards. He didn’t want retirement to mean sitting at home with nothing to do or achieve, so he turned to something he had already enjoyed for years: gaming.
Streaming began simply as a bit of fun and a way to keep his mind active. What Mike did not know at the time was that it would eventually give him another career to build, a community of his own and a new way to make a difference to other people living with MS.
Finding a New Direction Through Gaming
When Mike first started streaming, there was no big strategy behind it. Gaming was something he enjoyed, and TikTok LIVE gaming gave him somewhere positive to put his energy after leaving the working life he had known for two decades.
It did not take long for that casual interest to become more serious.
“I realised, actually, I love doing this,” he says.
Mike began to see that streaming could become more than something he did to pass the time. It could become his new career, while also giving him the opportunity to create the kind of online space he wanted to be part of himself.
From the beginning, that meant more than simply having people watch him play. Mike wanted to build somewhere people could make friends, game together and enjoy spending time online.
As more viewers became part of his streams, that idea gradually turned into a community.
Building a Community Where Nobody Gets Left Behind
For Mike, the community that has developed around MS Warrior Gaming is one of the parts of his creator journey he is most proud of.
Its value is not measured only by how many people are watching. What matters to him is the way people within that community support one another.
“Nobody gets left behind,” he says.
If somebody needs someone to talk to, Mike says there is always somebody there. That sense of belonging has become central to the kind of space he wants MS Warrior Gaming to be: somewhere people can make friends, enjoy gaming and know they are not alone.
It also reflects the way Mike approaches his advocacy around multiple sclerosis.
He does not pretend MS has had little impact on his life. It changed his mobility and brought an end to a career he had loved for 20 years. He is equally candid about how difficult living with the condition can be, describing MS simply as “evil”.
What he wants people to see through his content, however, is that those changes do not have to remove every possibility that comes afterwards.
“You can achieve massive things in spite of this disease,” he says.
For Mike, that does not mean ignoring the realities of MS. It means adapting around them and continuing to find things that give life purpose, enjoyment and connection.
Learning to Become a Creator with GravitasQ
Although Mike had quickly found his reason for streaming, learning how to actually become a creator was another challenge.
When he first started, he admits he knew very little about content creation. His early approach was largely to get online and hope for the best, and he describes lack of knowledge as one of the biggest challenges he has had to overcome.
Over time, experience helped him become more confident in what he was doing. Joining GravitasQ also gave him access to people who could help him understand the creator space and develop the knowledge he had been missing.
“I wouldn’t be where I am right now without the support of GQ,” Mike says. “I had no knowledge. I didn’t know what I was doing.”
For Mike, that support helped him develop the skills around something he had already discovered he cared deeply about. He could continue focusing on gaming and his community while gaining a better understanding of how to grow as a creator.
Taking His Advocacy Beyond Streaming
The skills Mike has developed through content creation are now beginning to create opportunities beyond MS Warrior Gaming.
He recently became a Regional Communications Volunteer for the MS Society, a role that will see him help groups across the East Midlands strengthen their online presence, develop content plans, attract volunteers and build larger communities.
The opportunity came about unexpectedly. While attending an MS Society meeting in Lincoln, Mike had a conversation with someone within the organisation. That conversation led to an email, then an online meeting and eventually to the creation of his new volunteer role.
For Mike, the opportunity brings together two parts of his life that have become increasingly connected: communication and MS advocacy.
He wants people living with MS to know there are communities where they can find understanding and support. Helping MS Society groups reach more people online gives him another way to contribute to that.
It also marks an interesting progression in his own creator journey. Mike began streaming without knowing much about content creation. Now, the knowledge he has developed is something he can use to help other communities improve the way they communicate and connect with people.
Continuing to Build Something Positive
Mike’s plans for MS Warrior Gaming remain rooted in the same reason the community became important to him in the first place.
He wants it to continue growing, but not simply for the sake of bigger numbers. His goal is to reach more people who might benefit from having somewhere they can make friends, feel safe and enjoy social media as a positive space.
That purpose is a long way from where his journey began.
Mike started streaming because MS had forced his working life to change and he needed something new to focus on. Gaming gave him that starting point, but what followed became far bigger than simply finding a way to fill his time.
It gave him another career to develop, a community to care about and a platform he can now use alongside his MS advocacy.
Encouraging Others With MS to Start
For other people living with MS who are considering becoming creators, Mike’s advice is simple: give yourself the chance to try.
“Go for it, absolutely go for it,” he says. “Just do not talk yourself out of it.”
He encourages people to start with the basics rather than waiting until they know everything or have everything figured out. His own creator journey began with very little knowledge and no expectation that streaming would eventually become his career.
Mike also knows that gaming cannot remove the difficult realities that can come with MS. What it can offer is enjoyment, connection and, for some people, somewhere positive to focus their attention when the condition feels overwhelming.
“You can still have fun. You can still be positive. You can still be the person you want to be.”
Mike did not start streaming because he had ambitions of becoming an example to other people living with MS. He started because the career he loved had come to an end and he still wanted to feel that he was building and achieving something.
What began as a new way forward for himself has since become something other people can be part of too.
And perhaps the philosophy behind everything Mike has built is best expressed in the words he uses to describe his community:
Nobody gets left behind.
