FEW would have predicted success for young Robert Hisee when he quit school two years early without a single GCSE to his name.
But in a surprise to no doubt many of his teachers, the 47-year-old is now a top celebrity guru who charges £400 an hour and runs a £4million holistic retreat in Marbella.
Robert, who lives in Romford, Essex, is an Unconscious Mind Therapist (UMT) – a type of therapy where he ‘reprogrammes the mind’ to overcome issues and manifest success.
Since 2007, he’s helped celebs including Paul Gascoigne, ex-Olympian Eddie the Eagle, reality TV star Calum Best and Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton.
But Robert’s life today couldn’t be any different from his troubled childhood, which saw him grow up on the notorious Bonamy Estate in Bermondsey, South London.
Ahead of releasing his new mental health app, The Manifestation App, he tells us: “It was f***ing dangerous.
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“The estate was known for gangs, drugs and crime – it was so bad taxi drivers wouldn’t drive anywhere near it.
“There was a lot of violence and crime. I saw my first stabbing at 11, my first shooting at 15 and before I was a teenager I used to nick car batteries to sell for money to buy sweets.
“Unless you knew someone you wouldn’t go onto the estate. It was that f***ing dangerous and there were heroin users everywhere.”
Now Robert reveals how he turned his life around after being expelled from primary school at 10 and quitting education without any qualifications.
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‘Expelled at 10’
Robert was raised by a factory worker mum and a building site worker dad, on the Bonamy estate, which he says had a fearsome reputation.
Today he believes he was “lucky” to have turned away from a life of crime and make something of himself – especially because he was “a nightmare” at school.
He recalls “always being in trouble”, which he puts down to undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD, but insists he was “mischievous but never horrible”.
Robert says: “I hated school. I was constantly made to feel thick because I couldn’t concentrate in class and struggled to read out loud.
“There wasn’t any support for kids like me back then. I felt like I was stupid and my school reports said I wouldn’t amount to anything.”
After multiple warnings about his behaviour, Robert was expelled from primary school when he and a friend “threw library books out of a window” at the age of 10.
In secondary school, he didn’t fare any better. He says: “I was getting in trouble for not listening and struggling to pay attention. I couldn’t focus unless I had an emotional interest in the subject.
“If they were talking about World War II, I wouldn’t be able to take anything in but if it was something I was interested in, like Muhammad Ali, I could remember every word.”
Robert regularly skipped classes – despite being caught out multiple times by his “furious” parents – until he quit school for good at 14.
He recalls: “Once my dad found me playing on the streets. He was furious and drove me back. I walked through the school gates, went up one staircase and down the other, and left.”
Quit school
The following week, after bunking off again, the school called Robert’s mum to tell her about his frequent truenting.
He recalls: “My mum said, ‘Your father is going to kill you when you get home. I can’t f***ing believe you’ve done it again.’
“So I ran upstairs, got changed and jumped out of the bathroom window. I hid on the other side of the estate to avoid a telling-off.
“When it got to 10pm, I thought, ‘F*** it, I’ve got to go back’. While walking home, I bumped into my dad, who had been out looking for me.
“He said, ‘It’s alright, you can come home. You don’t have to go to school anymore. Don’t worry, we’ll get you a job’.
“My dad told the school that I had run off with my mum’s side of the family, who were travellers, and that I wouldn’t be coming back because I had become a traveller too.”
In reality, 14-year-old Robert worked any job his father could find for him, including melting aluminium in a scrapyard.
He earned £30 per week for his toils but says his parents “took most of it” in a bid to teach him a lesson about paying his way in ‘the real world’.
Robert said: “In time, I became a Jack of all trades. I was a painter-decorator, then a plasterer and after worked in a chemicals factory, in demolition and as a courier.
“Finally, I fell into sales in my 20s and started to excel. Within a few years, I was headhunted by a German company that sold awnings and glass roofs for conservatories.”
‘Life-changing moment’
It was there that Robert learned about neuro linguistic programming (NLP) – a practice that builds confidence and self-belief by focussing on goals and ridding negative thoughts.
He said: “Through NLP courses, I started to work on myself. I recognised how negative it was to have limiting beliefs about myself and insecurities – like thinking I was thick and stupid.
“I worked through childhood traumas and focussed on my goals and my mindset, which helped me to make better decisions.”
Robert says the course was “life-changing” and helped him to become a much better salesman.
He adds: “I never got into it for good intentions, I wanted to make better money and bigger bonuses but it really changed my life.”
Robert continued to take NLP courses until he became a ‘master practitioner’ and trainer and also studied hypnotherapy before landing on his ‘life’s calling’.
He says: “After stripping everything back we found my core value. I didn’t want to work in sales or go up the corporate ladder, I wanted to work help people deal with their emotions.”
Celebrity clients
It led him to develop Unconscious Mind Therapy (UMT) – a blend of hypnotherapy, NLP and psychology to help people overcome problems and achieve their goals.
He says: “I’ve helped people lose weight, overcome phobias, anxiety, addictions and even trichotillomania – where people obsessively pull out hair – within hours.”
Among his success stories is Michelle Davis, who hadn’t left the house for 16 years after being set alight by burglars, until she worked with him and now flies the world.
In 2018, Charlotte Coker told how she lost three stone and dropped three dress sizes after having a ‘imaginary’ gastric band ‘fitted’.
He’s also worked with a roster of celebrities including Gazza, Wayne Lineker, DJ Tom Zanetti, ex-Apprentice star Tom Skinner and Amy Childs.
The hypnotist says many of the stars asked him to sign a non-disclosure but he can reveal some of the success stories.
Robert has helped world champion boxer Hannah Rankin, comedian Dapper Laughs and claims to have worked with legendary Olympic skier Eddie the Eagler, real name Michael Edwards.
Robert has also worked as a stage hypnotist and once convinced former Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati, who played Sunita Alahan, that she was Marilyn Monroe.
He said: “I only do it for charity now but I used to hypnotise people to make them think they were stuck to their seats, had lost their belly buttons or could speak an ‘alien language’.”
Robert also runs a £4m holistic retreat in Marbella, which has been visited by the likes of Kerry Katona, Geordie Shore’s James Tinsdale, ex-EastEnder Dean Gaffney, Love Island winner Jack Fincham and former footballer Wayne Bridge.
Robert compiled his research into The Manifestation Journal, alongside his business partner Ted Lawlor, which focuses on mental health and raked in a whopping £70,000 in six months.
The book’s success led the duo to work on The Manifestation App, which he describes as “like Calm but not s***” and “with way more tools to help people”.
Among the features of the app, which launches on November 12, is a section from Masterchef judge Gregg Wallace, who teaches about healthy eating and how it can help the mind.
He says: “We’re sharing everything I’ve learned from UMT, manifestation and visualisation tools, mood trackers, vision boards, AI assistance, video and audio and a social media platform.
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“I believe it’s really going to help people and create a community where people can work through their problems and feel safe in our little community.”
Find out more about Robert Hisee’s work here and The Manifestation App, which launches on Nov 12, by visiting: www.themanifestationapp.com.
