Justine Youl
Founder, MENTAL Street Talk
I know what it feels like when no one's talking about it.
Six years ago, someone I loved held me by my ankles over the edge of a 21st floor balcony.
He told me if I made a sound, he'd let go.
I didn't die that day. But the woman I was did.
I was told my PTSD was so severe I'd probably never work again.
They were wrong.
Today I build technology that's changing workplace safety. I employ people. I laugh. A lot.
I taught myself an entire industry from scratch, with no background in it, because I needed something that was mine.
Somewhere in the middle of rebuilding, I moved to Bali. It's where I live now, with my partner and our three kids, and where I got sober.
Getting sober was hard. But it was the best decision I've ever made.
I lost two brothers to suicide within one year. I've fought my own battles with alcohol addiction and I'm now in recovery, sober, and proud of it. I've also survived a domestic violence relationship.
I'm not sharing this for sympathy. I'm sharing it because every single person I stop on the street has a story too. Mental health doesn't discriminate and neither does MENTAL Street Talk.
I started this series because I needed these conversations to exist. Raw, unscripted, on the street. Asking the questions most people are too afraid to ask out loud.
Hear My Story
Beyond MENTAL, I've shared parts of my story on a few podcasts and platforms. If you'd like to hear more, these are some of the conversations I've been part of.
How Do You Live Through Unthinkable Loss?
A conversation about grief, and what it's like to keep going after losing two brothers to suicide within a year.
Ep 140. From Not Leaving the House to Living Fully
On recovering from addiction and abuse, and what it took to rebuild.
Watch full episode on Spotify
Why I do this?
Because every conversation started is one less person carrying it alone. That's it. That's the whole mission.