Today we’d like to introduce you to Jai Huntley.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jai. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Sheesh, where do I even begin? My life growing up was actually quite interesting. I remember as a child, my mother would tell me over and over about how blessed I was. To this day, she continues to instill this in me. I witnessed a lot as a child, much more than my peers.
I always wanted to “have it made,” I wanted what I thought at the time was a good life, like my peers. From the outside looking in, I felt that they had the luxury of being apart from something greater. Whether it’s making the cheerleading team, going on family trips, going home to their own room, down to something as simple as having their favorite lunch packed, all the while I watched my mother battle the disease of addiction.
In elementary school, social services (DSS) showed up at my school to question me. At the time, my mother, my grandmother, and myself were all living in a one-bedroom apartment. Luckily, my grandmother was in the picture because there were days my mother would stay out all night, and who’s to say where I would be had it not been for my grandmother. At that very young age, I knew that if one slip up came out of my mouth, I could potentially risk being taken away from my mother. I did what any scared child would do and stood up for my mother, this was my attempt at keeping my family together. But with me not voicing my home struggles, this, later on, lead me to be an enabler and drove me to think it’s best to keep my mouth closed.
Fast forward, it wasn’t until later on in my life where I knew that seeing my mother suffer took a toll on my well-being, and I definitely didn’t know that it would lead me to tell a story. I honestly didn’t feel like my story was worthy, better yet me actually building the courage and not feeling ashamed to tell my story. But with the struggles that I’ve faced, the pain I’ve allowed myself to feel and endure, and me beating the odd’s of being raised by an addict this is how my brand, Protect Your Mental came into fruition.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth road… does that exist? lol. Not at all has it been a smooth road. I can now say that I appreciate the bumps and bruises along the way. But it hasn’t always been that way. It’s hard to think about the future when all you have seen is struggle growing up. But someway and somehow, I had to be the one to make it out. I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to be put in schools that met my personal learning style along with really good educators that were put in my corner. Even though I was able to be around good educators, I still struggled because of my traumatic home life. All throughout my time in elementary, middle, high school, and college, I had to bear the burden of seeing my mother struggle with this disease and repeating the cycle of having another child (little sister) struggle watching her go through it.
Currently, these bumps and bruises have given me the courage and strength to continue to keep fighting and working through my pain. I feel that my purpose is to create advocacy for others to continue to keep pushing and constantly remind them that we are not our pain and that this pain doesn’t last forever. It’s important that we learn to healthily shift our mindset and not allow ourselves to stay stuck in those dark places.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Protect Your Mental aims to create a space where mental health is just as much as a norm as physical and spiritual health. We know that anxiety, and emotions happen, but struggle happens when it comes to responding to stress. All in all, we at Protect your Mental are a family fighting that lifelong fight of living our life without moments of struggle controlling us. Protect Your Mental is a pro-active solution to a more reactive industry. If we can holistically tackle depression, anxiety, addiction, co-occurring illness, etc., we will then become the cure and not just a bandage. I currently work with the addiction’s population who also experience co-occurring illnesses. As a company, I am most proud of it being more than just a name, but actually being a proactive method to living a healthy and bomb a** lifestyle. When people hear “Protect Your Mental”, it’s automatically a conversation starter. I get questioned a lot about what Protect Your Mental is, and it’s literally a lifestyle. I feel what sets me apart is that I’m able to apply my personal life experiences to my company and be a living testimony to show that things are possible and that we can persevere through circumstances when we felt wasn’t possible at that moment.
What were you like growing up?
This is probably one of the most difficult questions I’ve been asked. Lol, I really have to dig deep. Personally, I feel I was really soft-spoken and shy growing up with a laid back personality. Can’t quite remember when I transitioned from that stage.
Growing up, I was extremely active in church, participating in the choir, dance/step team, cheerleading and anything my church was holding I was a participant. Looking back, I’ve always participated in something growing up and all throughout my school days. I have never been a big fan of an audience, my anxiety level would cause me to literally shake in my boots. Till this day, I still feel very anxious when it comes to speaking or presenting. But hey, we learn to work through our fears.
My friends and family would probably describe me as silly, calm, and a good listener with good feedback. From a young age, I’ve always had a drive for wanting to help others around me. Just all around compassionate and empathetic towards others. Hence, part of the reason why I decided to go through with choosing to counsel as my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: protectyourmental.com
- Email: hello@protectyourmental.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jai.huntley/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectYourMental/
Image Credit:
Vernon (Max Res Photography)
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