Johnny Crowder - Healing in Community: The Power of Peer Support

SUMMARY:
In this episode of TLC Connections, Johnny Crowder takes us on a journey from the intensity of heavy metal stages to founding Cope Notes, a mental health tech company impacting individuals and organizations worldwide. He candidly shares his personal experiences with mental health, the strategies that sustain him, and how embracing vulnerability has shaped his leadership. Listeners will discover how music became his first language of expression, the challenges he faced along the way, and why peer support lies at the core of his mission. Honest, inspiring, and deeply human, this conversation delivers a powerful message of hope, healing, and resilience for anyone navigating life’s challenges.

GUEST BIO:
As a Certified Recovery Peer Specialist and the Founder/CEO of the globally-utilized positive psychology startup Cope Notes, Johnny Crowder gives audiences practical self-care tools and mental health strategies that people can begin using today to improve their emotional health and wellbeing. With infectious positivity, humor, and authenticity, this trauma survivor shows audiences why opening up about mental health is the key to coping, and why the most resilient organizational cultures proudly prioritize and support mental health for all.

Whether he’s discussing ordinary, everyday struggles or challenges like anxiety, depression, addiction, burnout, and compassion fatigue, Johnny Crowder confronts the myths that keep people stuck. As he explains in his 2020 TEDx Talk that garnered over one million views and catapulted him to the world stage, good mental health is like physical health—quick fixes and miracle cures don’t work. Instead, Johnny gives audiences a toolkit of self-care and wellness techniques they can put into practice immediately to re-wire the brain for positivity over time, coupled with a blueprint for making mental and emotional wellbeing a cultural cornerstone in any workplace.

Johnny’s own personal experiences of poverty and abuse, his deep knowledge of psychology, and his remarkable ability to explain complex topics in an easy-to-understand way make for presentations that are both powerful and practical. His refreshingly vulnerable and candid perspective has attracted praise from hundreds of outlets, including Upworthy, CNN, and Forbes. Even when commanding a virtual stage or touring with his Billboard-charting heavy metal band, Prison, his firsthand experience with mental illness and infectiously positive humor never fail to resonate, educate, and inspire.

EPISODE LINKS:
Johnny Crowder’s Website: https://johnnycrowder.com
Cope Notes: https://copenotes.com/about/
TEDx Talk :    • How to Grow as a Person (And Why It Sucks)...  
TEDx Talk:    • Why I don’t want to die anymore | Johnny C...  

SPONSORS:
TLC Wellness is dedicated to serving individuals of all ages and addressing a diverse spectrum of mental health needs. Our mission is to provide compassionate and effective therapy services, tailored to each person’s unique circumstances, to promote healing, resilience, and holistic well-being within the community. By utilizing proven modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention, acceptance and commitment therapy tools, and family systems/relational models, TLC Wellness strives to empower individuals on their journey toward a more authentic and fulfilling life.