Voices for Voices®

God's Hand in Our Journey: How Voices for Voices Reaches Millions (Ep. 319)

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 319

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God's Hand in Our Journey: How Voices for Voices Reaches Millions (Ep. 319)

Justin reflects on the purpose and impact of Voices for VoicesⓇ, expressing gratitude for the organization's global reach across 800 cities in over 80 countries while sharing personal insights about prioritizing what truly matters in life.

• Finding meaning through helping others rather than receiving
• Recent interview with Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul, who shared her journey of recovery from alcoholism
• Meeting with Senator Ted Cruz to discuss the Take It Down Act and present him with the 2025 Voice of the Year Award
• Personal reflections on Justin's mental health journey and the importance of seeking help
• How letters of support confirm the organization's positive impact
• Creating a legacy of helping others for future generations
• Reminder that Voices for VoicesⓇ exists to eliminate stigma and create space for sharing stories

Chapter Markers

0:00 Finding Purpose Through Challenges

5:40 Meeting Olympic Gold Medalist Oksana Baiul

10:19 Senator Cruz and Take It Down Act

16:30 Faith Through Mental Health Struggles

24:38 Impact of Voices for VoicesⓇ

32:13 Legacy and Future Vision

Please visit VoicesForVoices.org/podcast to access all of our episodes for free. Be a voice for yourself or someone in need, and let's celebrate the voices of everyone across the world.

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Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Hey everyone, it's Justin. Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast and, humbled by the love and support, the sharing of how our organization is helping people, has helped people to really just reassure, kind of like a checkpoint of are we doing the right things, are we going down the right path? And that can be, and it's challenging because there's so many competing priorities that we have to do every day, that we have to, we have to um, we have to decide what we're going to do and what we're not going to do. Um, what is okay if we don't get it done today, today, and what is critical like, what do we have to do? And as we evaluate ourselves, that's where we start to really find some introspection on are we doing what we like, what we love to do, Are we not? If we're doing what we like and love to do and we find ourselves at a fork in the road, we can go one way or the other way and they Each way could end up at a different, different place. The one thing I've learned, and we've learned Over time as human beings, is we don't have all the answers. Nobody's perfect. Helping feels so much better than receiving, and if we truly love what we're doing, not just as a hobby, but something that's bigger than us as a human, than us as a human, or bigger than our family, bigger, just bigger where we have the opportunity to share, to talk, to laugh, to love, to cry, to chuckle, it becomes apparent over time that we find out what that is. And when we find out what it is for example with me, that's what Voices for Voices is. It is a way to share and to help people all across the world. To share and to help people all across the world. 800 cities, 80 plus countries and those are just the analytics we can see. We know that there's a lot of analytics. And those are just the analytics we can see. We know that there's a lot of analytics we can't see.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And then, number one, I want to give a big thank you to a couple different people. One is Nicole Hagee. She helped manage the 1994 figure skating women's gold medalist Oksana Bayul's visit to the area. We had a date and some times that looked like they would be good for both of us, or the three of us, so Oksana, nicole and myself. And then, kind of at the last minute my plans changed and then, kind of at the last minute, my plans changed where I wasn't going to be able to do that. We weren't going to be able to do the interview with Oxana when we agreed on a certain date. And Nicole and Oksana are just incredible people kind, gentle, caring. They found time in between arriving at the airport, thrown out a ceremonial first pitch at the rubber ducks game, among other visits and meetings that she had planned ahead of time. I want to thank Nicole and Oksana. It was so awesome. I've never met an Olympian before, let alone a gold medalist, on that interview. You'll want to check that out. It's just incredible.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

I talk a little bit about how the Winter Olympics kind of was a thing in our family that we would watch, and there were certain events that we would watch more than others that garnered our attention, and one was figure skating, and so I was 13 at the time and Oksana was in Lillehammer and Tanya Harding and all that. Those things were going on or had gone on, had gone on, and so that's what made, I think you know, figure skating. It brought in a different crowd, more individuals that might not have an interest in in that. But anyways, I talked about how that was something that we we really did do as a family, with my mom, my dad and my sister and myself. That's what we would do. It was something we looked forward to. So to be able to meet somebody as talented on the rink on the ice but who also has battled alcoholism and she's on her recovery path and that's what she was in town to talk about, and it's just really incredible Again just to have the opportunity to sit down and have a discussion. It was awesome.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And then I also want to thank Anna McAdams, elliston Berry, mark McAdams, siobhan Ludick and Matt and Emma and so many others that had a hand in communicating with Senator Ted Cruz, with his campaign, with his staff, to have the opportunity to meet Senator Ted Cruz in person in DC, to have an interview with him, to talk about his passion of helping and the Take it Down Act, which is the take it down act, which is not take it down law. He talked all about that and we have several episodes with Elliston, the daughter. Really, the take it down law was modeled after some unfortunate turns of events, was modeled after some unfortunate turns of events, and so to have an opportunity to meet, to talk to and to present Senator Ted Cruz with our annual Voice of the Year Award. Over the past two years I went to Tyrus you may know him, heard of him, and then last year I went to Elliston Berry because she has just become so brave and confident talking about her story, wanting to help others, and I had a small part to be able to meet Senator Cruz, and so for our, for our show, our podcast, to have that opportunity, and for Senator Cruz to be so Kind and Generous with his time and his entire staff and Cleared time for him To do our interview, and so I want to thank all those people and there's many more that were behind the scenes over the past months for those. And so those were big events, big interviews, big whatever you want to call it, but they're both individuals. They're both human beings too, so that's how we were able to have conversation. Doesn't matter if we agree with somebody's politics or not. This man, senator Cruz, championed this effort, this take it down act effort. Took it from his home state of Texas to Washington DC, where things are notoriously take forever to get things to the floor for a vote and have bipartisan support, especially in the times we live in. It was just incredible to watch those events and the evolution over the last year and a half two years.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

To be just a small part, I mean, it's just very humbling, yeah, and so I'm in a gratitude, thankful mood, because sometimes we take things for granted. Sometimes we take things for granted, we think we should do one thing and not the other, and the other ends up being the better thing. We think we are doing the right thing as much as possible, only to find out that it wasn't and to find out that there was nothing. Nothing a person can do to change anything. The series of events once they get kicked off and started, it's hard, life is hard. It's hard for every single one of us and I am happy that, going on, eight years ago, I decided to swallow my pride and ego and everything and get a lot of help, get a lot of mental health help, and I'm stronger for that now. Well, I am not having the best of days. I find that praying helps.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Remembering that nobody's alone and you and me, I'm not alone has, is or may know somebody, or may happen down the road a situation or an event or series of events to make. That makes us feel like, well, what's the point? And then, and then that's when we reach inside, we dig deep, deep, deep into our heart and we say, at least I say God, jesus, what am I here for? What do you want me to do on my short time on earth and through good times, through bad, through good decisions and decisions that right, if you look back and say, oh, I wish I would have did that. Well, it's not always possible to do that. Or to look ahead or to think something is okay when it might not be so. When I reach deep down into my heart, as much turmoil, as much stress, as much you name it that is has will be going on for an amount of time that I'm not sure what it will be.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And I just say thank you to you and every viewer, every listener. I don't care if you only listen to one second, one millisecond, only listen to one second, one millisecond. You watch one episode, or over 317 episodes. I say thank you for giving an organization the ability to reach across not just county lines, city lines, state lines, islands, and allow us the opportunity to come to you. And so when I say, when I said earlier about you sometimes start wondering what are we meant to do on earth? We're not animals. It's not eat, sleep, repeat, eat, sleep, repeat. So for me, the power, power is God, and that's where I put my trust. Ask for help, ask for forgiveness, forgiveness, ask for mercy, ask for grace, ask for A little bit of light. When he's given us at Voices for Voices is more than I could have imagined. It is truly remarkable what we've done as an organization, the people we've reached, the stories we hear was reading a letter of support.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

It was sent to me. I was brought to tears. I have turn to channel if, if you don't want to hear more about this. And so, as I was reading this letter of support, sometimes we can get in the weeds and you know, get so into every little, every little thing. Sometimes we don't take our head up and look up when we're walking instead of looking down. And when I read that letter, I have no words for it. I mean I'm getting goose bumps right now even just talking about it and thinking about it, because it's not a pat on the back. That's not what it's for. There are things that I hoped and dreamed and wanted to do with our Voices for Voices staff and organization, basically the same thing, and I haven't taken my head out of the weeds very much. And so I question and I question, and I question and I question what about this, what about that, what about this, what about that? And so, through that, let her support and others, and God, the feedback is what is Justin on his? What is he here to do? He's here to help an organization reach at least 3 billion people and help 3 billion people. So he's opened doors. He gave us the opportunity to talk to Oksana Bayul and Senator Ted Cruz. He opened a door to give us the opportunity to interview Ramona Robinson and Temple Grandin, and those are just a few, a few of the guests.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And so when I rest my head at night, I thank God for who I am, what I've been able to do, try doing, the energy, the motivation, and this isn't some highly lucrative organization. So that's why I just wanted to thank each and every one of you, no matter how small or big of a part you've played with us. If you're subscribing and you're liking and following and sharing and all those free things to do, you are helping us reach more people, and so I have comfort knowing that God has me and every single one of us in the palm of his hands. It's because of him that we're here. I also want to thank my parents, my mom and dad, that they gave me the opportunity to be born. Some aren't, for one reason or another, and so I think of why am I still here? What is there left for me to do?

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Voices for Voices comes back in subtle ways, in big ways, and we can't do it without you. I believe our organization, our TV show and podcast, is making a difference, is making a positive difference, is helping people. Difference is helping people. Even if some look at numbers of subscribers and followers and look at that, all it takes is just the one, just the one, and the the one, just the one. And the letters of support I've been receiving the last couple of days are just other indicators that Voices for Voices is something that's very near and dear to me, and it's not for me.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this to help. I'm doing this so that my daughter has something to hold on to, and I know that her daddy through thick and thin, through good and bad, sacrifice so many, so many ways, so many things, and this isn't even about money at all, just just knowing that her daddy did, does things to help others, and that's why I try to include her and let her see and watch some of the shows that we have that are subject appropriate, because I want, I want her to find her things that make her feel good about herself, and I know she will. And I'm not going anywhere. I just want to share this with you, that with you, that this is truly bigger than me. I could easily we could have easily just shut down shop. I said, oh okay, I'm going to therapy, I'm doing what I need to do from the mental health side. We don't need to have an organization, we don't need to have platforms for people to share their stories or to share our own.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

It's always come back one way or another, small or big, that Voices for Voices is a movement. It's a positive movement, it's an uplifting movement, it's a sharing movement. It's a not be ashamed or not have a stigma movement. It's a not be ashamed or not have a stigma movement. Voices for Voices is just what it's just like, what it says.

Voices for VoicesⓇ Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Voices for Voices, we speak for ourselves in the best way that we can, and our guests do the same thing, thank you, thank you, thank you, god bless you, thank you, thank you, god bless you, god bless America and God bless everyone across the world, on earth, in heaven, and thank you so much for allowing us to come into your home, to your earbuds, to your TV, to your iPads, chromebooks, netbooks. However, just know that you can always go to VoicesForVoicesorg forward slash podcast and you can find every single episode that we have dropped, and at the top it starts with the most recent and that's free. So we'll see you next time. Please be a voice for you or somebody in need, and let us celebrate the voices of everyone all across the world. We'll see you next time. Thanks for being with us today.

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