From Idea to White House: How Our Mental Health Mission Grew Wings (Ep. 322)

From Idea to White House: How Our Mental Health Mission Grew Wings (Ep. 322)

Dreams really do come true when you refuse to let naysayers deter you. Standing at the Alpha Omega Comic-Con 2025 booth in Long Beach, California, I felt a surreal mix of gratitude and disbelief as we publicly announced the launch of Voices for VoicesⓇ Publishing. What began as a personal mental health journey has blossomed into a multi-faceted organization now publishing comics and books with mental health themes woven throughout their narratives.

Our first comic book, "The Atalan," along with three other publications, represents a transformative step in our mission to support mental health awareness through storytelling. While you may not always see the words "mental health" explicitly stated in our content, know that these themes run through everything we create. This is deliberate – we aim to reach people who might not actively seek mental health resources but can benefit from stories that validate their experiences and offer hope.

The journey to this moment hasn't been smooth. From logistical hiccups at conventions (like nearly forgetting important display stands) to facing critics who dismissed our vision as unrealistic, we've weathered numerous challenges. Yet these obstacles have only strengthened our resolve. With over 320 podcast episodes featuring guests ranging from Senator Ted Cruz (our 2025 Voice of the Year Award recipient) to Olympic gold medalist Oksana Baiul, we're building a platform that amplifies important voices and reaches those who need support.

Perhaps most humbling is knowing our work has been recognized even by figures connected to the White House. When Karoline Leavitt, Press Secretary for President Trump, acknowledged Voices for VoicesⓇ, it validated that authentic dedication to helping others can open doors previously unimaginable. This recognition fuels our ambitious goal of positively impacting three billion people through mental health advocacy.

I encourage you to pursue your own dreams with the same determination. Don't let anyone convince you that you're not talented enough or that your vision isn't worthwhile. Whether you check out our publications on Amazon or tune into our podcast, remember that your support enables us to continue this important work. Subscribe, share, and join us in creating a positive legacy that extends far beyond ourselves.

Chapter Markers

0:00 Welcome and Show Introduction

1:13 Alpha Omega Comic-Con Experience

5:28 Launching Voices for Voices Publishing

12:38 Behind-the-Scenes Convention Story

20:14 Gratitude to Senator Cruz

24:41 White House Connection and Future Plans

33:14 Inspiring Others to Chase Dreams

36:48 Closing Thoughts and Episode Wrap-up

#MentalHealthAwareness #WhiteHouseMission #FromIdeaToReality #MentalHealthAdvocacy #SocialChange #WellnessJourney #InspirationForChange #MindfulnessMatters #CommunityImpact #EmpowermentThroughAction #TransformingLives MentalHealthMattersToo #PolicyAndProgress #MissionDrivenLife #GrassrootsMovement #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #factoverfictionmatters #transparency #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices322

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Show Introduction
• 1:13 Alpha Omega Comic-Con Experience
• 5:28 Launching Voices for Voices Publishing
• 12:38 Behind-the-Scenes Convention Story
• 20:14 Gratitude to Senator Cruz
• 24:41 White House Connection and Future Plans
• 33:14 Inspiring Others to Chase Dreams
• 36:48 Closing Thoughts and Episode Wrap-up

Transcript

JustinAlanHayes: 0:02

Hey everyone, it's Justin here with Voices for Voices. Uh, thank you again for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Uh, thank you for all the love and support you have given us over the years, whether this is uh your first episode with us or whether you've been with us for the over now 320 episodes. Uh it sounds wild to say that, uh, but we are indeed over 320 uh full episodes, uh, and we couldn't do any of this without you. So thank you for all the love and support, being with us from the beginning, joining us here today on this particular uh episode, which is gonna be a uh summary episode uh because it's been uh a little while since uh we've uh we've come to you. Uh now over the weekend, we were um blessed and grateful to have attended and had a booth at the 2025 Alpha Omega Comic-Con. So that is the uh Christian uh equivalent to the regular Comic-Con, the secular comic-con. And so that was held out in Long Beach, California, and uh want to give a big uh shout out and thank you to uh Mr. Ralph uh Miley for putting that on. Uh knowing uh the very little that I know about uh putting trade shows, conventions together. Uh it it takes uh a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of work to do that. So thank you, Ralph, for having Voices for Voices there to uh provide a voice uh across the world because we were able to uh prior to the uh the show opening, uh we were able to do a press conference where we were able to announce publicly the voices for voices is uh indeed publishing. And so uh that is part of Voices for Voices, Voices for Voices Publishing, and that includes uh comics, and so we were able to uh exhibit sell uh quite a few copies of our brand new comic uh entitled The Adelan. And it was just very special uh for me to be able to uh have a small, small part in that evolution of bringing voices for voices publishing uh into the portfolio of the organization. Uh it's a very uh humbling experience uh to be able to do this. Uh I talked a little bit about having ideas, and it's one thing to have an idea. Uh, we all have ideas, and there's no shortage of ideas, and I'm not here to tell anybody not to have ideas and not to dream. I actually I want you to dream, I want you to be creative, I want you to go after what is um passionate to you and to what what you what you like to do, what you want to do, what makes you happy. Voices for voices is that for me. Uh, and and so find that for you and go after that. Uh don't let anybody tell you you're not talented enough that you're you're not mature enough, that you're not, I don't know. Uh don't let anybody stare you away from your dreams. And voices for voices publishing. I had no idea a year ago that it would be even an option to be able to do that, and we're doing it, and we're doing it on global scale, uh, international, across the world, whatever you want to call it. And so we were able to publicly come out and uh talk about Voices for Voices publishing. We were able to talk about our first comic, The Adaland, uh our uh one of the first publications uh that uh that that we have out as well. Right now, you're able to find those all on Amazon.com. And uh you can find those uh today, tonight, whatever time it is that you're viewing this content or listening to this content, you can find that uh in those those publications uh that uh we are uh rapidly building the semen that is uh our latest. So as I mentioned, we'll just this past weekend we launched our first comic book, and uh as we uh are at this point, we have four now a title, uh a total of four uh different uh publications uh that we we have out and more in common, Fast and Furious. And we thank you for making this possible uh to Voices for Voices. Uh but we're not we're not just here for cells. I already spent over 30 years of my life uh focus on myself and only myself. And so as you've heard or listened, as you've seen, it's time to help people, and that's what we're doing. That's where that goal of helping three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond came from. And this is just one avenue that we are helping others. All of our content that you have and will see has a mental health undertone to them because voices for voices, the main uh the main pillar is around mental health and surviving and uh talking through trauma and experiences that we have gone through, uh, and we can't stress that enough. So you are gonna see mental health themes that are gonna run through our content. You may not hear the words or see the words mental health in every single publication, but know that within the storylines, the plots, uh, the other business units that we will be announcing, uh just know that mental health is driving this voices for voices uh ship. And uh no matter what way we turn, no matter what business unit we add to our portfolio under Voices for Voices, mental health remains and will remain a key component of everything we do. And uh, and that's because Voices for Voices was founded on that principle of my mental health, and uh it we wouldn't be an organization if that weren't the case. So we just want to thank you. Thank you to everybody that came out the Alpha Mega Comic-Con uh 2025 in Long Beach over the weekend. Thank you to every single one of you that stopped by our booth. Uh we were able to do some interviews outside of the press conference. Uh those will be will be coming out uh when the reporters want them to come out. Uh, so we don't have control over that. Uh, but we uh were grateful and humble that uh there were individuals and news outlets that uh had an interest in voices for voices. Um and so that's that's a big thank you uh to all of them, to all of you that had a hand in it. And we uh we just we just are I I say this over and over and over and over again, that we are really grateful to be in a position where we're at, uh, because it takes a lot of time, a lot of thought, a lot of energy that goes in to these events. As I mentioned from Ralph, his point of view of the overall conference convention, and then us being just one of uh many, many, many vendors uh that were uh uh that were able to share our talents, our treasures, our resources with the world, with with the state of California, uh, and those that traveled uh to California to make that happen. I want to thank everybody who uh we were able to meet. There's too many people to mention. We were able to meet so many nice people, so many generous people that uh they shared their stories, they shared what what makes them who they are, what makes their organization, what makes what they do so important to them to spend their uh spend their time at this convention. So thank you to all those uh of you. Uh we are grateful for you. Uh and we we just yeah, I just so uh I'm gonna probably break a record by saying grateful as many times. Uh but that's that's really how I feel and how we feel as an organization. Um you're gonna see uh you're gonna see changes to the organization. As I mentioned, we added voices for voices publishing. Uh you'll see maybe some changes to leadership, uh including uh the the board of directors, but that comes with all organizations, so that's not that's not a shock. Uh just wanna to share that and want to give a uh a uh a little bit of a travel uh travel story with you. So when you travel, if you have or know somebody that has you can plan all you want, but there's always gonna be something that goes awry, goes sideways and call it it's all I'm gonna give uh give the one of many, uh, but the one that uh is on the tip of my tongue. And so as you set up booths, you have all kinds of information. Sometimes you want to call out you know a specific book, a specific comic, a specific thing, and so you have stands. And so these stands, you know, they sit on the table and then they stand up and where you can slide you know your uh your your paper, your advertisement in there so that can catch uh uh the attendees' eyes instead of having to look all the way down at at uh the table. So I had three of these stands, we had three of these stands. And as as the way things go, I had an early morning uh to get to the show in time to set up, get ready for the press conference, and all those things. So in my fury to get everything put together, uh I found myself waiting for transportation, and I was at a very large property, and uh so there were separate buildings, they were connected, and so as I'm waiting for my transportation, I'm taking stock of everything I have with me, uh, you know, my luggage, making sure everything's with me. And I look around, I'm looking at my backpack, and I'm looking at my hands, I'm like, oh my gosh, I forgot something in the room. And it were it was these three stands uh that we were bringing the attention uh to uh the comic book, one of our publications, one of our another of our publications, as well as uh the voices for voices TV show and podcast. So a transportation's on its way, and I I go to the registration desk and say, I know I just checked out. I'm missing these three stands, and they're very important. Can somebody go in the room, get those, and bring those down? And again, they're separate buildings. And luckily, uh, I want to give a big thank you to uh the gentleman that helped me out. I'm not gonna give names, I'm not gonna give names of hotels, any of that. Uh just want to say thank you. Uh this gentleman was able to get security to meet me back at my room, and those three stands were there. I made it back in time for my transportation with everything that I needed at that time. And I bring this up because things happen, a lot of planning went into it, and still at the end of the day, I almost went to the conference without um three very important stands, which on the surface doesn't seem like a big deal. But when you have again a booth and you're trying to catch people's eye level, the the the higher you can catch that, the better the chances, the better the odds, at least some uh that the attendees are gonna see that and see those. So I'm gonna give a thank you to that gentleman and that security uh detail that was able to provide that and uh get me access, re-access to the to the room. And so then the rest of the show went as as planned. It was controlled chaos. There was there were times where there were a lot of people, and there were times where there was a little bit of a break. We can take a deep breath, and it was a lot of fun, it really was, and to be able to be there as a member of Voices for Voices, not only as the TV shown podcast, not only as other areas, but to now be able to put books, comics in your hands and others, and on your electronic devices that has the voices for voices publishing that has those mental health trauma uh storylines in those stories. Uh very grateful for that opportunity. So thank you. Thank you to Ralph, thank you to all others. Uh there's too many to uh to to share, but thank you. Um and we we look forward to uh additional convention shows as they make sense for us, for our organization, our brand, and we we look forward to sharing those with you at the the appropriate time. Uh so go over to Amazon.com, Voices for Voices Publishing, that'll get you what you you're looking for. The uh the the big seller was the comic, the Adalan, and you can find that on Amazon.com. Uh it's uh it's just all inspiring to see work that had just a small hand in. Uh thank you. And I want to give also a thank you. So there was a lot of a lot of logistics, a lot of changes, um, a lot of security, a lot of uh things that we're we're getting used to. And so we want to thank everybody uh that uh was with us that work security for us. Uh again, we can't we can't do these things without without you. And so thank you to everybody. Uh personal security, uh, event security, hotel security. Uh, but but again, and we can't do this without you. As I state on on these shows, uh that we uh that we air these podcast episodes, these TV show episodes, and want to give a give a big a big thank you. We weren't we weren't able to we weren't able to connect as we uh uh were were planning to do uh because schedules got uh in in the way of things as they they sometimes do. Uh but sometimes when we travel, we uh we meet individuals. Uh individuals know about voices for voices, know about us, know that we uh just a couple weeks ago presented Senator Ted Cruz with the 2025 Voice of the Year Award for his work on the Take It Down Act, as well as his work on the border with human trafficking, of uh really going after uh you know the the a lot of these bad people. Um, and so we wanted to thank uh again Senator Ted Cruz uh for being so gracious with his time, uh, for his whole staff uh that uh that made this happen for us. Want to thank Ellston Barry, uh had the unfortunate uh uh experience that drove uh the Take It Down Act to now be a federal law uh that Senator Ted Cruz from the state, great state of Texas brought up through the Senate, passed 100 to zero, and it finally passed the House of Representatives, and President Trump signed that into law. So we thank uh Elliston, we want to thank Miss Anna, we want to thank uh Mark, uh and the entire Senator Cruz team, as well as Senator Ted Cruz. Thank you so much for uh your time. Uh we're we're just grateful to have had an opportunity to meet you, shake your hand, uh, and share a lot of the good work that you do with not only in Washington, D.C., the state of Texas, but the whole United States. And really that reverberates across the world. So thank you for that. Um wanted to uh give a thank you to uh Karoline Leavitt, uh press secretary for President Trump. Uh we we crossed paths uh in our travels uh recently and we uh we had intentions of uh getting uh getting together and chatting. And uh although that didn't happen, and we weren't able to make that happen due to our schedules, uh just uh we we just weren't able to make make that uh happen. Uh we planned on it. Uh we're looking forward to it and uh look forward for the oppos for the opportunity uh to make that happen, uh to have uh have you, Karoline, uh, on our show uh to talk about all the great work that you do, that you inspire uh more than a generation. Uh, but you just inspire people to be true and authentic in the work that you do, uh, no matter where that takes you, uh, whether that wherever that takes President Trump. Uh, and we wanted to say thank you uh for uh for even recognizing voices for voices. That's that's just huge. Uh we we're grateful for that. That's the White House. This is the White House, this is you know the people's house. Uh and for Voices for Voices uh to have a voice in in the White House, no matter how small and teeny tiny that is. Uh, we want to thank you, Karoline, for uh even thinking about uh putting some time in in uh in your schedule for us. Uh so although we didn't we didn't make it happen this uh uh the this past uh travels, uh we we look forward to the time when we're able to have you on the show uh wherever that may be. Uh whether that be remote, whether that be in DC, uh where wherever that may be. Uh we would just be uh so grateful to uh to talk with you and and share and inspire others uh because you are such an inspiration, standing firm, standing authentic, uh telling things how it is uh when media individuals uh try to change the narrative on certain certain narratives. Uh sorry, I had an itch in my nose. I'm sure that's happened to you before. Uh so uh so thank you uh to uh to Karoline Love it um for even knowing what voices for voices is. So thank you. We look forward to having you on a future episode or episodes of our TV show and and podcast. Uh just uh just really awe-inspired to have uh an organization that started in my head uh and and and to have it be where where where it is is just an just incredible. And so we're just gonna close out the show uh by saying again, thank you to everybody, especially Ralph Miley, uh Alpha Omega Comic-Con, uh, the Christian uh comic convention, uh rivaling the secular comic-con for inviting us to be a uh a part of uh the the convention this year. Thank you for letting us share our talents organization-wise. Uh we have so many, so many people, so many people that helped us along the way on our uh on our on our team. And we are just thankful for that opportunity. And again, we want to let everybody know, dream. Go after those dreams. You never know where they're gonna end. Uh, you never know how far you can get. Uh, you know, we we hear the term you only you only live once, and we do. We only live once. So go after go after those dreams, those aspirations. Go after them. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Have you be the only person, the only thought that can really restrain you from what you want to do. Obviously, we're not talking about things that are things that are illegal and and that. Um we're not talking about dreams about that. We're talking about authentic dreams, people wanting to help people. That's what we're about. Voices for voices, and we uh we give a thousand percent backing to those, to you uh that want to make a positive difference in the world. Again, we're not talking about things that are illegal, we're talking about things that are legal and are helpful, are positive, are helping inspire others, and then that leads into again a big thing. You to Karoline Leavitt for even knowing what Voices for Voices is, and to even have the thought uh that we would be able to link up and uh have a conversation, uh whatever that output would have been. Uh thank you. Uh we look forward to uh the opportunity to have you on our show on our podcast uh for an episode or two. And again, it just it really does, it blows my mind uh that uh we crossed paths and uh and word got back to to me that uh uh you you were more than happy to have a conversation and just chat. Uh and although that didn't happen on on these travels, uh we we know that at some point in the not so distant future where we'll be able to have Karoline Leavitt as a guest on the Voices for Voices TV show and podcasts. So until next time, I'm your host, Justin Alan Hayes, and we ask you to dream, go for those dreams, be a voice for you or somebody in need, and the future is ours to to uh to write, to uh to put in in the record books. So go after those dreams, inspire others, inspire yourself, inspire family members, inspire people that tell you no, that say that you're doing a scam, that you're doing something you shouldn't be doing, that uh you're you you shouldn't go after that. I'm here to tell you firsthand that voices for voices isn't just a lot of work as an organization. We've had to fight tooth and nail. That's just an analogy, to to do what we're doing and to continue doing what we're doing. We have a lot of people that are telling us stop, stop, stop, you're not making a difference, you're in a scam. Uh then in in the uh in the thoughts and the the hate mail and and all that, uh it comes. And one thing that I was that has been brought to my attention that if you have people that are detracting or trying to detract from what you're doing or what your organization's doing, you're probably on the right track because there's a lot of jealousy and envy that comes with uh any type of success, any type of following those dreams. A lot of jealousy and envy come. We're individuals, we're humans, we have faults, we all do, I do. Um we all sin. Not one of us is perfect. Jesus Christ is perfect, not you, not me. Um none of us are, and so go after, go after what you want to go after, inspire, help others, be a positive influence, create that legacy. That's what I that's what I'm here for. I'm here to help people, number one, with voices for voices, and to leave a legacy for my daughter. Because that's what it's all about. My time, our time, everybody's time on earth is so limited. We don't even know. It's so limited, and so those are the two things. I want to help people, and we've already talked about and we'll continue to talk about, you know, how mental health plays that huge role in that, and how my mental illnesses, how they play that role in it. But you're not gonna stop us, you're not gonna stop voices for voices. We're gonna continue, we're gonna live on, we're gonna help people, we're gonna help even more people than we think we're gonna help. And just to know that voices for voices has gotten into the White House. Are you kidding me? That right there should be proof enough that if you're doing things for the right reason, if you're helping people, that you can also get in into the White House, have people recognize you, your brand, your organization, the work that you do, how you're helping people. And so hopefully let me be an inspiration. Have Voices for Voices be an inspiration to you, and hopefully, that inspiration leads you to inspire others in a positive way to help people, to not put people down, to come out on the side of truth, like karoline. And so we'll see on the next episode, The Voices for Voices TV Show and Podcast. Uh, we can't thank you enough. Keep tuning in, check out our over 320 other episodes of the TV show and podcast. Uh check out episode 316, Senator Ted Cruz, 2025 Voice of the Year Award winner, 317 with Oksana Bayul, 1994, uh women's single uh figure skating uh gold medalist from Ukraine, episode 317. And there's many, many, many, many, many other guests that we've had. Uh, those are just some in recent memory that I wanted to share. Uh, and if you can subscribe, like, share, give us a thumbs up, uh, follow all those things that are free. That helps us. And then that helps you as well. Because you're sharing positive content with your with your following, your followers. So thank you, Ralph Miley. Thank you, Karoline Leavitt. God bless you, God bless the United States of America, and God bless the entire world from sea to shine sea. We'll talk to you next time. Bye bye.