From 150 To 355: How A Mental Health Podcast Grew Across 90 Countries (Episode 357)

From 150 To 355: How A Mental Health Podcast Grew Across 90 Countries (Episode 357)

Records are exciting, but the reason behind them means more. We nearly doubled our all-time monthly listenership in October 2025 and crossed past 355 episodes, and we’re taking a moment to say thank you while grounding the celebration in what matters: real mental health stories, practical resources, and a global community that shows up for one another.

We walk through the milestones and reflect on how this show grew from episode 150 last year to a worldwide audience in 90 countries and almost 900 cities. Along the way, we highlight why every conversation—solo or with guests—sits on a foundation of lived experience and mental health advocacy. If you or someone you love needs support, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States offers call, text, and chat, staffed by people who understand crisis and trauma. That empathy is the difference between information and care, and it’s central to our mission.

You’ll also hear shoutouts to new listeners in Morocco, China, South Korea, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Israel, UAE, Japan, Malaysia, France, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Sweden, New Zealand, Ukraine, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Nigeria, Tanzania, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Oman, Cyprus, Uruguay, Turkey, and more. We share how to listen without an app at voicesforvoices.org/podcast, where to connect on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, and LinkedIn, and what’s new with our blogs and Voices for VoicesⓇ Publishing. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we invite volunteers, donors, and future guests who want to help us reach an audacious goal: serve three billion people over a lifetime and beyond.

If this message resonates, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review to help more people find mental health support and stories that heal. Tell us where you’re listening from and what topic you want next—we’re listening.

Chapter Markers

0:02 Milestones And Gratitude

1:30 October 2025 Listenership Records

6:15 Mental Health As The Core Mission

8:45 988 Lifeline And Lived Experience

10:16 New Countries Joining The Audience

14:08 How To Subscribe And Find Episodes

18:29 Nonprofit Mission And Ways To Help

21:28 Publishing, Blogs, And Social Platforms

22:54 Partner Page: Mythical Creatures Project

23:19 Recap, Perspective, And Invitation

#MentalHealthPodcast #PodcastGrowth #GlobalPodcasts #MentalHealthAwareness #PodcastJourney #CrossCulturalConversations #WellnessTalks #AudienceExpansion #MindfulListening #InternationalPodcasts #PositiveChangePodcast #EmotionalWellbeing #EngagingContentCreation #MentalHealthMatters #StorytellingInPodcasts #justiceforsurvivors #justice4survivors #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion #TikTok #Instagram #truth #Jesusaire #VoiceForChange #HealingTogether #VoicesForVoices357

Chapters

• 0:02 Milestones And Gratitude
• 1:30 October 2025 Listenership Records
• 6:15 Mental Health As The Core Mission
• 8:45 988 Lifeline And Lived Experience
• 10:16 New Countries Joining The Audience
• 14:08 How To Subscribe And Find Episodes
• 18:29 Nonprofit Mission And Ways To Help
• 21:28 Publishing, Blogs, And Social Platforms
• 22:54 Partner Page: Mythical Creatures Project
• 23:19 Recap, Perspective, And Invitation

Transcript

Justin Alan Hayes, Voices for Voices: 0:02

Hey everyone, it's Justin with Voices for Voices. Thank you again for joining us on this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I'm your host, Justin Alan Hayes. Thank you for being with us. We're well over 355 episodes, and we can't do this without you. Thank you for all the love and support you've given us from 90 countries, close to 900 cities across this beautiful planet Earth that we are uh grateful to be living on at this moment, and wanted to give a big shout out uh to all our viewers and listeners, uh especially as we uh turned a page and now being in the month of uh November of the year 2025, and as we were closing out the month of October 2025, uh we started to uh realize that it was a record month uh for our show. And just to give a little bit of insight of uh what that uh was, uh October, uh the month of October of 2025 was the highest single month of listenership uh on the show for over the two and a half years we've uh been on the air. And it's only because of you uh watching uh and in this instance listening, uh we were breaking records uh on the video side, the TV side as well. Uh, but we uh just broke a huge, huge record. Uh that we just about uh we were close to doubling the amount of uh listeners uh in the month of October 2025 uh versus uh back in 2023 when we had uh our peak of our uh listenership uh up until that point. So uh again, we can't do that without you, we couldn't do that without you. Uh so again, thank you for all your love and support. Uh also we uh sometimes uh and and you may be reminded of this as well on different social media profiles and channels where you know uh you know memories will pop up from a you know a certain day, a certain time, and in one of the days of October 2025, so again, a record uh month in uh listenership uh of our show in the month of October 25, 2025. We a year ago in 2024 in October, we had just dropped episode 150, and we're over uh three hundred and fifty-five now, so that puts us over uh a plus two hundred and five episodes uh from last year to this year, with with this year being the plus two hundred and five episodes. Uh so not only did we have a record month that way, uh, but we also had that record month of uh listenership. Uh and it's it's uh yeah, it's uh it's it's really just amazing as we take a moment to take stock and where we're at. Um, and and so we want to say thank you for watching, thank you for listening, thank you for bringing Voices for Voices and the Voices for Voices movement into your homes, into your dorms, into your apartments, and your condos, your houses, uh, your hostels, hotels, motels, anywhere that you you may be. Thank you for allowing us the privilege uh to come into your your life at uh whatever whatever point uh that that uh that you're at. So we not only want to uh say you know God bless the United States of America, but we want to say God bless every single one of you uh all across the world, uh, because we are we are reaching uh 90 countries getting closer and closer to 900 cities. Um and so the 90 countries, so that includes uh you know provinces and territories uh. Uh so again, thank you for uh looking to voices for voices uh as a uh a preferred way to uh not only get news um but really just hear about life, hear about life stories uh with the big underpinning of uh mental health. And that is how we were founded, um, and and that's how our shows are. And so while some of our shows might not explicitly say the words mental health, they do indeed, because of my mental illnesses, uh, they all the shows, whether I'm doing a solo show, whether I'm doing uh a show with a guest or multiple guests, um they they all have that mental health uh kind of that main foundation and pillar as we uh walk through our uh our episodes. And thank you for your belief in in us. Uh it's just uh just this incredible, incredible feeling. We we start you know as you know, dreams and ideas and and then to actually execute against it to go against all odds, um, to go against hurdles, to go uh I mean we all face hurdles all all day, every day. We all face hurdles. Uh and and so that's something that's we all face. It's not just me, it's not just our organization, we all face them. Uh and we just thank you for letting us be an authority on on that. And again, uh we may not be experts on a lot of things, but we're experts on ourselves. Uh, and so just uh you know share that that uh you're an expert on your on yourself and only you know how you're how you're feeling and uh know that if you are somebody knows facing a mental health crisis, uh there's the 988 hotline here in the United States. You can text, you can call, you can head over to the 988 hotline uh website, uh and you can chat there. Uh, and so it's uh it's available uh for no charge. Uh, there's people that actually have gone through trauma and gone through um gone through some tough times uh that themselves, not to say they're going through what you're going through, uh, but just know that uh you're not just talking to somebody that has the book smart, you're talking to someone with lived experience. And as we uh as we get rolling here with this episode or continue, uh you'll mentioned uh the the record um of the month of October 2025. We uh included in in those uh uh in those uh records in those analytics come geographies, the different countries and provinces and and and and that and some of the new ones uh want to be sure to call out uh because it's it's because of it's because of you, it's because of uh where uh where where you're at, where we live, and it's it's incredible to have you and so many others tune in, whether you're watching or listening, uh whether here in the United States, across the world, here in Northeast Ohio, or somewhere uh far away. And uh so I'm gonna I'm gonna just read off our most recent uh countries and and territories that have have tuned in to be part of uh the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast network. Uh so we'll get started. The first country is the most recent, and that is Morocco. Welcome to the Voices for Voices TV show Morocco, as well as uh the countries of China, South Korea, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Israel, United Arab Emirates, or UAE, Japan, Malaysia, France, Russia, Russian Federation, Ireland, Kurzakstan, Sweden, New Zealand, Ukraine, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Nigeria, Tanzania, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Egypt, Sweden, already meant Sweden, uh, Oman, Cyprus, Uruguay, and Turkey. And there's many more countries and territories that uh have been tuning in for quite a quite a while. These are uh these are the most uh the newest, the late, the latest that have uh have joined joined us. And so we want to welcome one and all, whether you're from one of those countries or territories, the United States, or from any new country and territory. We do have a huge goal of uh wanting to help in some way, some shape, some form, uh, at least three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. And uh we can't do it alone. And and so we are part of the uh the human race, and and so we all have a lot of a lot of things that we are uh very similar, uh, then we are dissimilar. And again, this is the voices for voices, TV show and podcast, welcome, one and all. Uh, if you can give us a big thumbs up, like, follow, share, smash that subscribe button. Not physically breaking the subscribe button, uh, but uh you know pressing the mouse, pressing the key to uh to add yourself so you are kept in the loop of our uh most recent shows as well as uh the um the the first shows that we we've done. And what I like to tell our viewers or listeners, no matter how you're watching or listening at this very time, that uh you you don't need an app to uh listen to our our episodes, you can go to www.voices for voices dot org forward slash podcast. And so that is www.voices for voices.org forward slash podcast, and just one more time, they say the power of three. You can reach our podcast audio, all episodes, the most recent at the top of the list that you'll see. You can find that. Lastly, for the third time, power of three, it's what they say with marketing. So that is www dot voices for, and this is spelled out for four voices.org. So that's voices, f o r voices.org forward slash podcast, and that gets you everything, uh, all the content that that we uh that we have. And we also uh make social media posts. Uh, and so we're on uh TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, uh maybe, maybe missing one uh here and there. And we also have blogs, uh blogs uh for each episode. Uh we have uh we have a lot of work to do to get those blogs uh up to date, uh, but you can find that at voicesforvoices.org and then the drop down uh you know of uh you know what we do, and then you can uh you can find the blog uh where it says B-L-O-G, click on that, and then all the all the blogs that we have um that are live are out there. And again, we uh uh there's so much work to do as as you know, uh if you're you work digitally um at any uh at any level, whether you're you're professionally uh work on social media or just you you work on your uh your personal social media that um try to uh oh I'm gonna add LinkedIn. We also have a voices for voices LinkedIn uh profile as well, as well as adjust an Alan Hayes uh profile. Uh so we try to try to cater to everybody as best as we uh best as we can. Uh and we know there sometimes those fall through the cracks. Uh so if you could help us out and do uh do us a big favor and and again subscribe, like, follow, share, give us a thumbs up that helps uh our uh our show uh reach as many people as uh it's as humanly possible. And for those of you that don't know, Voices for Voices is a charity. It is we are a 501c3 nonprofit charity organization, so we do accept donations of any denomination, and uh we do accept volunteers, individuals that want to help uh share our mission of uh sharing uh stories, events of mental health, mental illnesses like myself, which is how voices for voices got started. So every episode, every bit of content you see and hear from Voices for Voices, it has again that underpinning, that foundation, that pillar of mental health and mental illness. Uh and I realize that uh we do have similarities as humans, but we also have uh non-similarities. Uh, and so just because I'm going through something or I've been through something, or one of our guests has been through something, uh, doesn't necessarily mean that every single one of our viewers and listeners and supporters and sponsors and donors are uh what that means is that we're all going through something. Uh we've heard the heard the uh you know the tagline, you know, everybody's going through something. You know, we don't know uh if we look next to us, if we're in public, uh don't know what the person next to us is going through, uh as well as they don't know what we're going through. And so we're really really excited to be able to share these updates to kind of give a little status up update on on this particular show because we have again a lot of growth uh with uh with the episodes, with the shows, with guests. Uh, we do have five five books that uh we have under Voices for Voices Publishing. More to come very soon. And you can find those on our Amazon.com uh voices for voices publishing page. And uh we uh we're we're ecstatic to be able to uh go into defin the different areas but still maintain that mental health, uh again, that mental health underpinning foundation of voices for voices. And you're gonna be seeing and hearing uh many more to to come as the the days and weeks and the months go by. Uh and and so we're we're excited to be able to be in a position to do that. Uh, and uh we're excited to be able to share uh share those with uh with with the world. Um and we are uh very closely, very closely tied together with mythical creatures around the world, uh, Facebook page, uh which shares folklore, uh stories, uh artwork uh from all over the world. And so we we invite you not only to follow the Voices for Voices Facebook page, but also uh follow the mythical creatures around the world Facebook page, uh, because you'll you'll be finding some uh similarities as as again we we move forward in the coming days, weeks, and months uh that you will um potentially see uh the the folklore, the the artwork uh that was or is on mythical creatures around the world in a more commercial setting. Uh so for the masses, so for uh for the people, all the people, no matter where where you're at. So uh this is a little bit of a shorter episode, but I think it's a uh it's a good one just to kind of refresh and and uh talk about our uh talk about our records. Uh so uh just in case you're you're not aware of of that, that again, October 2025, uh we had the most uh listeners uh almost doubling the next highest month in 2023, and a year ago, we were on episode 150 in 2024, and we uh are well have surpassed now episode 355. Uh so we have uh just a lot of a lot of things that you know where we get into weeds a lot and and to really like pull back and to look at like where we've been and where we're at, uh it puts the puts things in perspective of um yeah where we've been, where we're at, and and that where we are continuing uh down this journey. So thank you for joining us. Uh one and all, if you're near, you're far, you're watching and you're listening. If you're for a show, if this is uh if you've been with us from the beginning, uh we again we ask that you follow, share, subscribe, thumbs up, uh, comment, reach out if you if you uh are interested in being a guest on the show. Uh we'd love to hear from you. So please reach out. And until next time, I am uh Justin Alan Hayes with Voices for Voices. Uh let's celebrate the voice in all of us and please be a voice for you or somebody in need. Bye bye for now.