What is your book called and what is it about?
Nobody Can Save Me: Redefining Mental Health with Hope and Action
Nobody Can Save Me empowers readers to take control of their own lives by providing essential skills, insights, and strategies for personal change. The book emphasises that each individual possesses the capacity to create meaningful transformations, encouraging a proactive approach to wellness. By reclaiming responsibility for their health and happiness, readers are inspired to cultivate fulfilling lives on their own terms, just as I was able to do with my pain and challenges.
Tell us more about you?
I’m a passionate mental health advocate dedicated to fostering awareness, acceptance, education, and connection within communities to combat the global stigma surrounding mental health and suicide. Drawing from my own lived experiences and the heartbreaking loss of friends, I aim to create open platforms for communication, encouraging individuals and communities to address and manage their wellbeing.
In 2016, fuelled by a rediscovery of hope and kindness, I founded Mindfull Aus at just 24 years old. As a full-time advocate, I have delivered over 2,500 speeches, keynotes, workshops, and events across Australia, including nine tours of the United States.
Let us get to know you a little better by answering these quickfire questions:
What is your favourite book?
Johann Hari – Lost Connections. Or Brené Brown – Braving the Wilderness.
What is your favourite podcast at the moment?
No education in the ears, 6 months of nothing to recoup and learn internally from the pause and quiet.
Who is your role model?
My father – hardworking, caring, and insightful.
Who in your life has inspired you the most and why?
I feel as if I don’t get inspired by external things. I don’t look at others and want to be like them, weirdly enough. I lean on musical lyrics to give me hope and drive when I need it. I relate to others’ experiences and am driven within/internally.
What is your coffee order?
No Coffee, have been free from it for 6 years thanks to mania. I take the chai or the smoothie.
Pet peeves?
People who operate out of entitlement. Being selfish or unappreciative.
What inspired you to write this book?
My inspiration for writing Nobody Can Save Me stemmed from my experience as a speaker, reaching hundreds of thousands of people each year. I wanted to provide a tangible resource that would allow individuals to access and benefit from the skills and insights I shared, even in my absence. My goal was to empower readers to implement meaningful changes in their lives, ensuring that they have the tools they need to thrive, regardless of whether they attended my talks.
How did you find the process of writing and publishing your book?
Working with Dean Publishing made the entire process of writing my book seamless and achievable. While the journey was cathartic and reflective, it also posed challenges, as I had to confront and relive parts of my story that I often overlooked or left unsaid. The emotional vulnerability of sharing my life in a book was daunting, but it has ultimately been rewarding to see how many people have read, gifted, or used it to inspire meaningful changes in their own lives.
What surprised you most about the writing process?
What surprised me most about the writing process was the sheer volume of experiences to unpack. I realised how often we overlook parts of our lives that we deem unimportant, only to find they resonate deeply with others. As someone who enjoys writing, journalling, and reflecting, much of it felt natural. However, I also found myself grappling with a sense of dissatisfaction in the text, but knowing that growth is an ongoing journey, there’s always more to explore and understand, and that realisation keeps me motivated.
What do you hope the reader gets from reading this book?
I want people to discover and embrace their inner strength by tapping into their unique qualities. By better understanding themselves, they can unlock their potential and harness the power that lies within, leading to a more authentic and fulfilling life. To know their own capacity, to help themselves or others around them. It’s our responsibility.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to write a book but doesn’t know how?
It’s important to ensure the timing is right when writing a book. Rather than seeking to be understood, approach the process from a place of contribution. To truly make an impact, you should have a solid grasp of your topic, enabling you to offer compelling insights that will engage readers and encourage them to pick up your book. If you want to write a book and the timing is right, the rest takes care of itself.
Go to Dean Publishing with an open mind, nothing on paper, a blank canvas. Let their skills unravel what is already within you, rather than a script, as often that is where the significance is rearing its head!
