Johnny Crowder

Johnny Crowder is a 29-year-old suicide/abuse survivor, TEDx speaker, touring musician, mental health and sobriety advocate, and the Founder & CEO of Cope Notes, a text-based mental health platform that provides daily support to users in nearly 100 countries around the world.

But in the years leading up to these incredible leaps in advocacy, every day was a battle against schizophrenic hallucinations and suicidal ideation. After a lifetime of resisting professional care and shying away from sharing his story, Johnny’s curiosity flowered, and the healing slowly began.

Armed with 10 years of clinical treatment, a psychology degree from the University of Central Florida, and a decade of peer support and public advocacy through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Johnny’s youthful vigor for mental health has impacted millions of lives across the globe.

Since his first keynote in 2011, Johnny’s 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 metal band, Prison, his infectious positivity and firsthand experience with multiple mental illnesses (ranging from bipolar disorder and PTSD to OCD and beyond) uniquely equip him to provide realistic, yet hopeful insight into the pains of hardship with authenticity, levity, and unconventional wit.