What I've Learnt - Hunter Johnson

Hunter Johnson is the Founder & CEO of The Man Cave, a charity that has impacted the lives of 20,000 young men across Australia. He also leads STUFF™, a purpose-driven personal care brand for the next generation of men. Hunter is an Advisor to The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust a charity championing young people throughout the Commonwealth alongside Prince Harry, the President of QCT. Hunter's work has led him to speak around the world including presenting at the United Nations, Government House, Human Rights Commission, and Sydney Opera House just to name a few.He has been recognized as a Finalist for the 2020 Young Australian of the Year Awards and listed as one of Harper's Bazaar's "Visionary Men for 2019", Also named a Queen's Young Leader by Her Majesty The Queen, and the Winner of the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.Men at risk of becoming socially isolated following the global pandemic will now be able to access new ways of receiving support for their mental health, thanks to Hunter’s work with Movember. The Man Cave is now supported with funding over the next two years through Movember’s Social Connections Challenge. The SCC aims at identifying strategies that will strengthen the social connections of men who are struggling with isolation and poor mental health, particularly in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns.Results of a study commissioned by Movember in May 2020 found that nearly a quarter of men globally (23 percent) reported their mental health had worsened in the first six weeks of the pandemic.So this funding is also helping Hunter develop the Man Cave TV featuring funny, educational, and dynamic video content on topics such as sex, death, wellbeing, and relationships.Hunter is passionate about making a social change having seen Jp the impacts of mental illness, depression, and domestic violence in his own teen years. “I saw a lot of guys who we really cared about experiencing years of anxiety and depression and unfortunately suicide – but no one talking about it. And so we thought if we could just create a space where young me could open up, start to develop some language, and have the permission to be a bit more intimate and vulnerable and make that cool and normal, then the world would be a much better place.”So, in 2014 The Man Cave was created with their first-ever workshop kicking off at Frankston High School and since then, the program has gone from strength to strength - also receiving international recognition – when the Royal Family flies you over to accept the Queen’s Young Leader Award, it’s a good sign you’re on the right track!The Man Cave concept is to send relatable charismatic male facilitators into high schools who create a safe space for young men to “take off the mask they wear every day.” The workshops are designed to make the boys realize that some of the challenges they face are widely shared by their peers, they’re not alone, and then give them the practical and emotional tools to navigate through this part of their life.Their team of facilitators has been hand-picked to connect with the boys at a level that engenders trust and engagement.  Hunter describes his facilitators as wide-ranging; “…from your classic Melbourne hipster to a salt-of-the-earth country bloke to an indigenous Australia to a former refugee, a former child soldier. The idea is that our boys that we work with see a piece of themselves in the role models coming into their schools.”The program creates a safe place amongst the boys to discuss how they see the societal rules of being a man in comparison to their own version of masculinity.Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBkBuzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850