About Johnny
Johnny Crowder is a suicide/abuse survivor, TEDx speaker, Billboard-charing heavy metal musician, 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.
Armed with a decade of clinical treatment, a psychology degree from the University of Central Florida, and 10+ years 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 candid perspective has attracted praise from hundreds of outlets, including Upworthy, Forbes, and CNN World. Whether commanding a virtual stage or touring with his Billboard-charting metal band, Prison, his infectious positivity and firsthand experience with multiple diagnoses uniquely equip him to provide realistic insight and inspiration amidst the pains of hardship with genuine care, levity, and unconventional wit.
View Popular Speaking Topics
Beyond Coping
The Surprising Productivity of Self-Care
Awards & Publications
- Forbes NEXT 1000
- Startup of the Year
- People's Choice Winner
- Powderkeg's Top 100 in Healthtech
More About Johnny
As a Certified Recovery Peer Specialist and the Founder/CEO of the globally-utilized positive psychology startup Cope Notes, Johnny Crowder gives audiences practical self-care tools and mental health strategies that people can begin using today to improve their emotional health and wellbeing. With infectious positivity, humor, and authenticity, this trauma survivor shows audiences why opening up about mental health is the key to coping, and why the most resilient organizational cultures proudly prioritize and support mental health for all.
Whether he’s discussing ordinary, everyday struggles or challenges like anxiety, depression, addiction, burnout, and compassion fatigue, Johnny Crowder confronts the myths that keep people stuck. As he explains in his 2020 TEDx Talk that garnered over one million views and catapulted him to the world stage, good mental health is like physical health—quick fixes and miracle cures don’t work. Instead, Johnny gives audiences a toolkit of self-care and wellness techniques they can put into practice immediately to re-wire the brain for positivity over time, coupled with a blueprint for making mental and emotional wellbeing a cultural cornerstone in any workplace.
Johnny’s own personal experiences of poverty and abuse, his deep knowledge of psychology, and his remarkable ability to explain complex topics in an easy-to-understand way make for presentations that are both powerful and practical. His 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 Billboard-charting heavy metal band, Prison, his firsthand experience with mental illness and infectiously positive humor never fail to resonate, educate, and inspire.
Reviews
Huge hit
- Molly Sjostrom
Johnny is SO very real! From the moment I met him, he felt like a trusted friend. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! He absolutely had a positive impact on more than 2000 of our employees today with extremely strong survey results with a score of 4.9/5 across key metrics!!
Best speaker
- Paige Stanton
Johnny Crowder has been one of, if not the best speakers I have had the privilege of working with. His powerful story paired with his relatability allowed for the students at our event to really connect and have meaningful conversations around their mental health. We even had students wanting to take positive action in their own lives and seek treatment after hearing Johnny’s story! Johnny comes fully prepared to engage with the audience and tailors his talks to the specific population of your event. I cannot sing high enough praises about the impact he has had on our community! We are so grateful to have such a fierce advocate for mental well-being like Johnny as a friend!
never disappoints
- Sam Wagner
I’ve been fortunate enough to hear Johnny a handful of times, both in-person and virtually, and he never disappoints. He has a way of instantly building a connection with his audience, keeping them interested and entertained with his storytelling all the while driving the message and importance of mental health in his presentation. He is inspiring, talented, and insightful. Don’t be surprised if you go from laughing to tears in a matter of minutes as you’ll be in awe of the person you’re listening to. Thank you for sharing your story with others. It’s making an impact on so many people, including my own.
Perfect fit
- Wendy Belfield
Johnny was the Keynote speaker at the Pasco County Schools Mental Health Symposium. We were really struggling to figure out how to support three virtual sessions for our Symposium this school year. And Johnny was the perfect fit and partner for us throughout that journey. Personally, I could not be more grateful for his flexibility, communication, and participation across all three sessions. I honestly don’t know that we would have been able to manage that with another Keynote. Our experience with Johnny was fantastic!
positive & energetic
- Dr. Jenna Sage
I’ve never seen a speaker drive such positive, energetic engagement in a virtual setting. Halfway through Q&A, my inbox was flooded with encore requests from our staff. Due to the demand, we invited him back a second time, and unsurprisingly, it was another smash hit. The impact Johnny’s talk has made on our company culture is still talked about to this day. He truly became part of the UMA family!
Impeccable!
- Guela Ferguson
Johnny was the keynote speaker at our recent dinner for philanthropic professionals and the response from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive! Attendees shared that they appreciated Johnny’s very personal presentation style and his willingness to engage with them. Johnny was very attentive during the two pre-session meetings we had in tailoring the session to best suit the needs of our audience. He took our input to heart and incorporated ideas and concepts seamlessly into his presentation without sacrificing any of his core messaging. The attention to timelines, deadlines, requests for additional information and session descriptions was impeccable and very much appreciated!
absolutely recommend
- Jennifer Wills
Johnny’s talk was very well received and the youth who attended the BRAVE Summit learned about acceptance, and that it is ok to not be ok from Johnny. The excitement has not quelled and the youth are still talking about the talk that Johnny gave and how he inspired them to take control of their mental health and seek help when needed. I would absolutely recommend Johnny to speak to ANY group
refreshing!
- Jess Atchison
It is refreshing to see a speaker of his caliber take the time to interact with attendees in such an authentic way. Johnny was personable, kind, relatable, and compassionate to each conference attendee and staff member he interacted with, and was definitely a key highlight of our event.
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