True healing starts the day you feel understood. When you are real, there are no demons to hide from.
Mitch is a leader in the wellbeing space with a lifelong mission to ‘change the way the world feels’.
His goal is to transform the lives of 1 billion people to be more mentally healthy. He is achieving this through the content he produces, the organisations he runs, and the programs he develops.
After working at Microsoft for almost 7 years, he left his successful corporate career to devote himself full-time to helping people overcome suffering and reimagine the healing potential of the mind through the power of storytelling, connection and living with authenticity.
Mitch is a mental health expert - holding a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Columbia University in New York, and he has over 20 years of lived experience with mental ill health including anxiety, depression, and OCD. He is the creator of “Real Conversations” - a culture change program for high-performing organisations, training them in emotionally intelligent communication and an accomplished keynote speaker having delivered talks to tens of thousands of people, including some of the most recognised companies in the world such as Amazon, American Express, Salesforce, KPMG, and dozens more.
He has been an advisor to the United Nations on the topic of youth mental health and has been named a Man of Impact by GQ. He was appointed the first-ever ambassador for the Australia & New Zealand Mental Health Association and is currently an expert advisor to the Corporate Mental Health Alliance. He’s been featured in wellbeing campaigns by the likes of Allianz and LinkedIn, and featured in top news publications like Sky News, Huffington Post and Channel 10’s The Project.
He is accredited in mental health first aid and is a trained Lifeline crisis supporter. Mitch runs a popular podcast that has featured guests like Harvard Psychologist Dr Daniel Siegel and mindfulness guru Mallika Chopra, as well as personalities such as Ms Universe and world-class Olympians. His social media videos have reached millions of people and won the award of “most inspiring mental health video of the year”.
Mitch is also a social entrepreneur - holding a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Sydney. He is most well known for being the founder of Heart On My Sleeve - a leading global mental health movement that helps people drop the brave face and be real about how they feel. He is also a private investor in Australia’s #1 non-alcoholic craft beer “Heaps Normal”.
He is here to talk to us about what it means to be human.
Talking Points
Pretending is Painful: The path to emotional freedom & internal strength
For everyone (focus: supporting self)Pretending is Painful: The path to emotional freedom & internal strength
The first step to emotional wellbeing is to feel understood. In this keynote, Mitch provides a platform for every person in the room to drop the brave face and realise they are not alone.
This talk is designed to eradicate stigma and
increase awareness & understanding of mental health, resulting in deeper appreciation for the experiences of others that might not be so well understood at present. It provides educational soundbites that can be implemented from the instant someone leaves the room. This talk also inspires action by encouraging people to speak up and make it commonplace to have emotional wellbeing conversations.
Topics and outcomes:
- The 3 ingredients necessary to get out of the “stuck cycle” and reorientate our perspective toward growth (not surviving)
- The 4 truths about mental health that removes the “them vs. us mentality” with a clear north star to aim for in our personal lives
- 10 resilience tools that form the ultimate mental health toolkit that enables ANYONE to improve the strength of their nervous system
- The #1 call-to-action that motivates people to step forward and take charge of their internal world
Care-full Leadership: The core tenants of high performing, modern & inclusive leaders
For People Managers (focus: supporting staff)Care-full Leadership: The core tenants of high performing, modern & inclusive leaders
Leaders set the cultural tone and are incredibly influential in establishing psychological safety, or placing it under threat. In fact, a manager at work is one of the top three most impactful people in an individual’s life that effects their emotional wellbeing.
In this keynote, Mitch increases leader’s understanding of their role as it relates to employee wellbeing, and drive commitment and accountability to adopting a whole-of-company approach to a more caring culture. Care-full leadership is about understanding how to bring the best out of people, which you can’t do that unless you know how to CONNECT with them.
Topics and outcomes:
- The key mindset that separates good leaders from great leaders that 90% of people managers don’t adopt
- Understanding the difference between a heart-led vs. head-dominated approach to leading teams and the consequences of “leaning out”
- The #1 responsibility of the workplace that mitigates legal liability, meets ethical expectations and ensures economic productivity
- The 4 pillars that embed psychological safety in the workplace including: protection, support, empowerment & role modelling.
- 3 tips for increasing emotional intelligence and team cohesion
Care-full Support: The immutable laws of a helpful conversation
For everyone (focus: supporting peers)Care-full Support: The immutable laws of a helpful conversation
Most people freeze up or freak out in the moments that matter most i.e. when someone says “I’m not ok”. However, we shouldn’t be leaning out of conversations which could change or save lives by understanding a few key fundamentals of human psychology.
In this keynote, Mitch empowers the audience discover the root cause of their inability to help someone properly, and learn exactly what it takes to eliminate that forever. It’s been proven in thousands of scenarios where lifelong supporters went from feeling shame that they’ve let someone down in critical moments, to feeling completely fulfilled and confident that they are communicating therapeutically as an emotional ally.
Topics and outcomes:
- The #1 clinical study that illustrates the hidden secret of connection
- The 3 attachment styles that negatively affect your interpersonal relationships and how to identify them
- The “Golden Ratio of Support” that can 2x your ability guide someone through a difficult time
- The 4 personas of care-less communication that erodes trust and leads to distance instead of strength
- The #1 metric of a therapeutic conversation to avoid falling into the pitfall of rupture
- Top 10 mistakes that 90% of us make when trying to be helpful or supportive, without knowing it can make others feel worse
Video
Mitch Wallis | One of the Top thought Leaders in Emotional Wellbeing | Saxton Speakers
One of the most credible mental health speakers in the world. Book Mitch to speak at your company, conference or event.Mitch Wallis | Mental Health Microdocumentary | Saxton Speakers
Mitch Wallis' journey with mental health.Heart On My Sleeve Movement for Mental Health | Mitch Wallis | Saxton Speakers
The Heart On Your Sleeve Movement is a human-led human-grown social campaign designed to break down the stigma of mental health amongst young millennials. Talk to anyone who has a mental health challenge and you will get the same answer: on the outside it may seem like society has made big steps forward accepting mental illness, but there is still a strong stigma in this country. People are quick to label others (consciously or subconsciously) as weak, crazy, boring or “too much effort”. There may be an epidemic of suicide, but the real underlying problem is the epidemic of loneliness. The numbers tell us that things aren’t getting better, and something needs to change.My lowest point ever with mental health (trigger warning) | Mitch Wallis | Saxton Speakers
A short video of my lowest point ever. I am grateful to be in such a positive headspace today, but it's important to acknowledge where I've been so others know they are not alone.Such a fantastic session and I could've listened for hours from a leaderships side as well as a personal. Such great advice around being more open, a better listener and just being available ... keep reading American Express
It’s authenticity. The story that Mitch tells, and the way he tells it, breaks through. We’ve been having this conversation about wellness for a long time, inside of Microsoft, and making progress. But there’s no question that when we introduced Mitch to the team and saw how he shared his personal story it resonated in a way we hadn’t been able to get through in the past.
Mitch’s keynote events and workshops are always delivered with great proficiency. Mitch is an extremely knowledgeable and engaging speaker in the mental health space who has the ability to capture the audience, across each level of the organisation, with real passion and authenticity. Each program Mitch has delivered across our organisation is met with positive feedback and we have our people continuing to ask for more.
Honest and raw. Mitch shares his story with such passion & authenticity. A must for all in business. The learnings & insights will stay with you.
