Meet Harry Potvin | Mental Health Advocate & Host of The Mental Corner Podcast””

We had the good fortune of connecting with Harry Potvin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harry, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The thought process came from my own personal journey with battling through mental health challenges. As a male athlete, I had been told to suppress my emotions and how I was feeling because “it wasn’t manly” to cry or show emotion. After years of suppression and convincing myself that I was just broken and that something was wrong with me, I contemplated suicide to the point where I tried to take my own life a couple of times. After the last attempt, I realized that I needed to get the help I needed not just for myself, but for the people I loved.

As I was in the process of getting therapy and going through the steps, I was asked to talk on a “Men’s Mental Health Panel” at my University. I decided that this was going to be the platform where I opened up about everything. However, a couple thoughts kept racing in my head the week leading up to the event. As a male student and the captain of the varsity swim team at the time, I kept thinking to myself “Are people going to respect me as a man? Are the swimmers on my team going to see me as less of an athlete? Is everyone going to see me as less of a person?”

I have no recollection of sharing my story. I basically blacked out as I shared my story and was vulnerable to this room of around 300 strangers and a couple of my close friends. But after I shared my story, one in the struggles and challenges I was experiencing and that a lot of people were going through their own silent battles. That’s when I decided to make the platform; because I know that a young Harry would have appreciated and needed something that showed him he wasn’t alone or crazy for how he felt. It had originally been just videos of me sharing my story, but over time became the platform that it is today where I bring on guests from all walks of life to share stories and knowledge.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As a podcast host, I think what sets me apart is my ability to listen and communicate. In this business, you need to have your research done, your questions made, and your listening ears on. On my show, while I do have the questions and research done for each episode, I find that there’s more of a free-flow conversation rather than an “interview” style to each episode. I’ve found that I excel more with this type of structure rather than the classic “Reporter/Interviewee” style, and it ultimately allows both myself and the guest to feel comfortable and willing to share more about our stories and passions.

I got to where I am currently because of the support of my awesome followers and because of hard work. Being a self-made podcaster is definitely not easy; it requires an enormous amount of time and patience when you do all the steps/scheduling/research/editing yourself. But I think that makes the end results that much sweeter; It’s work I love to do and work that keeps me learning and discovering awesome people. I think the biggest challenge would be the time commitment, but nothing that’s worth it is easy or quick.

There are so many lessons that I’ve learned along the way, but I think the biggest one is exactly the same as the message I want to share with the world. As cliché as it sounds, as much as it triggers an eye-roll in you, as much as you hear it at nauseam everywhere, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Our stories may be different, our paths may not look the same, but everyone in one form or another goes through internal battles and mental health challenges at points in their lives. It doesn’t make you crazy, it doesn’t make you weak, and it certainly doesn’t make you any less worthy of love. Keep going- we love and believe in you!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If we’re talking about my hometown of Brooklin, Ontario then there are definitely a couple little gems that we’d have to go visit, even if the town itself isn’t very large.

-> We have a couple good food places like Pipers Arms and The Brooklin Pub. The Pub is kind of the main hub of our town; great food, great atmosphere and right in the heart of downtown Brooklin. Since the pandemic, they’ve opened up an outdoor dining area that has really added an awesome touch

-> There isn’t much to do in my town to be completely honest (most of us head down to Whitby or Toronto if we want a big night out), but one of the biggest attractions for me personally are the green spaces. We have a lot of opportunities to follow trails down to little creeks and ponds, and it gives you the opportunity to distance yourself from the loud, busy atmosphere of society and take a moment to rest and appreciate nature. I think out of anything, I would bring my friend there; simply because it offers such tranquility and a calm peace of mind. I know, in my own personal experience, these little escapes have helped me and my mental health tremendously.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s so many people that deserve a shoutout in this section, and I’m almost certain I’ll forget someone. I’ll start with the obvious ones: My family, my friends, the University of Guelph varsity Swim team, my coworkers when I was working at the Toronto Zoo. All of these people showed and continue to show immense amounts of unconditional love and support that I’ll never take for granted.

Additionally, I’d like to shout out the University of Guelph as a whole. When I started there in 2016, mental health and mental health resources were very hard to come by and the quality was not very high. By the time I left in 2020, it had improved dramatically and the quality had risen ten-fold. As a former student, I really appreciate the leaps and bounds they’ve made to ensure positive mental health and effective mental health resources within their students

I’d also like to shout out the book a couple people who helped me push my story out before I decided to go on this joruney. Without any of these people being there in the beginning, I don’t think I would’ve ever decided to open up about everything going on in my head:

-> Leah Diseris, a writer for Usports Canada, who shared a part of my story on the big stage in 2019. It was terrifying and emotional to be open on this big of a platform for the first time (even though I didn’t share all of it), but she wrote the article so well and really made it easy. I’ll never forget our interaction

-> Taylor Staden, host of The Mental Dive Podcast. The very first podcast I had ever been a guest on and someone who ultimately motivated me to start my own podcast and platform. Thank you for letting me share my story and for being such a great host

-> UndressTheJersey, who shared my story very early on before I was ever willing to share much about my mental health challenges. Thank you for cracking the armour and being the first one to really turn that wheel in my head.

Instagram: @thementalcorner

Twitter: @corner_mental

Facebook: The Mental Corner

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheMentalCorner

Other: My Podcast Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-mental-corner-podcast/id1536933578

Image Credits
In the 3rd photo where it’s just me looking at the camera, I want to give credit to my awesome friend Kyle Saliendra (@composedbykyle). He’s an amazing photographer and an amazing friend