Meet Jaí Huntley | Clinical Therapist & Founder of Protect Your Mental

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

Hi Jaí, as a parent, what have you done for you children that you feel has had the most significant impact?
I’m grateful for this question. Being a fresh parent has been the wildest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I have a 2 year old son who is the coolest little kid on the planet. He’s a big part of why I’m able to experience true joy and happiness. I don’t rely on him to make me feel happy, but he’s a big reason why I’m able to experience joy. I’ve experienced highs and I’ve experienced lows. But as a whole, this journey has been something I will forever be grateful for. With being a parent, I think all of what you do and how you show up is super important. But since we’re focusing on one thing, one of the most important things I’m doing as a parent is being a safe haven for my son. I get joy of picking him up from school as he runs up to me like a game of tag and he’s reached home base. These moments fuel my intentionality of being a present parent. But don’t get me wrong, parentHOOD has it’s ghetto moments, but I’m grateful that I have my hood (village) behind me supporting my partner and I along the ride of our parenthood journey.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I would describe myself to be a multifaceted clinical therapist with over 5 years of experience working with numerous types of clients. Within my clinical role, my work primarily consist of providing direct care to individuals who experience addictions and mental health related conditions. Getting to this point in my career was a damn roller coaster ride to say the lease. There were so many people routing for me and had the ability to see the light in me that I couldn’t see in myself at the time. There were SO MANY times I wanted to throw in the towel just because things felt too hard. I’ve learned later on that tough times build muscle and lord know’s I needed some more skin in the game to go down the path God has created for me. Getting through the tough times consisted of engaging in my own therapy and pushing myself to engage in the things that initially made me feel uncomfortable. If I could give unsolicited advice, do the hard things. Do the things that initially make you feel scared. What I’ve learned is that doing hard things is essential to our growth, success, and sense of fulfillment. This allows us to overcome obstacles, expand our comfort zones, achieve goals, learn and grow, and ultimately we inspire others along the way. On a deeper note, I believe God had to show me that I can overcome hard things and in results has made me his vessel to encourage others like me to be able to do the same things.

In relation to Protect Your Mental, my passion and mission is to build a community for my fellow millennials to help educate on the topic of mental health in a way that one can understand/relate and practice in order to protect their mental health on a daily basis. My efforts consist of using my digital media platform to create content on topics I’m educated on or personal matters I’m going through that others can resonate from.

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.
Owww, I love this question too! So if I had a friend coming to GA for a week, they’re going to get a little bit of everything. We will begin the week off with spending time in my neck of the woods which consist of the Avalon in Alpharetta. There’s sooo many food and shopping options to choose from. We will go to a place with some beautiful aesthetics along with good food and drinks. Next, I have to introduce my friends to Jeju spa and have them experience a body scrub that was sent from God themself in addition to a massage and facial. For my artsy friends, the high museum would be a place to visit and making our way to Ponce City Market to support the local artist and gain some creative inspiration. So since this is Atlanta, of course an introduction to some “adult entertainment” is always fun lol. I mean honestly, the list goes on. I’m a spare the moment type of friend along with being an air sign and we thrive in spontaneity. The most beautiful part of living in Atlanta is it’s diversity, hospitality, green spaces, food places, arts and culture, and economic opportunities, all of which contribute to the city’s vibrant and dynamic character. This list can go on for days!!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shouting out my partner in crime, father of our son, lover, business partner, the list goes on. He’s been my supporter and inspiration since day one of Protect Your Mental coming into fruition. Mr. Chris Peay himself. He’s seen me through everything you could imagine and I’m grateful to God to have him by my side. He deserves a HUGE shoutout for being part of a journey I didn’t t know I would be going through. I’ve expressed to him that loving him has forced me to work on myself. I’m grateful I’ve taken the time to do that because what we have and experienced individually and as a couple has resulted in creating a solid foundation for our family.

Website: https://protectyourmental.com/

Instagram: @protectyourmental_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectYourMental/

Image Credits
Jordynn Nicholson