A quick rundown my journey before Eqconnect.
Content Warning: My story does mention mental health and suicide issues. If reading the following does bring up any distress for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Please contact 000 if you or someone else is at risk of immediate harm.
I am a born and bred Westie. The western suburbs of Melbourne have a unique story, but they have taught me how to live and how to be myself. I was a Western Bulldogs AFL member before I was born. The west is in my DNA. It is true that Melbourne's west is a lower socio-economic area, however, this builds resilience and entrepreneurship. These are two of the keys to what started Noah and me thinking about Eqconnect.
The wonders of the COVID-19 pandemic were a massive turning point for me. Working in the travel and aviation industries, I was a work-a-holic, but overnight, I was on the couch and thinking about my identity. After a lot of realisations, I made the decision to come out as Transgender at the age of 24. I came out while I was married with 2 kids. Despite all that I have lost as a direct result, coming out was the one of the best decisions I ever made. A lot of my "quirks" as a kid, now make a lot more sense. As they say, "hindsight is 20-20".
As I write this, I think back to my lived experience and how valuable it has become. I had my first brush with mental illness at the end of my year 12, in 2012. At the time, I just brushed it off as "I've just gotta get through". Like too many people, I was reluctant to seek help. For years, I swept it under the carpet.
Fast forward to 2023, through the pandemic and coming out, I was in dire straits. I have been through the hospital and public mental health system and survived multiple suicide and self-harm episodes. All of those things that I had ignored for more than a decade, came to the fore all at once.
Looking back on these episodes now, these are now valuable experiences. I have learnt so much since these experiences. To use a phoenix as an analogy, 2023 was about putting out the fire inside me, and 2024 is rebuilding myself from the ashes.
I am determined to use my lived experience of mental health issues to help others. This is where my passion to start Eqconnect was born. Along with furthering my own recovery journey, 2024 has been spent studying a Certificate IV in Mental Health.
My Cert IV and my own experiences with the system have left me to realise that there is a big gap in services in my beloved West and beyond. That gap gets even wider when you look at the services for the LGBTQIA+ community. These gaps are what fuel Noah and I as we build Eqconnect and ensure that we are a strong and loud voice for those clients who may need our support in discovering their voice.
I can't wait to explain our ethos and learn from your unique story, just as I hope you can from the Eqconnect story.
With Pride,
Liv.
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