119 — Turning Your Pain Into Purpose With Juice WRLD’s Mother Carmela Wallace

Everyone goes through painful things. Grief and loss is part of life. But we all have choices with how we handle the pain.
 
When rapper Juice WRLD passed away from an accidental overdose, his mother could have let his music be his legacy. But she decided to start an organization to help other people who are dealing with mental health issues and substance abuse problems. She says turning her pain into purpose is helping her heal. Some of the things she shares are why it’s important to share your struggles with, how to get help for yourself or someone else, and how she’s managing to work through her grief.

Key Takeaways:

• Juice WRLD’s music has been streamed over 30 billion times, and Carmela finds it surreal to think about the impact her son has had on so many people.
• Despite his fame, Carmela still sees Juice WRLD as her son and is proud of the impact he made through his music.
• Live Free 999 was founded by Carmela to normalize conversations around mental health and substance dependency. The foundation offers grants to organizations with effective plans in place and partners with Crisis Text Line to provide confidential support through text messages.
• Carmela encourages open and non-judgmental conversations about mental health, aiming to remove the stigma and make it okay for people to say, “I’m not okay.”
• It is important for parents to talk to their children without judgment, creating a safe space for them to open up about their struggles and seek help.