Voices of Change: Spreading Awareness

SI Swimsuit has partnered with Maybelline Brave Together as part of its Pay With Change initiative to help shine a light on mental health. Models Hunter McGrady, Tanaye White and Katrina Scott have each had their own mental health journeys and are opening up now.

McGrady has been a beacon of positivity inspiring people of all body types to love themselves despite what society says is “attractive” or not. She recently opened up to SI Swimsuit about how therapy helped her learn to accept her body. “Every agency I was going into, they kept telling me, ‘You have to lose weight. You can't live your dream unless you look different than you are now,’” McGrady shared. “I started to get the help that I needed. I started to look inward. I started to find ways to think differently about myself, because I didn't want that feeling.”

White, who has been fighting to remove the stigma from mental health, struggles with anxiety and depression, and lost a friend to a mental health disorder when she was 16 years old. “What is really important is that I share my experience just so that I can help to bring awareness to it, because I do believe that in our world, not even just in America, but the world in general still doesn't really perceive it as something that really has importance,” White said. “And I think we’re just at the beginning of bringing mental health awareness to the light. To be a part of that movement and even if I can just help to change one life, I’ll feel like everything I went through was for something good.”

Scott is also using her platform to spread awareness. She has opened up about working through pregnancy loss and grief and continues to share her story knowing that those shared collective narratives can bring people closer together. Scott said, “I’ve always considered myself a really good friend and to always be there for your girlfriends and your guy friends. (I have a brother as well.) I’ve taken pride in being that person to be there. And so now I really want that to expand and be able to be there for millions of women.”

If you or someone you love needs someone to talk to, text TOGETHER to 741741 to be connected to a crisis counselor.