We were lucky to catch up with Emily Gray recently and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I found my purpose by first losing myself.
For most of my life, I didn’t even realize I had mental health. I thought I was my thoughts and that they were an accurate representation of reality, especially the dark ones. When those thoughts told me it would be easier not to be alive, I assumed something was wrong with me or with my circumstances. I didn’t yet know that thoughts aren’t facts.
Discovering mindfulness changed everything. For the first time, I saw that I wasn’t my mind, I was the one witnessing it. That realization created space between me and my inner world, space that allowed me to start asking questions like “who am I?” “what is my purpose?” and “what is the meaning of life to me?”
That shift set me on a completely new path. I left my career to join a meditation startup because I felt called to share the gift that saved me with the world, which felt like the first spark of finding my purpose. But, while I was on this journey of healing and rediscovering myself in the process, I lost two close friends to suicide. The grief was devastating, but it also strengthened my purpose. I realized that the mental health crisis of our culture extended far beyond my personal experience.
Out of that loss, The M Project was born, a nonprofit and movement dedicated to making mental health feel human, accessible, and part of everyday life. The “M” stands for mental health, mindfulness, and the meaning of life. It’s also an acronym to honor my friends RJ and T, who we called by the acronyms of their names.
My purpose is to speak to the version of myself and to the versions of my friends who didn’t think mental health was “for them.” My hope is that by weaving mental health into the places we already spend our time: culture, social media, art, music, community, The M Project can reach people who may never seek out traditional support.
Ultimately, my purpose is to share my gratitude for being here, something I now see as a miracle and a gift. I hope to not only inspire people to stay alive, but to also rediscover that same gratitude for the lives they do have.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m the founder of The M Project, a nonprofit and creative movement dedicated to making mental health feel human, accessible, and woven into everyday life. My work lives at the intersection of storytelling, culture, and mindfulness. I create content, experiences, and conversations that help people rethink their relationship with their mental health, not as something clinical or distant, but as a core part of the human experience.
One of the main ways I do this right now is through my YouTube channel, where I share my personal story, my perspective, and my ongoing learnings around mental health, mindfulness, and the meaning of life. I believe storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have. When we hear someone put words to an experience we’ve quietly carried, it can help us feel less alone and more understood. And I believe that kind of impact has the opportunity to ripple out into the world.
What’s most exciting to me about this work is its potential to reach people who might never think to seek out traditional mental health resources. The M Project is intentionally woven into the spaces where we already spend our time: social media, culture, art, music, community. I want mental health to feel like something we all naturally engage with, not something reserved for a crisis.
Beyond digital content, I’m working on upcoming in-person projects that bring people together to explore mental health through creativity, conversation, and shared experience. These include community events, interactive installations, and experiences designed to provoke thought, spark connection, and help people feel a deeper sense of belonging. My hope is to create spaces where talking about mental health feels not only safe, but inspiring.
At its core, The M Project is about helping people feel more connected: to themselves, to others, and to the meaning they find in their own lives. There’s so much more unfolding, and I’m excited to continue building a movement that brings mental health into the heart of our culture.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
When I look back, three qualities that I believe transformed my life more than anything else are honesty, compassion, and gratitude.
1. Radical honesty with myself, authenticity and vulnerability without judgment. The moment I started being completely honest about what I was feeling, without minimizing it, spiritualizing it, or trying to force it into something “positive,”everything shifted. Honesty created the foundation for self-awareness. Vulnerability created the doorway to connection. And authenticity allowed me to finally see myself clearly, without the layers of expectation or performance.
My advice: Start by giving yourself permission to admit the truth to yourself, not the polished truth or the truth you think you “should” feel, but your real truth. Honesty creates a beautiful ripple effect: when we stop hiding from ourselves, we feel less shame, and when we share that honesty with the world, it inspires others to do the same.
2. Compassion. Understanding that my mental health wasn’t my fault, but it was my accountability. This was one of the biggest lessons of my life. My struggles weren’t a personal failing, they were a combination of biology, stress, environment, trauma, and human experience. But even though it wasn’t my fault, it was my responsibility to tend to my inner world. Compassion softened the self-blame enough for me to take meaningful accountability.
My advice: Treat yourself the way you would treat a loved one who is suffering: with gentleness, patience, and curiosity. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” try asking, “What happened to me?” or “What do I need?” Accountability becomes so much more sustainable when it’s rooted in compassion rather than shame.
3. Gratitude. A deep reverence for being alive and the duty that comes with that. When I began to understand how miraculous it is just to exist, gratitude became a guiding force. Gratitude made me want to be here. And it gave me a sense of responsibility: if I’m fortunate enough to still be alive, I want to use that gift to inspire positive change.
My advice: Build gratitude slowly and authentically. Not by forcing yourself to feel grateful, but by noticing small moments you might normally miss: your breath, your heart beat, someone in your life that you love. Over time, these micro-moments accumulate into a deep appreciation for life itself.
Together, honesty, compassion, and gratitude became a compass for my personal healing, and ultimately, the foundation of The M Project. For anyone just starting their journey: go slowly, be curious, be gentle, and let these practices guide you back to yourself.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
Books have been some of my greatest teachers, shaping my mental health journey, my perspective on life, and eventually the creation of The M Project. One book that had a profound impact on me is The Surrender Experiment by Michael A. Singer.
I had already experienced through meditation that I wasn’t my thoughts, but this book was the first to put clear language to that truth. It helped me understand my mind in a new way and trust the deeper awareness beneath it.
The biggest lesson I took from the book and one that has guided my work is the power of surrender. For years, I tried to force my purpose into existence. I pushed, strategized, brainstormed, and nothing came. It wasn’t until I let go of control that the vision for The M Project arrived, unexpectedly, all at once, during a run. It felt like it had been waiting for me to create enough space to receive it.
Very much inspired by The Surrender Experiment is a truth I remind myself to live by every day: life can be far more magical, aligned, and surprising than anything we could script in our minds (if we allow it). When we loosen our grip, we create space for possibilities greater than we could have imagined to unfold.
That’s the lesson I carry with me as often as I can remember: trust the magic that happens when you surrender.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.themproject.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_themproject/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-e-gray/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@the.m.project
Image Credits
Cody McClintock (@codycm)
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