Youth Mentor · Storyteller · she/her
I'm Julianne Nguyen — Recovery Trauma Informed Mental Health Practitioner, Youth Mentor and storyteller helping young adults navigate their 20s and 30s with self-awareness, creativity and heart.
Julianne Nguyen
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About Me
I'm an Australian-born Vietnamese woman with migrant parents, a degree in Interior Architecture, and a path that took a sharp, beautiful turn. After graduating, I felt something was missing — connection, authenticity, engagement. So I followed that feeling into the community.
I self-taught the skills school never covered: emotional intelligence, grassroots community work, personal healing and self-reflection. Today I'm a trained Recovery Trauma Informed Mental Health Practitioner — using lived experience to help young people navigate their spiritual, mental, emotional and professional lives.
How I Got Here
— Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken
2017
Graduated with Honours. I had the degree — but I felt something was missing. Connection. Authenticity. Engagement. I started searching for what really mattered.
2018
Volunteered with Cinespace (Youth Film Mentoring), met young people from Brimbank and Maribrynong from all different cultures. Became a Brimbank Youth Ambassador (first Citizens Jury) and won the Youth Ambassadors Award. Became a Melbourne Youth Leader with Australian Young Christian Workers. Spoke at the Global Youth Mental Health Summit and received the Parliament of World Religions Scholarship.
2019–2020
Won Brimbank's Youth Grant and ran co-design cooking sessions bringing together young people around connection, environmental sustainability and reducing food wastage. Applied with AYCW, ran in both 2019 and 2020.
2021
Selected as one of 26 Ahead of the Curve recipients. With sister Lily Nguyen, created "Thank you dad, Cảm ơn ba" — a visual exhibition at Sunshine Art Spaces, 2 City Place, exploring their father's Vietnamese migrant story and the sacrifices made along the way.
2022
Completed Cert IV Mental Health at Victoria University. Engaged with international students, migrants from Burmese and South Sudanese communities, and people with disabilities. Became a trained Recovery Trauma Informed Mental Health Practitioner using lived experience.
2026
Now mentoring young adults to navigate jobs, training, creative careers and self-awareness. Using Peer Worker framework, open conversation, interfaith and intercultural exchange, and creative thinking to help the next generation live their best 20s and 30s.
Core Themes
Everything I write and speak about comes back to these three truths — the pain we inherit, the prize we're moving toward, and the stories that show us we're not alone.
The everyday weight of saying yes when you mean no. Of carrying fears that aren't yours. Of being used, drained, and confused about where you end and others begin. The inherited patterns we don't yet have names for.
A life built on self-respect. Emotional freedom. Breaking cycles so the next generation inherits possibility, not limitation. Building from love and clarity — not fear. Helping your parents stop worrying.
Real moments. Moving home. Seeing mum's face in the mirror. Living between two cultures. The migrant parent story. The grad who felt lost. Stories that make you feel less alone in your becoming.
Writing
People Pleasing · Identity
Saying yes to everyone else was my way of saying no to myself. Here's how I recognised the people-pleaser pattern — and started actually listening to my own voice.
Family · Intergenerational Trauma
I saw her fears, her traumas, her coping patterns — and then I saw them in myself. This is the story of that reckoning and what it means to break the cycle.
Millennials · Career · Freedom
What I learned starting from zero after graduating — and why emotional intelligence matters more than any degree or title you hold.
"I started from zero. I decided to self-teach myself the skills that school did not teach me."
— Julianne Nguyen · Journey with Juju
Work With Me
Whether you're ready to break a cycle, navigate your 20s, or simply feel seen — there's a way in.
Deep, personal work for young adults ready to identify inherited patterns, rebuild self-awareness and move toward a life that's genuinely theirs. Using Peer Worker framework and lived experience across spiritual, mental, emotional and professional dimensions.
Enquire →Keynotes and facilitation on intergenerational trauma, dual identities, people pleasing, emotional intelligence and self-awareness. Available for schools, councils, community organisations and corporate teams.
Book Me →Workshops in Emotional Intelligence, Self-Awareness, Self-Reflection, Career Planning and Navigating Dual Cultures and Identities. Practical, experiential and grounded in lived experience.
Learn More →Youth co-design, community engagement consulting, Vietnamese/bilingual interpreting, community pop-ups and engagement feedback strategies. Also open to podcast appearances and creative collaborations.
Let's Talk →Portfolio
Highlights from years of community work, speaking, co-design and creative projects across Melbourne.
Multicultural Arts Victoria
2021 · Sunshine Art Spaces Gallery
Brimbank City Council
2019–2020 · Co-design cooking sessions
HealthWest
2018
National Youth Commission Australia
2021
Brimbank City Council
2018–2019
Australian Young Christian Workers
2018–2021
Swinburne University Alumni
2018
Cinespace / Youth Film Mentoring
2018
VicHealth
2018
Let's Yarn
Whether you want to work together, share your own story, or just say hello — I'd love to hear from you.