Hip-hop Healing Bullying Stops Here!

Natalie’s song and dance are giving hope.

- Donna Fleming

In her teens, Natalie Williams was bullied by other girls her age. In her 20s, she became the main caregiver for her dying dad.

Going through such tough times from an early age took a toll on Natalie’s mental health. Today, the Auckland businesswoman is bubbling with enthusiasm, but she knows what it’s like to struggle with anxiety and depression.

Natalie, 32, was able to put her dark days behind her because she plucked up the courage to ask for help. Now she’s passionate about showing others – and young people in particular – that there’s hope.

Natalie has spent the last four years juggling her business, a marketing company called The Social Experience, with work on her I am Unbreakable multimedia show. An initiative that uses hip-hop dancing to reach vulnerable teenagers and encourage them to seek help, it kicked off in high schools around the country at the end of May.

“Statistics are horrendous around young people’s mental health,” says Natalie. “So many are suffering, feeling helpless.”

Natalie understands exactly how they feel. Her mental health issues began after she was bullied from the age of 12. “I didn’t want to give in to peer pressure and do things the other girls wanted me to do and that made me a target.”

Being dyslexic also made school difficult and Natalie’s self-esteem plummeted when she was told she’d probably be a high-school dropout.

But getting extra tuition and putting in hours of hard work led to huge improvements in her results, and in her last year at school, Natalie was awarded a scholarship to study communications at university.