Justin Brien

Justin Brien

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Kelowna, British Columbia

Mental Health Expert - PTSD, Trauma, Psychological Safety & Emotional Agility Specialist, Author

Justin Brien is a mental health awareness expert, passionate transformational life coach and inspirational speaker. His personal experience in overcoming suicide and substance abuse and in living successfully with ADHD, anxiety and depression fuels his motivating message of hope and perspective and informs his effective strategies and tools. Justin is a champion for living our best lives and his powerful story of finding his why helps break down stigma and brings awareness to others who don't understand and brings hope to those who desperately need it. They matter. You matter.
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Expertise
Play

Hockey 2 Hell And Back

SBC

Hockey 2 Hell And Back Ft. Justin Brien - Inspirational Speaker and Life Coach
Play

Chris Voss Show

Chris Voss

Justin Brien Author / Motivational Speaker / Transformational Coach
Play

Pursuing Uncomfortable

Melissa Ebken

Pursuing Courageous Vulnerability with Justin Brien

JUSTIN BRIEN BIOGRAPHY

Justin Brien is a mental health awareness expert, transformational life coach and inspirational speaker. His raw and painful journey into and back out of the depths of addiction and suicidal depression have afforded him powerful insights into the mechanics of effective and enduring life strategies to live his best life.

Justin grew up in Salmon Arm, BC where he enjoyed a promising early career as a hockey player, later playing throughout the province for various teams within the BC Junior B hockey leagues. Despite his athletic success, Justin Brien was dogged by seemingly unshakeable insecurities. His low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence found him seeking validation in any available form. Inevitably, drugs and alcohol provided a vicious quick fix to the inner turmoil he was experiencing. Unwilling, unable and afraid to ask for help from a world that told him mental health issues were for the weak, Justin spiraled into a shadowed life. By age 21 his hockey career was over after a series of concussions, despite his attempts to hide his medical condition, his depression and his addictions. His life had become a blur of working nights as a bartender, after-hours parties and depression-laden mornings of guilt, shame and remorse and months-long bouts of suicidality. And it only got worse from there.

Not long after his first child was born, Justin Brien experienced a powerfully motivating and transformational moment as the result of asking himself a series of transformational questions. In a terrifying moment of facing two options – end it all or ask for help – Justin asked for and accepted help.

Justin’s discovery of his WHY is a driving force behind the mightily motivating and guiding work he does to help others realize their own WHY and to translate it into effective strategies, tools and daily practices. A passionate inspirational speaker, best-selling author, transformational life coach and mental health awareness expert, Justin immediately engages his audiences with his highly relatable story told with emotion and humour, passion and energy.

Now five years sober, Justin Brien enjoys an inspired and motivated life with his wife, son and daughter, having returned to his hometown of Salmon Arm, BC. He is now a fulltime life coach, inspirational speaker and works as the mental health liaison for Mr. Mike’s restaurant chain. He is the host of The Stronger You Project podcast, featured on Spotify and is an Amazon best-selling author with his recent book Chasing Shadows: Fighting The Monster Within. His solid understanding of the foundations for a good life helped him and his wife lead their family in successfully navigating the challenges of the birth of their beautiful daughter, born with Down Syndrome, and the resulting barrage of complications and surgeries their little fighter faced.

His direct experience in facing life on life’s terms offers audiences a captivating and motivating message that affirms no matter one’s circumstances, past experiences or even current feelings and emotions, a better and brighter future filled with happiness and belonging is possible. And he invites you to follow his lead by transforming your own life with practical and efficient strategies to realize your own best life. Justin Brien firmly believes there is a magic in each and every one of us and through the power of sharing his story and passing along of his knowledge to others in support and understanding of what they are going through, he helps to defeat negative stigmas that hold us back from getting the help we need and to champion for mental and physical health.

Books

Chasing Shadows: Fighting the Monster Within
Chasing Shadows: Fighting the Monster Within
This is a book about recovery, redemption, overcoming obstacles, and loss. It highlights struggles with mental health, substance use, and suicidality. It will take you through the journey of one man's struggle to find inner peace as he chases a dark path of loneliness. Battling his own mental...

Articles & Media

Salmon Arm mental health advocate helps others to find their ‘why’

Salmon Arm Observer

A Salmon Arm man has taken it upon himself to help others find their ‘why.’ Justin Brien is a mental health advocate, inspirational speaker and life coach who is dedicated to helping people fight their inner battles and strengthen their mental fortitude.
View
Inclusivity, mental health focuses of upcoming Salmon Arm job fair

Salmon Arm Observer

Connections, resources and inspiration await those seeking work, as well as employers and employees, at a job fair planned for Salmon Arm. The WorkBC Shuswap Inclusive Seminar & Job Fair will take place Tuesday, April 18, at the Prestige Harbourfront Resort. The event brings guest speakers, information sessions, opportunities for networking, personal and professional development and more. The theme of the event is Inclusive Hiring and Retention.
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"FINDING MY 'WHY' WAS THE BIGGEST THING THAT HELPED ME TO TURN AROUND MY LIFE."

Heads Up Guys

Finding my ‘why’ was the biggest thing that helped me to turn around my life. There was a time I thought my son deserved better than what I could give him, but I turned that around to what if I got better for him, then I could get better for me, then I could help other people get better.
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Justin Brien Topic Presentations

mental health

  • Virtual PresentationKeynote PresentationWorkshop SessionHalf Day TrainingFull Day Training
  • Justin knowledgeably and compassionately talks about different avenues we can take to get help and he offers clear strategies and tools for healthy coping mechanisms and how to address traumas. He shows audiences that mental health is vital to a healthier, happier and fulfilled life and explains how our mental health is our operating system – it controls our thoughts, beliefs, and actions and if we ignore our mental health it may lead to things like substance use disorder. Justin Brien expertly guides audiences to the understanding that we must protect our mental health.

substance use

choices

adversity / resilience

health and wellness

personal development

acceptance and forgiveness

inclusion

finding your why

Testimonials

As a teacher in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, many of my students are faced with pitfalls such as gangs, drugs, and alcohol. Often, the children feel confined by environmental influences. When Justin spoke to my class, I could see their visceral reactions to his message. He conveyed optimism and provided strategies for students to realize their limitless potential. His words still resonate in my classroom today as a source for inspiration for my students.

Justin Borsato

Teacher
Britannia School

I just heard Justin Brien speak for the first time, and I can’t wait for him to come back! His message about the importance of mental health told through his personal stories grabbed the attention of my grade eight students – you could hear a pin drop in the gym. His raw, authentic, and emotional delivery of his message needs to be heard by more than just my students. And yes, there were moments of humour, too. If you are looking for a heartfelt, charismatic, inspirational speaker who can relate to teens, invite Justin Brien to speak at your school.

Matt White and Roni Wocknitz

Teachers
Shuswap Middle School

It has been almost a month since Justin visited Merritt Secondary, and I still have students and staff commenting on his presentation. Seldom do speakers have the kind of lasting impact that Justin has left on our school community. I can’t wait to work with him again in the future.

Dave Andersen

Vice Principal
Merritt Secondary School

Justin Brien worked with 120 of our school’s grade 7 & 8 students. From the time he began to the time he finished, students were engaged with Justin and his message. Not only was his message poignant, but it was also relevant and timely for the kids – Mental health, positive self esteem and relationships, the dangers of substance misuse, and the importance of connection. Justin emphasized that nobody needs to do it alone and that help is always available. And he delivered it in a way that kids relate to with the right amounts of passion, energy and humour. Justin also did a session for school staff that had professional educators engaged and thinking. I can’t say enough about the...

Scott Anderson

Principal
A.L. Fortune Secondary School

I highly recommend Justin Brien as a speaker for any workplace seeking to promote better mental health and well being. Justin delivered several sessions to our employees at Gorman Bros. Lumber, including those in Production, Maintenance, Sales, Accounting, and Woodlands. His story as a father, son, brother and husband is relatable and resonates with so many. The feedback from both employees and supervisors has been overwhelmingly positive. Justin’s sessions help to reduce the stigma often associated with discussions around mental health. It is essential that our employees feel supported in all aspects of their lives, including their mental health and well being. Justin’s visit to our...

Bria Young

HR Coordinator
Gorman Group

When a colleague first made me aware of Justin as a mental health advocate and public speaker, it resonated with me as aligning with our values at SMS. We met to learn more about Justin to see what he could offer and quickly knew that his message was one we wanted to share with our team. He asked great questions of us to ensure his presentation was relevant to his audience. And was it ever. Justin’s dark yet inspirational story, and presentation skills are powerful, and he had our teams captured and completely engaged from the very beginning through the entire hour. He took us on an emotional journey that had everyone relating to at least part of it, in some way, and genuinely made an...

Dale Heichert

Operations Manager
SMS Equipment Kamloops

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FAQ

How to book Justin Brien for an event?

Justin Brien keynote speaker is an expert presenter and has a wide range of experience speaking to a wide variety of audiences and organizations. Justin Brien delivers keynotes, workshops & training sessions. They may also host or emcee events. Hire Justin Brien from Kelowna, British Columbia for your event to inspire the audience to take action and make change in their work and their lives. Your workplace will benefit from our keynote speaker and their keynote talks and speeches will shift the mindsets or behaviours for the audience members in Canada. 

Interested in booking Justin Brien for an event?

Are you looking to hire Justin Brien for your event? Justin Brien Kelowna, British Columbia is a dynamic and engaging speaker that offers audiences researched content paired with expertise and a dynamic speaking ability. Justin Brien is also a Canadian corporate consultant and coach and facilitates workshops and training sessions for a corporate audience. Justin Brien is an expert keynote presenter and speaks on wide variety of topics. Hiring a great speaker for your event is important and working with a thought leader like Justin Brien from Speakers Canada's roster will engage audiences into the content of the presentation to bring awareness and a fresh perspective for their approach to their work and their lives. Book Justin Brien to educate, motivate and activate the audience through an interactive and entertaining presentation at corporate meetings and gatherings.

Known as a popular key note speaker in Canada, Justin Brien creates life changing experiences for the participants with practical insights and strategic advice they can implement right after the session. Working with a one our leading expert speaker like Justin Brien from Kelowna, British Columbia offers organizations a fresh perspective to assist the people of the organization. No matter if it is a government, association, or business crowd, Justin Brien is a perfect speaker for your event. Through unique practical insights for trending topics and years experience speaking to different organizations, Justin Brien focuses on changing individuals to make better decisions at work and their lives. No matter if you are holding an in person or virtual event, having an influential speaker such as Justin Brien will engage, motivate, and activate the audience to make a change in their lives and inspire action for results to meet organizational goals. Your workforce will benefit from Justin Brien's presentations and speeches, with measurable results set to shift the people of the organization and core direction of the company. Book Justin Brien speaker for your annual general meeting, conference, summit, or convention in Canada.

How much does it cost to hire Justin Brien for a keynote presentation or virtual event?

Justin Brien is an expert professional key note speaker with a lot of experience speaking and delivering engaging talks to organizations and audiences in Canada. Each of Speaker Bureau Canada's talent have different ways to assess their fees, and Justin Brien speaker fee ranges depending on the size of the audience, event format (in person or virtual), event location, and if the organization booking them is a non profit, association, government department/government agency or business/corporation. The speakers we work with are flexible with their fees, and it is important for us to learn more about your event before we approach them, as it is our role to work for you, and to help you find a speaker within budget. 

Please contact Speakers Bureau of Canada and provide us with your event details so that we can contact Justin Brien to check availability or confirm the pricing and associated costs to hire a great speaker like Justin Brien for your event. As Justin Brien's agent and as a Canadian top speaker bureau and talent agency for speakers, we are able to propose each event opportunity from each host organization's behalf to try to help you get in touch with Justin Brien and confirm them for your in person or online meeting/event. We can also provide and advise on the booking process and potentially negotiate their fee. Speakers Canada is a client focused speaker agency, and we work for you in finding good speakers for your team meetings and booking processes.

Justin Brien Disclaimer

Speakers Bureau Canada assists companies and event planning teams seeking to hire talent like Justin Brien for speaking engagements, virtual meetings, conference appearances, training sessions and workshops facilitations. Our Canadian speakers bureau does not claim to exclusively represent Justin Brien, however they are represented by Speakers Canada, and we work with them closely for their Canadian speaking opportunities and bookings. As Canada's top speaker bureau, we represent Canadian motivational keynote speakers and professional guest speakers that will be available on your upcoming events date and location that are withing the budget. Our talented bureau speaker booking agency can help find business speakers or celebrity speakers that aligns with each organization, audience, event theme and the topic themes you hope for the speaker to address in their presentation. 

When SBC receives a request to book Justin Brien we provide you with their speaker fees, travel costs and check their schedules. We work closely with the host organization's event planning team and the speaker to handle the logistics and to relay or negotiate associated costs. Our talented team members then will work with our talent directly or their agent/manager/assistant to confirm the Canadian speaker fee and travel expenses, so that event planning teams can receive an official quote for the speaker appearing at the event. Speaker fees and travel costs vary per speaker and our role is to contact Justin Brien about your event, after we have connected with the event organizers to learn all the event details and/or conference program. Each booking request is unique since session durations and audience sizes can vary which may affect the speaker's fees. If you are looking to hire Justin Brien, we recommend filling out the booking request form so a booking agent from Speakers Bureau Canada can get in touch with our talent to help you coordinate with your team to engage the speaker for a successful event.

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