My Story

Why I started Eethos

I am Cassie, the founder of Eethos. I want to create a social enterprise committed to fundraise for mental health projects and preventing suicide. 

When I was 24,  I attempted to take my own life. I had depression but did not seek help, because I was too ashamed. Without professional help and the support of my family, I wouldn’t be here today. 

It started with stress, panic attacks, insomnia, followed by uncontrollable anxiety and then persistent thoughts that I was a failure and didn’t deserve to live. I thought the only way to stop the pain and the torturing thoughts was to end my life, and I was too ashamed to tell anyone.

Little did I know that I needed to seek professional help and receive treatment. The truth was, I knew nothing about mental health illnesses at the time. Like many, I blamed myself for being too weak.

My journey is only one of the thousands of stories of people suffering in silence. Young people are less likely than any other age group to get treatments. In fact, in Australia 70% of students suffering from mental health issues will not seek help,  mainly due to stigma. Regrettably, not everyone would be as fortunate as I was. In Australia alone each day, 9 people would die from suicide (ABS data).

For a long time, I’ve been thinking about what I can do to de-stigmatise suicide and mental ill-health. I realised that first I have to be willing to talk about it. I started sharing my story on social media and came across batyr - a charity that empowers young people to start the mental health conversation through lived experiences - now they are our official impact partner!

Having grown up in a family business of household products, I know quite a bit about the product development process. One day, standing in the supermarket laundry aisle staring at all the plastic containers of detergent liquid, I connected the dots. What if we could use a more eco-friendly laundry product to fundraise for mental health? And Eethos was born. 

I am extremely blessed to be given a second chance. I invite you to join me on this mission, and together we can smash the stigma of mental ill-health and give hope to those still suffering.