Hi, I’m Katie Lewis, creator of TheInnovatist. Writing has always been a passion of mine, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. However, mental health runs deeper than passion. It’s a part of me, as it is so many others. At 11 years old, I would consistently experience an imbalence in my hormones which caused me to have heavy painful periods, cystic acne, and dangerously low moodwings which later on lead to low seratonin levels causing depressive episodes which then after leaving high school due to my high levels of anxiety and low moods, turned into a continous depression in which I was experiencing thoughts to end my own life. This period of my life lasted around two years. I lived in a state of fear and had an apprehensive filter on the way I saw the world. My self-esteem was on the floor, and my mindset was weak and troubling at best. Playing with different types of medication as well as birth control to help with my hormonal issues, and trying out different hobbies such as fitness and healthy coping mechanisms, I then started regaining a taste for life. I made it a lifelong mission to not only get better but become the very best version of myself I could be. It has been a slow and steady journey to self-growth, but one I haven’t looked back on since. With therapy, I have learnt to reprogram my brain’s negative patterns into one of a positive and strong mindset. I later received an autism diagnosis, and things started to click. I made it a mission to understand my neurodiversity and where I fit in the world.

Working on my mental health, mindset, and overall stability helped me greatly deal with and accept my father’s diagnosis of stage four bowel and liver cancer. He passed away last year in October 2024, after a courageous two-year-long battle, just as I had started college. His strength alone was more than a motivator to help me achieve all the goals I intend to achieve. Despite all of this, from 2025 to the current time im writing this has been the most fulfilling time of my life, I have felt the happiest and most content. I truly believe this is due to my self-growth, mindset developments and self-care and love that I carry for myself, which therefore goes into the people who I surround myself with. The best part is that it will only progress from here. We all have a story that makes us who we are, and we all have our perspective, though it’s what we do with that that makes all the difference. I am about to go into a new chapter of my life. This is adulthood, which is exciting but scary nonetheless. I am hoping to bring everything I have learnt over the past five or so years into an even further progression of my journey.