Standing on a big digital billboard in New York City is one of those moments that doesn’t feel real at first. You grow up seeing those screens in movies, watching brands fight for attention in the brightest, loudest, most crowded advertising space in the world. They’re symbols of arrival. Of success. Of money. Of influence.
But for me, that billboard wasn’t about flexing a brand or selling a product. It was about saying something that actually matters.
Advertising in NYC is not cheap. Anyone who’s even glanced at pricing knows the numbers can be astronomical. A few seconds of airtime can cost more than some people make in months. From a pure business standpoint, it’s easy to argue that the return on investment doesn’t always pencil out. Clicks aren’t guaranteed. Sales aren’t promised. Attention is fleeting.
And yet, I paid the price willingly.
Because that screen wasn’t selling shoes, watches, or a service. It was carrying a message about mental health. A message that could help save a life.
Mental health doesn’t usually get the spotlight. It gets whispered about. Pushed aside. Addressed only after something breaks. We live in a world that celebrates hustle, resilience, and success, but rarely pauses to ask how people are actually holding up underneath all of it. Anxiety, depression, burnout, grief — these aren’t niche experiences. They’re human ones.
I chose to put mental health on a massive digital billboard because visibility matters. When something shows up in a place as loud and iconic as Times Square, it sends a quiet but powerful signal: this is important. This deserves space. This deserves to be seen without shame.
Was it expensive? Absolutely. Did it make traditional marketing sense? Maybe not on paper. But impact isn’t always measurable in impressions or conversions.
If someone walked by that screen feeling invisible, overwhelmed, or exhausted by life, and for even a second thought, “I’m not alone,” then it was worth every penny. If one person felt seen, encouraged, or reminded to keep going, then that billboard did exactly what it was meant to do.
Success, to me, isn’t about how many people saw my name or recognized my face. Success is knowing that I used a platform — however brief — to stand for something bigger than myself. It’s choosing purpose over optimization. Meaning over metrics.
In a city where millions of messages compete for attention every single day, I chose to spend a “pretty penny” to talk about mental health. Because if I can help just one person pause, breathe, or feel understood, then I didn’t just advertise.
I showed up.
And that, to me, is success.