Tay Lautner Is Making Mental Health Awareness Sexy

Tay Lautner is making mental health awareness “sexy” — at least according to one of her mentors. “When I first launched the nonprofit, before I had the podcast, she was like, ‘You make mental health sexy. You make it appealing,’” the activist tells Bustle over Zoom. “I was like, ‘Oh, I kind of like that.’ I want to save people's lives and make it sexy while doing it.”

Ever since experiencing issues with her mental health while working as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lautner hasn’t just realized the importance of mental health awareness — she’s made it her full-time job. In 2022, she founded the nonprofit Lemons Foundation and launched a blog bearing its name.

A year later, the 26-year-old launched The Squeeze podcast with her husband, also Taylor Lautner (yes, the actor from Twilight), where they get candid about wellness and talk with guests, ranging from buzzy reality TV stars and Olympic athletes to families of victims in high-profile crime cases.

Now, Lautner is holding her first-ever mental health summit at Malibu’s Calamigos Ranch on Sept. 20. Co-hosted by her husband, the summit will feature an array of mental health experts and celebrities — including XO, Kitty star Anna Cathcart, former Bachelor lead Joey Graziadei, and influencer Allison Kuch — who’ll be speaking across four panels and focusing on different aspects of mental health issues.

“There is such beauty in community,” Lautner says. “I'm super excited to finally do an event where people can talk to each other and hear in person from people they may look up to. I've been so giddy. I've been very stressed, obviously, but it's the best type of stress.”

Below, Lautner opens up about her mental health advocacy goals, her most impactful conversations, and the podcast guests on her wish list.

How do you want guests to feel leaving your summit?

Inspired. I hope people leave feeling confident to make a phone call or take a step in their life they've been reluctant to take. We're putting little notebooks on every seat — I'm a pen-and-paper girlie. There's going to be so much wisdom shared, so I hope they're able to write it down and take it home with them.

How has your perspective on mental health changed with these projects?

It’s definitely become easier for me to talk about. I've really grown in how I approach it. I've learned that there’s no finish line; life’s really a full-on triathlon. It just keeps going, but it's about having those tools and equipping yourself for when it does start to get harder. Maybe if you start pulling back from your friends, you're able to recognize that in yourself [and] then help yourself get over that hurdle easier than the last time you had to get over that hurdle.

What has been the most rewarding part of doing your podcast?

Each time I leave a taping, I've had people come up to me, which is the coolest thing — well, not cool, because they're crying — but it's so special to me. I got to have a really sweet conversation with a woman who lives in Idaho because we had Stacy Chapin, the mother of one of the University of Idaho murder victims. She started bawling and telling me how thankful she was for us shedding light on this topic, how it's really shifted the culture in Idaho, and how people see women there.

Is there one particularly impactful podcast moment or guest that pops out at you?

The ones that stand out to me are real-life stories. Getting to speak with those people is like a form of journalism that I never thought I could be doing. If I had to pick one, it would be Maddie, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and given about a year to live. She had this bucket list and was like, “I want to be a guest on a really cool podcast.” We ended up flying her out here, and it was one of the coolest conversations.

Who is your dream podcast guest?

This is so funny and random, as a Gen Z girl, to say, but Matthew McConaughey and Mark Wahlberg. Mark, I feel like the guy woke up at 4 a.m., golfed 18 holes, worked out, had lunch, did his meetings, and it's noon. I'm like, “Where is that coming from?” And I think McConaughey is awesome. I’m also a The Summer I Turned Pretty girly, so I would love to talk with Lola Tung. She is one of the sweetest humans, so talented, and I'm excited to see what her career has in store.

I personally love that you've gotten a couple of the Mormon Wives.

I love those girls. I've become good friends with Mayci, Mikayla, and Jessi, and I have [an episode] that's coming out in a couple of weeks with Mayci. She's coming out with a book, so we got to dive into a lot of her past. I think the show needs to show her more; the fact that she’s the woman she is today is truly insane to me.

How do you recharge and find time to relax?

That's something I always need to work on, because I am the type of person who will just work and not stop. So I rely on my husband a lot for that. He has lived a life, and he's really good with keeping me accountable and being like, “Hey, let's watch a movie,” or “Let's go on a walk...” But I love alone time too. Even going to Target by myself recharges me.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

This is from Lindsey Vonn, who was one of our first guests. She has dealt with injuries and struggled with her mental health, and she says, “We need to really look at our brain health the same way we look at our body health. If you break your leg, you're going to go see the doctor.”

That's the same way we need to be approaching our brain and mental health. Not that it’s broken, because when you break a leg, it can be fixed. You need to tackle it the same way. You wouldn’t just leave your leg broken.

How do you hope to expand this summit in the future?

I want to do it everywhere, all the time. I get so many DMs of people being like, “Can you come here?” and I would love to. I’m on a mission to make mental health cute, aesthetic, and something that people want to do — to make it fun to go on the hot girl walk, see your therapist, but also gather together. I just want to scream from the rooftops and help save a lot of people.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.