Gillian Johnson

By Phoebe Pineda

While in treatment for an eating disorder, Gillian Johnson realized the immense challenges that teens like her faced on the road to recovery: from financial and logistical limitations to persistent stigma and lack of available information. To address this issue, Gillian founded Recovery Meet-Ups, a virtual video service providing resources and support for teens in eating disorder recovery. Through her work, Gillian has not only grown as a teen leader but she’s also cultivated a healthier approach to her mental health and emotional well-being—an approach she hopes to share through Recovery Meet-Ups.

Up to 9% of people will develop an eating disorder in their lifetime. Teens and young adults are especially vulnerable, and incidences of eating disorders in the U.S. more than doubled among this demographic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, persistent stigma and socioeconomic challenges bar many youths suffering from eating disorders from receiving the care they need.

Seeking to fill that gap is 18-year-old Gillian Johnson, founder of Recovery Meet-Ups, a virtual video service that provides resources and support for teenagers recovering from eating disorders. “I wanted to create an outlet for teens to use that same fiery passion that we have for other social justice issues and turn it towards mental health and improving your own mental health journey,” Gillian says.

Gillian founded Recovery Meet-Ups in 2021 after receiving treatment for her own eating disorder. “I struggled with anorexia for about two or three years, and during that time…I was put into a partial hospitalization program,” she says. “I realized that there are a lot of structural barriers that prevent teens from getting help, as well as social barriers.” 

Gillian developed her idea through the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Innovators Program before being selected by the Riley’s Way Foundation as a 2022 Call for Kindness Fellow, where she received a $3,000 grant as well as a year of mentorship and support from the organization. “Last year I was able to travel with one of my team leaders, Olivia [Shull], to lead a workshop [at a Riley’s Way leadership retreat in New York] and also…attend a bunch of different workshops about activism and using your voice,” Gillian says.

Supporting people through recovery while still working through your own healing process is not easy, and Gillian admits that she initially struggled to find a good balance between investing in her work and taking care of herself. “I was more focused on the hustle and bustle of all of it,” she recalls. “[I was] not reaching out for help from my team members when I needed it.” She’s since come to appreciate her teammates as people she can rely on during difficult times.

For additional support, Gillian often turns to mental health podcasts, which she shares with the community via weekly “Listening To Tuesdays” recommendations on Instagram Stories. She also journals regularly: “I make a short list of everything that I feel proud of that I did today,” Gillian explains. “If I’m having anxious thoughts…[I make] a list of all the things I’m anxious about and then [put] it to bed, so to speak.”

Moving forward, Gillian hopes that incorporating Recovery Meet-Ups as a nonprofit will allow them to expand their programming and reach. Still, she values the small victories—taking walks, cleaning her room, answering emails—just as much as the larger ones: “It helps me reframe and believe in myself that I have that ability to grow…that I’m not hopeless or these things the eating disorder is telling me,” she says. “I’m proud that I’m able to have a platform and share that with people…[to] remind them of the truth that they are worthy of celebration, of pride, of dignity.”