Podcast: Episode 106: Julie Lewis: Still Positive: Part 1

October 26, 2023

On this episode, Laura talks with Julie Lewis, author of the new book, Still Positive: A Memoir. Julie is a 30-year HIV survivor, and the book tells her fascinating and inspiring story. She is also the mother of multi-grammy winner, Ryan Lewis, of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and with his encouragement, she founded the 30/30 Project, a non-profit whose mission is to bring access to quality, affordable healthcare to those who need it most.

Laura and Julie talk about her diagnosis of HIV early in the AIDS epidemic, which she received from a blood transfusion. The impact of it on her and her family’s lives, her concerns as a mother raising three young children, and the prejudice she faced early on because of the lack of understanding and fear surrounding the disease. Julie became an early advocate and educator about AIDS, bringing awareness to communities and helping many people. We also talk about her impressive accomplishment with the 30/30 Project, which she founded to celebrate having survived HIV for 30 years. The goal of building 30 medical facilities in areas throughout the world where the need was greatest was impressively accomplished in just five years with the help of many organizations including Construction for Change. Julie’s remarkable story is at its heart a mom’s story of love, hope, courage, and defying the odds, and I’m very happy to share it with you here.

You can learn more about Julie, her book, and her non-profit at stillpositive.com and 3030project.org.