The Just You Grant is a small, heartfelt initiative personally funded and run by Martin Soklich in honour of his late son, Dylan. This is not a commercial venture. Martin is not receiving any funding, support, or tax benefits from this initiative. The grant is given freely, as a personal gift to help support young people aged 13 to 19 who are exploring identity, creativity, or self-expression.
There is no entry fee, and applications can be submitted directly by individuals or through nominations from someone else (such as a friend, teacher, or parent). If someone is nominated, they will be contacted directly to confirm their interest and give consent before their entry is reviewed.
All prizes are issued as no-strings-attached cash gifts. Recipients are free to use the funds however they choose. Additional gift cards or support packs may also be awarded depending on the number and strength of submissions.
Applicants and nominees will be given the option to allow their stories, names, or creative work to be shared publicly. No story or submission will ever be made public without clear written permission.
All personal information submitted through the application process will be:
100% of any donations received through GoFundMe or similar platforms will be used to grow and support the grant. No personal gain will ever be taken. Public updates will be provided each year to show how funds were used, so everything remains open, honest, and transparent.
One afternoon, Dylan was helping me unpack the shopping from the back of the car. He was just 11 years old. As we carried bags inside, he turned to me and asked, “Dad, what do you think about me experimenting with makeup?”
Now, as a rough around the edges, burly bloke who’s spent his life working in rough, dusty places, it caught me off guard for a moment. But not for long. Because I knew Dylan. I knew he was different, creative, expressive. I loved that about him. So I looked at him and said, “Yeah, okay. What kind of makeup?” He smiled and told me he wanted to try some eyeliner.
That same afternoon, we drove to the shopping centre. He knew exactly what he was after. I walked up to the cosmetics counter and said to the woman behind it, “My son’s after some eyeliner, he’s got something in mind. Can you help him out?” She did. And he came back beaming.
Dylan didn’t just want to wear makeup, he wanted to understand it. A little while later, he started showing interest in how it was made. So for Christmas, when he was 12 years old, I found a legitimate cosmetics manufacturing course run by the Institute of Personal Care Science, not just a casual workshop, but a proper training school. It was high-level, with a minimum age requirement of 16. I reached out to the company, explained the situation, and they agreed to let him take the course, even though he wouldn’t receive a certificate, given his age. That wasn’t the point. The point was to support him, and to give him something real to learn and explore. When I surprised him with it, he was over the moon.
By the time Dylan turned 13, he was dreaming big. He’d come up with a business name and a logo. He had already taken the first steps toward building his own cosmetics brand, something he could shape, something that was his. So for his 13th birthday, on the 11th of February 2021, I registered the company name “Just You Cosmetics” and gave it to him as a gift. Not quietly, not in the background, but proudly, as a father saying: “I see you. I back you. Go for it.”
Dylan wasn’t your average teenage boy. He had a natural flair for beauty, fashion, skincare, and design. He was magnetic! The kind of person who lit up a room. He loved his friends deeply, most of them girls. He was a dancer, a gymnast, a kid who moved through the world with expression and heart.
High school wasn’t always easy for him. He struggled at first, we even had to change schools. But over time, he found his rhythm again. He found his people. And eventually, he became someone others looked up to. He started helping kids who were going through what he’d been through, quietly showing up for them, just by being himself.
That’s what made “Just You” such a perfect name. Dylan didn’t need to be anything but who he was. He was “just Dylan”, and that was more than enough.
On the 22nd of May 2024, Dylan was killed in a car accident while out with friends. He was just 16. It was sudden. It was tragic. And it left a hole in the world that will never quite be filled. After he passed, I sat with that business name for a long time. I wasn’t sure what to do with it. Should I pass it on to someone else starting a cosmetics brand? Let it go? Or just hold onto it quietly, as a way of keeping him close?
In the end, what became clear to me is that “Just You” was never just a brand idea. It was a message. A legacy. A reminder that being yourself, even when it’s hard, even when it’s different, is something to be honoured. So I’ve decided to carry that legacy forward.
The “Just You Grant” is a small, self-funded initiative in Dylan’s name. It’s for young people aged 13 to 19 who are exploring who they are, through creativity, identity, art, or expression. It’s open to anyone who might be navigating that messy, beautiful journey of becoming themselves. Whether they want to design, perform, write, build, paint, or create something entirely their own, this is for them.
Applications will open every year on Dylan’s birthday, the 11th of February, and close in May. Winners will be announced on the 22nd of May, the day of Dylan’s passing. But more than a timeline, this is about creating a space. A moment of support. A little reminder that just you, as you are, is enough.
Because Dylan believed that!
And so do I.