Eliana was diagnosed with glaucoma and cataracts at birth, growing up blind. However, she didn’t let her disability inhibit her from achieving her goals, as she is an athlete and plays on the Paralympic National Women’s Goalball Team representing Team USA. Eliana earned a Bronze Medal at the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016, and is now training for the upcoming Tokyo games. She is also in graduate school studying to become a clinical mental health counselor. 

In this episode, Eliana and I talked about taking care of your mental health as a competitive athlete, how to empower disabled individuals, and the importance of building inclusivity for disabled individuals in sports.

Dr. Jaclyn Tolentino is a Doctor of Osteopathy and Board Certified Family Physician based in California. She is a Senior Physician at Parsley Health, which is the leading telehealth company specializing in holistic medicine and personalized care. Dr. Tolentino has navigated the health care system as a breast cancer survivor, and is committed to creating opportunities for her patients to make empowered and informed decisions about their own health. She is an advocate for holistic medicine, specializing in hormone optimization, fitness, nutrition, and integrative wellness.

Gigi Robinson is a digital content producer, photographer, and TikTok creator who shares content about body image, chronic illness advocacy, and visual content tips across her platforms. She is a recent graduate and current masters student at University of Southern California studying Design, Business & Technology. She invites her online community to reach out her to have meaningful conversations and continuously be a resource for all of her followers. In this episode, we talked about Gigi's experience with mental health struggles and chronic illness, and how she uses her passion for photography and her social media platforms to advocate on behalf of these issues.

Rachel Deutsch is a yoga instructor and actress based in Los Angeles. In this episode, we chatted about common misconceptions of practicing yoga and how the act of setting intentions in yoga can help create better goals and set intentions moving into the New Year.

This week I spoke with Taryn Gurbach, a sophomore at WashU in St. Louis, on college life during COVID. As 2020 is coming to a close, Taryn and I reflected on these past few months at school, how she's navigated the uncertainty and ambiguity of this semester, and certain routines she's adopted to spark happiness and joy in her life. Taryn is also on the volleyball team at WashU and is the host of her own podcast called The Garyn Turbach Podcast.

Sometimes, we really just need to chill the F* out. Life is hard, no matter if you suffer from a mental health diagnosis or not, and we all experience at least some level of daily stress. This week I spoke with Staci Benaroya, otherwise known as the NYC therapist, about techniques we can use to just take a step back and calm down. Staci is a NYC-based Licensed Psychodynamic Therapist, Coach, and Business Owner. As a fellow anxious millennial, Staci is extremely passionate about helping 20-somethings heal through emotional wounds in therapy (@thenyctherapist) and is coaching clients to help them chill the F out through major life transitions (@quarterlifecompanion).

As Aristotle said, "Good habits formed at youth make all the difference." While it's certainly great to implement healthy habits and behaviors at a young age,  it's never too late to start. This week I spoke with Rachel Fawcett about the power of implementing microsteps and the effect of small choices on improved wellbeing. Rachel is the winner of the Thrive ZP Challenge and is now working at Thrive as the Thrive ZP Star Program Director. Listen to learn more about her ZP challenge journey, and what small steps Rachel took to take ahold of her mental health.

Do you ever look at someone and think, how do they do it all?  Those are the exact thoughts that run through my head when I think of Camryn Okere. Camryn recently graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2020, where she studied leadership, strategic management, and design. She is now working full-time at Mastercard and is also the founder of Rem and Company, a social impact initiative that offers free consulting services to small buisnesses impacted by COVID-19. In this episode, we discuss challenges Camryn has faced as an entreprenuer, what energizes and motivates her to keep a positive mindset, and how Camryn finds balance admist all of her responsibilites and professional endeavors.

This week, I spoke with Katara McCarty to discuss antiracism and mental health. In the Black community, mental health issues are often compounded by the psychological stress of systemic racism. As a result, Black adults are 20% more likely to report serious psychological distress than white adults (because of oppression, systematic racism and other factors at work). What’s more, seeking mental health care is stigmatized, and just one in three Black Americans who struggle with mental health issues will ever receive appropriate treatment – despite being affected at the same rate as their white counterparts.

Katara is a sought-after coach, author, and podcast host dedicated to cultivating brave spaces where all Black, Indigenous, Women of Color (BIWOC) belong. As a Black woman, she is committed to amplifying the richness of BIWOC and their stories, while also advocating for and providing emotional well-being resources for BIWOC, through her app EXHALE. During this episode, Katara and I spoke about the importance of creating more accessibility in the wellness space,  how to dismantle the system of racism in our society, and how white people can be better advocates for those in the black community.