Happy To Be Here

I turn 30 in just a few days and it’s got me reflective. I’m really proud of how my 20s turned out and as I was gearing up for this milestone of a birthday, I got to thinking — what did I want to bring with me and how did I want to prepare? I walk you through the 5 books that helped, the 5 things I did to challenge myself, and the new twist on a “30 things to do before I turn 30” list.

Jesse Moss is a part of the Experience Camps team, a nonprofit that transforms the lives of grieving children through summer camp programs and innovative, year-round initiatives. In this episode we talk about how grief impacts both adults and children, plus ways that adults can help the children in their life navigate grief. We walk through Experience Camps amazing work and I share a bit more about my own experience losing my mom at a young age. 

As the holiday season approaches, I wanted to chat 1:1. I know this season can be difficult for many, whether you're navigating grief, infertility, outgrown friendships, or establishing a new definition for family. I walk you through how I tackle my holiday season and 4 tips I keep close to heart:

Matthew Quick, New York Times Bestselling author of Silver Linings Playbook, is the author of a new book — We Are The Light. Join us for a conversation on mental health, sobriety, writing, and reclaiming our true sense of being. He took the jump at 30 years old that kicked off his path as a writer and has learned many lessons since.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN: 

1:30 — Meet Matthew

3:30 — How twenty-something to thirty-something changed his career perspective

6 — Distinguishing between anxiety and intuition

8:40 — How to create separation between your stories and yourself

12 — “We Are The Light” explained

14 — Matthew’s mental health struggles

17 — Seeking professional support when you feel like you’re drowning

18:30 — The out of body experience of Oscar-award winning Silver Linings Playbook

20 — Letting go of art once you create it

26 — Knowing your boundaries when creating

Zach Gottlieb is a teen mental health advocate and the founder of Talk with Zach, a global mental health community dedicated to teens. In our conversation we talk through questions that both teens and parents are interested in — how do you make it easier for teens to talk about mental health? What do healthy mental health coping mechanisms look like at 16? What can parents do to support their kids’ mental health?

The Midterms are Tuesday, November 8th. 435 seats (the majority) of Congress are up for re-election this year. Issues like abortion, immigration, and the economy are on the ballot, giving us a chance to truly have our voice heard.

On this episode Charlotte Castillo, Poderista’s Managing Director, walks us through key questions — How do I know if I’m registered? What does it mean that issues are on the ballot? What do I need to know to confidently vote?

The best quote from the episode — “If your voice and vote didn’t matter, why are people working really hard to stop us from voting.”

Ellen Bennett is an author, entrepreneur, and the founder of Hedley & Bennett, the apron empire we all have grown to love. Her book, "Dream First, Details Later," outlines the guiding vision and skillsets that helped her build H&B and trust herself throughout that process. We talk about entrepreneurship, the power of dreaming, owning your confidence belt, and so much more. 

Kimberly Lee Minor is the President of Bandier, an entrepreneur, a mom, and an innovator. While she knew from the beginning of her career that she wanted to one day be the President of a company, she credits her ability to adapt to how beautifully her career has unfolded. While our conversation touches on career lessons, the second half of the episode focuses almost entirely on the mental health mindset and toolbox you have to develop in order to build a healthy career and life.

Dr. Ken Duckworth is the Chief Medical Officer of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) and the author of the You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health―With Advice from Experts and Wisdom from Real People and Families. In our conversation Dr. Duckworth shares answers to questions like, “What do I do after a mental health crisis?” “How do I get a loved one to go to therapy?” and “What if my parents don’t support getting mental health care?”

Dr. Duckworth also walks us through the reason behind You Are Not Alone and what he hopes will come from it.

Marta Tellado is the CEO of Consumer Reports and the author of the newly published book, Buyer Aware: Harnessing Our Consumer Power for a Safe, Fair, and Transparent Marketplace. I was so excited to have Marta on this episode because she’s an expert on all the big questions we’re sitting with right now - How do we know which period tracking app to actually use? What is going on with our privacy settings? How should you childproof your little one’s phones? How do I know the supplements that the influencer is promoting are actually safe?

Marta deep dives on these topics and so much more.