Mental Health Momentum

In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan sits down with Tobie Spears, founder of Be Humanitarian, to explore the unexpected connection between mental health, global service, and human resilience.

From leading volunteer-driven nutrition programs in Guatemala where they serve over 10,000 meals per month to raising a family while navigating real-world mental health challenges, Tobie shares a deeply human perspective on what it means to build emotional strength through purpose.

Through Be Humanitarian, Tobie has created a holistic model of impact that combines:

• Nutrition programs to combat childhood malnutrition

• Education initiatives for children, teens, and families

• Volunteer experiences that reconnect people with purpose

Her work highlights a powerful truth: “You cannot separate mental health from environment, opportunity, and human connection.”

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why mental health is not binary and how it fluctuates just like physical health

• The concept of purpose-driven resilience and why service can be transformative

• How nutrition, education, and mental well-being are deeply interconnected

• What working with postpartum mental health taught Tobie about emotional endurance

• How stepping outside your “bubble” can radically shift your perspective on life

• Why sustainable change requires both immediate aid and long-term education

In a world increasingly focused on optimization, productivity, and performance, this conversation is a reminder that mental health isn’t just managed, it’s shaped by how we live, who we serve, and the perspective we choose.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected, this episode offers a different lens. 

Listen now

In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Dr. David Morgan sits down with Ashley Iverson, founder of Function of Yoga F Yoga, for a conversation that will completely reframe the way you think about healing, self-awareness, and what yoga actually is.

Ashley isn't your typical yoga teacher. With over 15 years of experience inside inpatient psychiatric hospitals, military settings, and behavioral health environments, she has brought trauma-informed yoga to some of the most acute mental health spaces imaginable and the results speak for themselves.

Her groundbreaking methodology, Function of Yoga, treats yoga not as a lifestyle or aesthetic, but as math: you are the input, yoga is the system, and change is the output — a repeatable, evidence based process that produces measurable internal change, even in populations where traditional wellness approaches fail.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• How Ashley pioneered yoga inside psychiatric hospitals and the pushback she faced

• Why self-awareness may be the most underrated mental health tool we have

• The surprising overlap between ancient yoga, modern medicine, and psychology

• How nervous system regulation and embodied healing drive real transformation

• Why simple solutions to complex mental health problems simply don't exist — and what to do instead

• The neuroscience behind yoga for anxiety, depression, trauma, and addiction recovery

Whether you've never tried yoga, work in mental health, or are simply looking for evidence based tools for self regulation and healing, this episode will challenge everything you thought you knew.

Mental Health Momentum is a Silicon Slopes podcast hosted by Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes — where we explore mental health in business and beyond, and look for real solutions.

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In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, sits down with leadership strategist Patti Cook for a candid conversation about the hidden forces shaping mental health at work.

Having worked since the age of 14 across industries ranging from local organizations to national initiatives, Patti has witnessed firsthand how organizational silos, unclear leadership, and structural ambiguity create anxiety, burnout, and imposter syndrome inside otherwise high-performing teams.

Now a client strategist at O.C. Tanner and a former marketing director at the Women's Leadership Institute, Patti works with organizations that see employee recognition and culture as strategic drivers of real change.

This conversation challenges leaders, employees, and organizations alike to rethink how workplace structures influence psychological well-being. Because sometimes the path to healthier people starts with healthier systems. 

Listen now.

What if the most dangerous myth about suicide is the one we’re still afraid to challenge? 

In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, sits down with Brook Anderson, Suicide Prevention Outreach Specialist at NAMI Utah, to confront the stigma, silence, and misinformation that keep people suffering alone. 

This is a courageous conversation. Because avoiding the topic doesn’t prevent suicide. Talking about it just might.

Brook shares her own story of losing her boyfriend to suicide as a teenager and how that painful experience eventually led her to dedicate her life to prevention, education, and building sustainable, data-driven systems that save lives.

“If you put yourself in the shoes of someone struggling… having someone say, ‘Are you thinking about suicide?’ can decrease their stress enormously.”

Together, David and Brook dismantle the myths and misinformation and replace it with practical tools: how to ask the hard question, how to respond without panic, and how to create environments where dignity and hope stay at the center of prevention efforts.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

• Why suicide is far more common—and closer to home—than most people realize

• The dangerous myth that asking about suicide “puts the idea in someone’s head”

• How stigma, religion, culture, and family systems complicate open conversations

• Why directly asking someone if they’re suicidal can actually reduce crisis stress

• What it means to design prevention with community, not just for community

• Brooke’s deeply personal “reason why” behind her 20+ years of advocacy

“If you put yourself in the shoes of someone struggling… having someone say, ‘Are you thinking about suicide?’ can decrease their stress enormously,” Brook said. 

If you’ve ever wondered:

• What do I say if someone tells me they don’t want to be here anymore?

• Am I making it worse by bringing it up?

• Why don’t people use the resources that already exist?

This conversation gives you clarity—and courage. Listen now.

What if the barrier isn’t your ability but the infrastructure around you?

Did you know one in four Utahns lives with a disability? Many also face financial and mental health challenges that compound those barriers. Wasatch Adaptive Sports removes them. 

But let’s start at the beginning. 

Meet Don Webber. 

Don is a former D1 football player, musician, nonprofit leader, and self-described “jack of all trades.” But behind the adventurous résumé is something far more relatable: lived experience with generalized anxiety and post-traumatic stress.

After years in the advertising world—including time at Traeger Grills—Don felt the pull toward something deeper. Through volunteer work, he found his calling with Wasatch Adaptive Sports, a nonprofit founded in 1977 that empowers people with disabilities to improve their physical, mental, and social health through outdoor recreation.

And what started as volunteering became a mission.

At Wasatch Adaptive Sports, participants don’t pay. They redefine what’s possible.

As Don puts it, the shift is simple but radical:

Stop asking what you can’t do.

Start asking: What would it take to make this work?

This episode dives into:

• Why anxiety thrives on limitation thinking

• How businesses can support employee mental health

• The power of removing structural barriers

• Why outdoor recreation is a mental health intervention

• How adaptive sports mirror therapeutic change

If you’ve ever believed something was out of reach, this episode might challenge you to reconsider.

In this deeply personal episode of Mental Health Momentum, Dr. David Morgan, a licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, sits down with Trina Celeste Limpert, CEO of RizeNext, bestselling author of Orchestrating Life-Work Harmony, and co-founder of Tech-Moms.org.

Named one of Utah’s most influential women, Trina blends executive leadership with authenticity. As a mother of eight children in a blended family, she often brings practical perspective to conversations about resilience, balance, and purpose.

Trina is widely known for her leadership in AI strategy, workforce upskilling, and human-centered innovation. But in this conversation, she opens up about something far more personal.

Growing up in a family deeply impacted by suicide and untreated mental health struggles, Trina shares her experience navigating generational trauma, including the loss of her great grandmother and grandfather to suicide, and her mother’s attempts. 

For years, these realities were brushed aside and left unspoken.

In this episode, Trina courageously explores:

• The impact of silence around mental health in families

• How generational trauma shapes identity and leadership

• Why emotional intelligence is essential in the age of AI

• The pursuit of life-work harmony vs. burnout culture

• Building inclusive pathways into tech for women

• Integrating leadership, motherhood, and mental wellness

This conversation is about breaking cycles, rewriting narratives, and building momentum, personally and professionally, through honest dialogue about mental health. Listen now:

What if we stopped waiting for a crisis to talk about mental health?

In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, talks with Elysia Butler, founder of the Hope Hero Foundation, TEDx speaker, published author, and one of the most compelling voices in youth suicide prevention today.

Elysia speaks from lived experience when she opens up about the moment everything changed: parenting a seven-year-old who didn’t want to live… and later, losing her sister-in-law to suicide. 

Those defining moments became the catalyst for a movement centered on proactive mental well-being, resilience, and teaching kids—before a crisis—that they matter.

Drawing from Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and her years as an educator, Elysia explains how the Hope Hero Foundation equips children and teens with the emotional tools most adults never learned:

• How to check in on someone and mean it
  

• How to recognize warning signs early
  

• How to move through anxiety instead of running from it
  

• How to believe you are the hero of your own story
  

You’ll hear the story behind the now-iconic red Converse high tops—a symbol worn by Hope Hero ambassadors nationwide—and how teens are being certified in suicide prevention and empowered to teach these life-saving skills in their own communities.

If you care about youth mental health, suicide prevention, emotional intelligence, or building resilient communities, this is an episode you can’t afford to miss.

Listen. Share. And start asking, “How are you really doing?”

In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, sits down with Heather Nemelka, to talk about mental health, identity, and connection in today’s high-pressure, hyper-digital world.

Heather is the Founder and President of the Elavare Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women re-enter the workforce through training, mentorship, and community, and the CEO of Eleva LLC, where she partners with organizations to strengthen leadership, accelerate career growth, and transform workplace culture. 

With over 20 years of leadership and marketing experience, a seat on multiple boards, leadership of the Silicon Slopes AI Chapter, and life as a mom of five adult children, Heather brings both professional insight and lived experience to the table as they discuss: 

• Why mental health challenges are a normal part of life, not a personal failure
  

• How stigma and silence have shaped the way we talk (or don’t talk) about anxiety, depression, and stress
  

• The surprising power of authenticity and vulnerability in building real human connection
  

• How social media and digital platforms can both connect us—and quietly deepen loneliness
  

• What happens when people stop presenting their “best selves” and start telling the truth
  

• Why encouragement, validation, and being seen matter more than we realize—whether from people, workplaces, or even AI
  

If you’ve ever felt alone in your stress, questioned why mental health feels harder than physical health, or wondered how to show up more authentically in your work and relationships—this conversation is for you.

On this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, sits down with Shawn Finnegan—serial entrepreneur, investor, founder of The X Room, and community builder—for a candid conversation about the mental toll of entrepreneurship that rarely gets talked about.

Shawn launched a 500+ employee customer support center at AOL Time Warner, co-founded a live events company that scaled to over $100M in annual revenue, and invested alongside Kevin O’Leary at TaxHive. But behind the titles, capital raises, and LinkedIn wins is a very different story.

In this episode, Shawn opens up about:

• The psychological pressure of raising millions and nearly losing everything

• What rock bottom really feels like when payroll is due and the math doesn’t work

• Why entrepreneurial isolation quietly destroys mental health

• How pride, ego, and “looking successful” can stop founders from asking for help

• The moment he realized relationships—not hustle—are the real growth engine

• Why mental health isn’t something that “breaks,” but something that fluctuates under pressure

Dr. Morgan brings clinical insight to the realities Shawn describes, reframing mental health as a dynamic state, especially in high-stress environments like startups, leadership, and scaling businesses. 

What does success really look like when you tell the whole story?

In this deeply honest and moving episode, Dr. David Morgan of Silicon Slopes and Mental Health Momentum sits down with Catherine Bennett, Executive Editor of Utah Business, to explore the often-unspoken realities behind professional achievement, mental health, and personal perseverance.

At first glance, Catherine’s career reads like a highlight reel: print journalist turned global communications leader, entrepreneur, marketing executive, podcast host, brand strategist, and editor shaping Utah’s business narrative. But beneath the titles is a story many will recognize—and few openly share.

Catherine courageously opens up about her mental health journey, including a decade-long struggle with an eating disorder that began in her teens, the deep shame and silence surrounding it, and the cultural pressures that made it harder to name and address. She reflects on perfectionism, faith, high achievement, and the uniquely Utah experience of feeling like mistakes should be quick, quiet, and easily “fixed.”

The conversation then moves into another pivotal chapter: navigating motherhood, entrepreneurship, financial uncertainty, and isolation—all while building a business out of necessity and resilience. Catherine shares what it took to stay connected, grounded, and mentally healthy during seasons when everything felt heavy and uncertain.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Morgan and Catherine explore the power of storytelling—why real stories matter, how creative nonfiction helps us see ourselves in others, and how transparency from leaders can change the way we talk about mental health in business and life.

If you’ve ever looked at someone’s success and wondered what their journey really cost—or if you’ve struggled silently while “doing all the right things”—this episode will resonate deeply.