May 7, 2025 • 27 mins
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, Lisa and Gretchen open up about their respective mental health advocacy platforms—The HelpHUB, Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads podcast, and Schoser Talent and Wellness Solutions. They highlight the urgent need for inclusive, accessible mental health resources that speak to people across different communities, life stages, and identities. If you’ve ever Googled “mental health help” and felt overwhelmed, this episode offers hope and clarity.
🎥 Watch the Video Podcast on YouTube:
A video version of this episode is available here: YouTube: @TheSurvivorsPodcastChannel
🎙️ Episode Sponsored by TheHelpHUB.co
Struggling with your mental health? Feeling lost, overwhelmed, or just… alone? Well, you're not. Welcome to TheHelpHUB.co—your online destination for mental health resources, content, and tools to help you navigate your mental health challenges.
At The HelpHUB, you’ll find individualized tools tailored to your unique needs. Over 16 curated categories cover crisis support, grief, mindfulness, LGBTQ+ support, workplace mental health, and more. Whether you need downloadable toolkits, peer stories, or just a starting point to feel seen, this is where healing begins. Visit https://www.thehelphub.co/ today.
💙Because your mental well-being matters. 💙
💡 Lessons Learned
- Personalized mental health support matters. Not everyone experiences trauma or heals similarly; resources should reflect that diversity.
- You don’t have to be a professional to help someone heal. Lived experience, open dialogue, and community can be just as transformative.
- Laughter is healing. Sometimes the best therapy is an honest conversation with a friend—and a moment to laugh through the pain.
- No one is alone. From TheHelpHUB to weekly podcast episodes, there are always free tools, stories, and safe spaces to turn to.
- 00:00 – Introduction & Content Warning
- 00:25 – Why May Matters: Mental Health Awareness Month
- 01:06 – Advocating 140%: Our Year-Round Commitment
- 03:30 – Normalizing Conversations Through Resources
- 05:00 – Lisa’s Journey to Building TheHelpHUB
- 10:55 – Personalized Support by Category
- 14:00 – Gretchen’s Experience Using TheHelpHUB
- 15:10 – The Power of Sharing: Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads
- 18:00 – Building Schoser Talent and Wellness Solutions
- 20:00 – From Suicide to Survival: Why We Do This Work
- 23:30 – Listener Homework & Final Thoughts
- 25:00 – Community, Courage, and Showing Up
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The Survivors is brought to you by our friends at the Hellpub.
(00:05):
This podcast mentions suicide, mental illness, grief and loss and may be triggering for some
listeners.
So please take care of your mental well-being by pausing or skipping any sections that
feel uncomfortable to you.
And if you or someone you know is struggling, please call 988 for support.
Welcome back!
I didn't know if you were starting or if I was starting.
I feel like this should be the first part of our bloopers reel.
(00:27):
Yeah, well, I'm going to always like you start because you're such a great interviewer
and then I can just bounce off of you.
Okay.
I'll take that as a compliment.
We can move forward now.
So it's May.
It's so crazy to say it's May because it was just November to me and I don't really know
what happened between November and May, but here we are.
(00:49):
And I know for a fact because you and I talked about this, that we are both so excited
that we launched our podcast at the time of year that we could capture the month of May
and mental health awareness month because we are in it right now.
It is mental health awareness month and as to mental health advocates who spend 140%
(01:15):
of their time advocating for things like suicide awareness and prevention and compassion
about mental illness and all the things like this is our month.
This is the month where we get to amplify the voices like ours in our own and resources
that we know about and that we love and that we support.
(01:37):
And I'm just excited to have this conversation and to help elevate this month in people's
minds because look like you wish that everybody in the world had the same energy around mental
health and wellness all 12 months a year.
But it's like Pride Month, it's like all the different awareness months like we're lucky
(01:58):
that we have these times of year that are devoted to these subjects and we want to make the
most of them when we're in them.
So I'm excited for this conversation and the next few conversations that I know are going
to revolve around mental health awareness month.
You know, you and I kind of dipping into our resources, not only our own personal resources
platforms that you and I have separate from this podcast, but things that we know about,
(02:20):
things that we've used and have taken advantage of ourselves that we get to pass along to
people because I think that that is the thing that people need the most are resources.
And the great thing about mental health awareness month is that we can help reduce stigma
and misconceptions.
We can encourage people to seek help.
We can educate and spread awareness.
(02:41):
We can promote mental wellness and workplace, your community.
We can support society prevention efforts.
We can empower advocacy and some policy change.
We can strengthen our support networks and those are all super important.
And the fact that you and I both are huge mental health advocates, you more so on the
(03:03):
suicide loss and suicide prevention and me just as a mental health advocate and spreading
the awareness and making people know it's okay to not be okay, right?
We still need to talk about it and like this year has been hard enough as this.
We have a lot of external factors coming at us every single day, like every single minute
(03:25):
and having this month so that we can focus on mental health awareness is huge.
Our next few episodes are really going to dig, do a deep dive into this and let people
know that it's okay to be like mentally unhealthy, but there are resources out there and we
can inform our communities and help people out.
(03:46):
Yeah, and I know that in kind of talking about how this conversation today was going to
go, you and I both wanted to be able to highlight, I think first and foremost, maybe it makes
the most sense to talk about the things that you and I do in the world that are outside
of this podcast that obviously feed heavily into it, which is beautiful, but there are
(04:08):
also things that you and I do externally that create resources for people.
So maybe I'll share what I do and then you can share what you do and hopefully people
can find a whole new set of resources in those things.
So one of the things that I've been working on for a long time now, it's like at least
(04:28):
probably a year now, is developing my web platform, my website.
It started like any other personal website.
It was kind of the place where you showcase what you do and who you are and a content creator.
I do a lot of writing in a lot of different ways and it's an easy place for me to put things
out into the world that I create.
(04:49):
Well, when I made this shift in my career and on my path from parenting writer to a mental
health advocate, everything I did shifted, the nature of everything I did shifted and
I started getting involved to it crisis counseling.
I was involved on the lifeline.
So I've been a crisis counselor with the Trevor project for three years.
(05:09):
Work as a grief group facilitator with Samaritans.
I'm a storyteller with the national line.
So I'm a mental illness.
So I was doing all these things and got the benefit of all of the resources that are
attached to all of those platforms, which is beautiful.
And so little by little, my own platform kind of started to shift like the nature of the
content was now different.
(05:31):
I was sharing my story and sharing resources that were helping me.
But one of the things that I realized and I think I realized this the most when I was
on the lifeline is that putting people who are in crisis together with the resources that
they need when they need them.
The most is one of the most critical aspects of mental health care.
It's being aware of what your issues are and knowing where to find the help that you
(05:52):
need.
So I started accumulating all of these resources and just kind of making a list.
Just one of the back pages of my website had a resource list and we all share the same
big resources, all the big platforms.
And we recycled them all and that's great because we want them to be out into the world.
But what I started to realize and you know this to be true because you and I are for instance,
(06:14):
both part of the LGBTQ community.
Everybody goes through the same stuff, right?
We go through the same grief experiences and lost experiences and joy and hopelessness
and anger and all the things we experience are pretty universal as humans.
But the way that we experience them are so different depending on who we are, what our
(06:37):
religion may be, what our ethnicity may be, where we live in the world.
All those factors make the way that we experience all those things very different.
And I felt like there wasn't a place that would contain all the information that people
would need whatever community you're in.
Like if you're, if you're a member of the BIPOC community and you're looking for resources
(06:58):
for Black men and women and you're looking at resources that are generic, well maybe
you're not going to kind of get the specialized information or resources that you need for you
and your situation in life and your community.
Same can be said if you're part of the elderly community or if you're a veteran or if
you're a parent or if you're part of the API community, like everything's just a little
bit different.
So I had this raise.
(07:20):
I wish you could have seen how stupid long this list was of resources that I had.
It was like 27 miles long.
It had, I'm not exaggerating, it was actually 27 miles long and it had no structure.
It was just alphabetized and that was it.
So it had like the name of the organization and the link and that was it and it was alphabetical
and it would take you six days to go down and search for what you wanted.
(07:42):
So it was kind of like Google.
Yeah, it was you put in mental health and you come back with 87,000 resources and you
don't know where to start.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
And oh yeah, let's do that for the people who are struggling in the moment and barely
know their own name or how to get through the day.
Like let's make them seek out and find the resources that they need.
They totally have the frame of mind to do that.
(08:04):
Right.
It was so dumb to think that when you are depressed or you are anxious or you're experiencing
a mental health crisis, you can barely remember to button your pants, let alone look for resources
that might help you.
So I started like taking a step back and I remember actually was my oldest daughter who
my daughter Riley was the one who was like, what if you broke it into categories?
(08:28):
Really a girl.
I'll be loves you because I did.
I took a look at it in a different perspective from a different perspective and I was like,
wait a minute, I have all these different categories here and all these different communities
are represented and okay, what if I do that?
So I came up with 16 different categories.
That's what there is now on my website.
And every category is unique and every category has the organization, a little blurb and a
(08:53):
link.
So you go directly there.
You don't have to think twice.
Everything has been vetted and all of a sudden I had this resource hub and it seemed like
it was a pretty valuable thing.
So I moved this hub to the front page of my website and eventually I was like, this
is my website.
Like, wait a minute, what am I doing?
This is what's important.
This is what people really need.
(09:13):
So I really kind of ripped it all down to the studs and rebuilt the whole thing and I renamed
it.
It's called the help hub.
You could find it at thehelphub.co and when you land on that landing page, one of the
first things you see is this big giant grid with all these little thumbnail pictures
and they all have categories.
And if you need help, if you need crisis support, you click on that.
(09:33):
If you want mindfulness resources, you click on that one.
If you want online mental health services, you click on that one and it takes you to these
sites.
You don't have to think about it.
You don't have to wonder if they're reputable.
Everything has been vetted and you can get the resources that you need when you need it
most.
(09:54):
It just kind of evolved from there.
Just kind of spun.
It was like a little dust bunny that just kept growing and spinning.
You know what I mean?
A tool kit section for people who maybe needed more concrete steps.
(10:15):
How do you have a conversation with someone who's grieving?
What do you say?
What not to say?
What do you do if you're having a grief attack?
What do you do if you're dysregulated?
So I created all of these resources and now they live in this tool kit section.
Everything is free.
You can download, you can share, you can print any of these resources.
It grew from there and now the survivors, our podcast is there as well.
(10:40):
Help Hub has a YouTube channel that has different short videos that talk about everything
from grief and loss, to mental illness and suicide and all.
All of the health and wellness issues we all talk about every day.
And now it's become this beautiful place where anybody can go.
Anyone who needs any kind of help at all can go to get the support that they need.
(11:01):
And I just, you know, I keep adding to it and populating it with new resources.
You know, I'm only a one woman show.
So I do this on my own and I rely on people.
So if you're listening to this episode and you pop over to the help hub, which I really
hope you will, and you bookmark it, which I really hope you will.
And you look at the resources and you're like, hey, I know of a great mindfulness resource.
(11:22):
I don't see it here.
Help me out. There is a way that you can connect with me.
You just hit the contact form, send me a message, send me a link.
Let me know what you have that you think is relevant.
And we'll put it on there and we'll continue to grow it so that it's a resource for everyone.
But I feel like there's no better time in the world than mental health awareness month
(11:43):
to make people aware of things like the help hub and the resources that are out there
that are so accessible.
Things like the 988 lifeline, which you and I will probably talk about more in depth in
another episode this month.
But that's the resource that I have developed that I have to offer that I would love to offer.
And it'll always be free.
(12:03):
I never want there to ever be a barrier for someone to get the help that they need.
So all the content on there, whether it's a tool or a strategy or a podcast episode or
content, it's free.
Take it, use it, share it.
So that's my contribution.
That's how I'm kicking off mental health awareness month by sharing that you are so patient.
(12:23):
You're just like such a patient listener right now.
Struggling with your mental health, feeling lost, overwhelmed or just alone?
Well you're not.
Welcome to the help hub, your online destination for mental health resources, content and tools
to help you navigate whatever mental health challenges you are facing in the moment.
(12:44):
With the help hub, we offer individualized resources tailored to your unique needs and community,
with over 16 different categories to find exactly the kind of personalized help you need
when you need it most.
Because even though we all deal with many of the same challenges, we don't always experience
those challenges the same way.
So whether you're looking for crisis support, downloadable resources, or an extensive archive
(13:09):
of mental health related articles and videos we've got you.
Some episodes of the Survivors podcast for suicide loss survivors and lived experience blogs to
interactive tools and professional connections.
The help hub needs you where you are and helps you move forward with strength and support.
Remember, you don't have to do this alone.
(13:29):
Visit the help hub.co today.
I am.
Well, because, you know, I used, I've used your site.
So when in November, when I got into another bad place, I downloaded some of your guides,
like some breathing exercises and things for me because I had really bad anxiety.
(13:51):
Didn't quite understand what it was.
Went out to your site, got the resource I needed, started using it.
It's so easy to use.
It is 9,000 times better than Google because I'm going to tell you, Google mental health,
you're going to get 80 million results back and like two of them are helpful.
But now you've had to dig through like 87 pages to get to that resource.
(14:16):
But, you know, I love your resource.
And, you know, when you and I get our first pre interview, we talked a lot about the help
hub.
And I love it.
We promote it now on our podcast.
I love that.
And I appreciate you for that so much because that's the whole point.
It's a resource that is helpful to you and spread it out to the world, share it with the world
(14:37):
because you just never know who's going to connect with one piece of it that helps them
in a moment when nothing else would.
So that's a whole idea behind, behind months like this where we just amplify all these resources
and we share them all with the world so that everybody has the benefit of using them
when they need them.
And, you know, you talk about resources that help people feel supported and less alone.
(15:01):
And that's a great time to talk about shit that goes on in our heads, which is your other,
you're cheating on me with another podcast.
Yeah, well, I don't know.
I think I'm cheating on the other podcast with you.
So, yeah, it's all good.
But you're right.
Shit that goes on in our heads came out of a really dark place.
(15:22):
Our first episode dropped on February 14, 2023.
And that was two months after I tried to, you know, try to take my life.
When we started the podcast, we thought we'd probably only do two or three episodes.
We kind of started it as a joke, moved to like April of that year, but yet by that time
(15:43):
we'd had like 10,000 downloads and we're like, wow, who's listening to us.
The true mission of our podcast is to normalize how we talk about mental health because every
time we share a story, we unlock somebody else's prison.
Because people aren't feeling so alone and terrified in their own journey.
Every episode you get a little negative information or something different to try and we have
(16:08):
a ton of resources.
We have almost 110 episodes now.
We drop every Tuesday at 3 a.m. and we're booked with so many amazing guests.
And it's not just like authors and therapists.
It's normal everyday people that want to share their stories and really normalize how we
talk about mental health because there shouldn't be a stigma to that word as there shouldn't
(16:33):
be a stigma to the word suicide.
We all suffer in our own ways.
And for people that have come on as guests, they say it's like sitting around a campfire to
shoot in the ship with a friend.
And the listeners get that same experience.
Their show is never scripted.
We have amazing guests.
Sometimes it's one episode.
(16:54):
Sometimes it's two episodes.
And we're fortunate that we get to do this.
The sure fact that we hit a million downloads in December of 2024 and we listened to an over
60 countries because mental health and mental unwellness is across the globe.
It's not just in one geolocation.
It's everywhere.
(17:14):
We've had guests from Australia.
We've had guests from England.
We've had guests from Scotland, Canada, United States.
It's everybody wants to share their story.
And I will say that over the last two years, especially on LinkedIn, I see that companies
are really taking notice and starting to incorporate mental health wellness practices into their
(17:38):
companies.
And that warms my heart.
And we've heard from so many amazing listeners and guests for our podcast that you know,
it helped them.
We got an email from one of our listeners that said that we saved their life.
They actually ended up calling 988.
We tried to mention 988 in every single podcast.
(17:59):
988 saved my life.
I had the courage to pick up the phone on that day and make that call on my life today because
of that.
For me, my healing was too hard, right?
Sharing my journey and laughing.
So in our episodes, you know, these are laugh, cry, or both, but I'm sorry, just 2020, and
(18:19):
I can look back at some of the shit that happened with me.
And I can laugh at it now.
I couldn't laugh at the time, but I can laugh at it now.
And our guests find the same thing.
Like they've gone through some really, really deep stuff, but they can laugh about it now.
And laughter is part of healing.
It releases that cortisol and gets your endorphins going.
(18:41):
Now, when you're laughing, you're not thinking about the other shit that's going on in your
heads.
And that's really how I became a mental health advocate by dealing with my own depression,
working on this amazing podcast with my amazing co-host like 30 Skittles and I have it going
on.
Like I've listened to a ton of mental health podcasts.
We're not like anybody else.
(19:02):
We're not clinical by any means.
We're just a couple of people out there trying to deal with their own shit and trying to
help others in the world deal with the stuff that's going on with them.
That's my other resource too is just I started my own company.
It shows that you're telling them well-misplacions.
Half my company is technical.
The other half has to do with wellness and wellness within companies and getting resources
(19:26):
out there.
We have a website.
You can go out to goesoninourhead.net.
You'll see all our episodes out there.
We're on all the platforms.
The only thing you'll see on YouTube is just a video version of our audio podcast.
We don't do, we don't.
You do now.
Well, I do on this podcast, but on shit that goes on our heads, it's always going to be
(19:48):
an audio podcast.
So I encourage you to go listen.
We have every kind of mental illness that people have gone through.
If you can think of somebody that you would like first to have on the podcast, reach out.
If there's a contact page on our website and I'd be more than happy to bring more guests
on, we are actually booked with guests until January of 2026.
(20:13):
That's just mind-blowing.
It really is.
I mean, I know that I've had the experience, the good fortune of not only listening to your
podcast, but I've been a guest on your podcast, which is the whole reason why you and I are
here to begin with.
We met initially through your podcast and I can tell you that the chemistry you talked
about that you and Dirty Skittles have is real.
(20:36):
I mean, that's legit chemistry.
The two of you just feed off each other in such a beautiful way.
The conversations are like being around the kitchen table or being around the campfire.
I know how I felt as a guest.
You say unscripted and I know that you and I here are also unscripted.
You and I have a topic that we decide on before we record and then we just hit record and
(21:03):
we talk about our experience relating to that topic.
I know that you and Dirty Skittles do the same thing and it's just such a beautiful example
of what can come from an organic conversation from two people who are just leaning into
their lived experience as humans, whether it be work-life balance or mental health or
(21:24):
physical wellness or relationships or like what you guys literally deal with all of the
shit that goes on in our heads, whatever that may mean.
And it's such an easy experience as a listener because chances are good that whatever it is
that you guys are talking about on any given episode, it's something that most of us have
(21:44):
dealt with and the way that you frame it, the way that you engage around it is just so funny
most of the time and it's just so real and there's so much inspiration that's just kind of
popping in and out of everything that you're saying that it's a beautiful thing you're doing
and it's helping so many people because it's it's you know it's a general mental health
(22:07):
and wellness podcast so it's not like you and I are in a lane.
We're in more of a defined lane because we're talking predominantly about suicide and
loss and all the things attached to that but you guys have a kind of a longer runway.
You're like a 50 lane highway.
Very very very busy highway.
A very busy highway.
No, what's also kind of crazy too now is that in the United States, we're ranked in the
(22:33):
top 10 for mental health podcast in on Apple, which means that we're going to be able to
attract even more listeners and for each listener has a ripple effect.
So one person listens and then they talk to another person and then they listen and then
they talk to another person. So it's helping to destigmatize mental health and that's really
(22:53):
what I want to do.
I know from my own personal journey how horrified and terrified I was about what was going on
in my head and just giving people a place to listen and try and figure out hey you know
I'm kind of going through this and I you know I know you know maybe these are some things
(23:13):
I can try and in our show notes we give as much information as we can but we also have
a newsletter where I give out a ton more information.
You know in the process of updating that goes on on our heads dot net website of adding
more resources and some blog posts and things like that just forming a community and I'm
(23:35):
so thankful that I get to do that podcast and also very thankful when I get to do this
podcast which just focuses a little bit more on my story as being a suicide attempt survivor.
You're kind of a podcast slut.
I am but you know what I'm okay with that.
In a good way.
In a good way and we're getting our message out right and this is such a vital message
(23:58):
especially in the month of May and I'm going to go as far as to say as far as like 2025
goes it's been a shit show this year for so many people and this is a month where you can
really hone in on all the resources are out there what you can do to help not only yourself
but maybe somebody else is going dealing with some mental health issues and just forming
(24:22):
a better community and being okay with saying I have a mental illness and not feel stigmatized
by it.
Yeah and and it's a great time to restock your toolbox.
It's a great time of the year.
It's almost like a shopping mall is open to the public and everything is free.
So just go have at it.
(24:43):
Just all these resources are being pushed out there by all of these organizations and all
of these platforms and all of these support systems and they're all there to just stockpile
save them share them spread them and and this is the month where you're going to see
what everybody has to offer in the most beautiful of ways and I just feel so grateful that that
(25:05):
it was so serendipitous that we started our podcast at this time of the year so that we
could be here to be part of this conversation and part of this month long kind of celebration
of all the resources that there are the beautiful resources that there are in the world.
So I would love to ask people to do a little bit of homework between now and the next time
(25:27):
we're back next week.
I would love if you're listening today.
There are three resources that we've talked about today.
We have this podcast, the Survivors podcast.
We have the shit that goes on in our heads podcast and we have the help hub.
Pick one.
Pick one or pick all.
Go check it out.
Just go check it out.
See what's there that might be appropriate for you.
(25:50):
Find something, some point of connection and bookmark that.
Share it, maybe just dig through it to see what you can find that serves you or serves somebody.
That's your homework.
We will test you when you come home.
And for me, my homework for everyone is if you have a resource that we haven't mentioned
(26:12):
and you think you have found to be super helpful, please let us know so we can get it out
on our website and share that information out with our listeners and any guests or any
other resources that we use.
I mainly post to Instagram and LinkedIn, but we're always willing to learn and engage.
(26:34):
And I just want to thank all of you for listening to us this week and I can't wait to talk to you
guys next week.
To the left.
To the left.
Thanks for joining us on the Survivors.
Remember, no matter how tough things feel, you are enough and the world needs you just
the way you are.
You're not alone in this journey.
There's a community here and every step forward counts.
(26:55):
We're so grateful you took the time to listen and we hope you'll take one day at a time.
Just know there's always more light ahead.
Thanks for being here friends.
Just remember, help is out there in so many different places.
So if you or someone you know is struggling, please call 988 and a trained crisis counselor
like me will be there to help.
(27:15):
You can also find an inclusive and comprehensive directory of mental health resources, tools
and content at thehelphub.co.
Just remember that help is always just a call or a click away.
We'll catch you next week.
In the meantime, keep surviving.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
The Survivors is brought to you by our friends at the Hellpub.
(00:05):
This podcast mentions suicide, mental illness, grief and loss and may be triggering for some
listeners.
So please take care of your mental well-being by pausing or skipping any sections that
feel uncomfortable to you.
And if you or someone you know is struggling, please call 988 for support.
Welcome back!
I didn't know if you were starting or if I was starting.
I feel like this should be the first part of our bloopers reel.
(00:27):
Yeah, well, I'm going to always like you start because you're such a great interviewer
and then I can just bounce off of you.
Okay.
I'll take that as a compliment.
We can move forward now.
So it's May.
It's so crazy to say it's May because it was just November to me and I don't really know
what happened between November and May, but here we are.
(00:49):
And I know for a fact because you and I talked about this, that we are both so excited
that we launched our podcast at the time of year that we could capture the month of May
and mental health awareness month because we are in it right now.
It is mental health awareness month and as to mental health advocates who spend 140%
(01:15):
of their time advocating for things like suicide awareness and prevention and compassion
about mental illness and all the things like this is our month.
This is the month where we get to amplify the voices like ours in our own and resources
that we know about and that we love and that we support.
(01:37):
And I'm just excited to have this conversation and to help elevate this month in people's
minds because look like you wish that everybody in the world had the same energy around mental
health and wellness all 12 months a year.
But it's like Pride Month, it's like all the different awareness months like we're lucky
(01:58):
that we have these times of year that are devoted to these subjects and we want to make the
most of them when we're in them.
So I'm excited for this conversation and the next few conversations that I know are going
to revolve around mental health awareness month.
You know, you and I kind of dipping into our resources, not only our own personal resources
platforms that you and I have separate from this podcast, but things that we know about,
(02:20):
things that we've used and have taken advantage of ourselves that we get to pass along to
people because I think that that is the thing that people need the most are resources.
And the great thing about mental health awareness month is that we can help reduce stigma
and misconceptions.
We can encourage people to seek help.
We can educate and spread awareness.
(02:41):
We can promote mental wellness and workplace, your community.
We can support society prevention efforts.
We can empower advocacy and some policy change.
We can strengthen our support networks and those are all super important.
And the fact that you and I both are huge mental health advocates, you more so on the
(03:03):
suicide loss and suicide prevention and me just as a mental health advocate and spreading
the awareness and making people know it's okay to not be okay, right?
We still need to talk about it and like this year has been hard enough as this.
We have a lot of external factors coming at us every single day, like every single minute
(03:25):
and having this month so that we can focus on mental health awareness is huge.
Our next few episodes are really going to dig, do a deep dive into this and let people
know that it's okay to be like mentally unhealthy, but there are resources out there and we
can inform our communities and help people out.
(03:46):
Yeah, and I know that in kind of talking about how this conversation today was going to
go, you and I both wanted to be able to highlight, I think first and foremost, maybe it makes
the most sense to talk about the things that you and I do in the world that are outside
of this podcast that obviously feed heavily into it, which is beautiful, but there are
(04:08):
also things that you and I do externally that create resources for people.
So maybe I'll share what I do and then you can share what you do and hopefully people
can find a whole new set of resources in those things.
So one of the things that I've been working on for a long time now, it's like at least
(04:28):
probably a year now, is developing my web platform, my website.
It started like any other personal website.
It was kind of the place where you showcase what you do and who you are and a content creator.
I do a lot of writing in a lot of different ways and it's an easy place for me to put things
out into the world that I create.
(04:49):
Well, when I made this shift in my career and on my path from parenting writer to a mental
health advocate, everything I did shifted, the nature of everything I did shifted and
I started getting involved to it crisis counseling.
I was involved on the lifeline.
So I've been a crisis counselor with the Trevor project for three years.
(05:09):
Work as a grief group facilitator with Samaritans.
I'm a storyteller with the national line.
So I'm a mental illness.
So I was doing all these things and got the benefit of all of the resources that are
attached to all of those platforms, which is beautiful.
And so little by little, my own platform kind of started to shift like the nature of the
content was now different.
(05:31):
I was sharing my story and sharing resources that were helping me.
But one of the things that I realized and I think I realized this the most when I was
on the lifeline is that putting people who are in crisis together with the resources that
they need when they need them.
The most is one of the most critical aspects of mental health care.
It's being aware of what your issues are and knowing where to find the help that you
(05:52):
need.
So I started accumulating all of these resources and just kind of making a list.
Just one of the back pages of my website had a resource list and we all share the same
big resources, all the big platforms.
And we recycled them all and that's great because we want them to be out into the world.
But what I started to realize and you know this to be true because you and I are for instance,
(06:14):
both part of the LGBTQ community.
Everybody goes through the same stuff, right?
We go through the same grief experiences and lost experiences and joy and hopelessness
and anger and all the things we experience are pretty universal as humans.
But the way that we experience them are so different depending on who we are, what our
(06:37):
religion may be, what our ethnicity may be, where we live in the world.
All those factors make the way that we experience all those things very different.
And I felt like there wasn't a place that would contain all the information that people
would need whatever community you're in.
Like if you're, if you're a member of the BIPOC community and you're looking for resources
(06:58):
for Black men and women and you're looking at resources that are generic, well maybe
you're not going to kind of get the specialized information or resources that you need for you
and your situation in life and your community.
Same can be said if you're part of the elderly community or if you're a veteran or if
you're a parent or if you're part of the API community, like everything's just a little
bit different.
So I had this raise.
(07:20):
I wish you could have seen how stupid long this list was of resources that I had.
It was like 27 miles long.
It had, I'm not exaggerating, it was actually 27 miles long and it had no structure.
It was just alphabetized and that was it.
So it had like the name of the organization and the link and that was it and it was alphabetical
and it would take you six days to go down and search for what you wanted.
(07:42):
So it was kind of like Google.
Yeah, it was you put in mental health and you come back with 87,000 resources and you
don't know where to start.
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
And oh yeah, let's do that for the people who are struggling in the moment and barely
know their own name or how to get through the day.
Like let's make them seek out and find the resources that they need.
They totally have the frame of mind to do that.
(08:04):
Right.
It was so dumb to think that when you are depressed or you are anxious or you're experiencing
a mental health crisis, you can barely remember to button your pants, let alone look for resources
that might help you.
So I started like taking a step back and I remember actually was my oldest daughter who
my daughter Riley was the one who was like, what if you broke it into categories?
(08:28):
Really a girl.
I'll be loves you because I did.
I took a look at it in a different perspective from a different perspective and I was like,
wait a minute, I have all these different categories here and all these different communities
are represented and okay, what if I do that?
So I came up with 16 different categories.
That's what there is now on my website.
And every category is unique and every category has the organization, a little blurb and a
(08:53):
link.
So you go directly there.
You don't have to think twice.
Everything has been vetted and all of a sudden I had this resource hub and it seemed like
it was a pretty valuable thing.
So I moved this hub to the front page of my website and eventually I was like, this
is my website.
Like, wait a minute, what am I doing?
This is what's important.
This is what people really need.
(09:13):
So I really kind of ripped it all down to the studs and rebuilt the whole thing and I renamed
it.
It's called the help hub.
You could find it at thehelphub.co and when you land on that landing page, one of the
first things you see is this big giant grid with all these little thumbnail pictures
and they all have categories.
And if you need help, if you need crisis support, you click on that.
(09:33):
If you want mindfulness resources, you click on that one.
If you want online mental health services, you click on that one and it takes you to these
sites.
You don't have to think about it.
You don't have to wonder if they're reputable.
Everything has been vetted and you can get the resources that you need when you need it
most.
(09:54):
It just kind of evolved from there.
Just kind of spun.
It was like a little dust bunny that just kept growing and spinning.
You know what I mean?
A tool kit section for people who maybe needed more concrete steps.
(10:15):
How do you have a conversation with someone who's grieving?
What do you say?
What not to say?
What do you do if you're having a grief attack?
What do you do if you're dysregulated?
So I created all of these resources and now they live in this tool kit section.
Everything is free.
You can download, you can share, you can print any of these resources.
It grew from there and now the survivors, our podcast is there as well.
(10:40):
Help Hub has a YouTube channel that has different short videos that talk about everything
from grief and loss, to mental illness and suicide and all.
All of the health and wellness issues we all talk about every day.
And now it's become this beautiful place where anybody can go.
Anyone who needs any kind of help at all can go to get the support that they need.
(11:01):
And I just, you know, I keep adding to it and populating it with new resources.
You know, I'm only a one woman show.
So I do this on my own and I rely on people.
So if you're listening to this episode and you pop over to the help hub, which I really
hope you will, and you bookmark it, which I really hope you will.
And you look at the resources and you're like, hey, I know of a great mindfulness resource.
(11:22):
I don't see it here.
Help me out. There is a way that you can connect with me.
You just hit the contact form, send me a message, send me a link.
Let me know what you have that you think is relevant.
And we'll put it on there and we'll continue to grow it so that it's a resource for everyone.
But I feel like there's no better time in the world than mental health awareness month
(11:43):
to make people aware of things like the help hub and the resources that are out there
that are so accessible.
Things like the 988 lifeline, which you and I will probably talk about more in depth in
another episode this month.
But that's the resource that I have developed that I have to offer that I would love to offer.
And it'll always be free.
(12:03):
I never want there to ever be a barrier for someone to get the help that they need.
So all the content on there, whether it's a tool or a strategy or a podcast episode or
content, it's free.
Take it, use it, share it.
So that's my contribution.
That's how I'm kicking off mental health awareness month by sharing that you are so patient.
(12:23):
You're just like such a patient listener right now.
Struggling with your mental health, feeling lost, overwhelmed or just alone?
Well you're not.
Welcome to the help hub, your online destination for mental health resources, content and tools
to help you navigate whatever mental health challenges you are facing in the moment.
(12:44):
With the help hub, we offer individualized resources tailored to your unique needs and community,
with over 16 different categories to find exactly the kind of personalized help you need
when you need it most.
Because even though we all deal with many of the same challenges, we don't always experience
those challenges the same way.
So whether you're looking for crisis support, downloadable resources, or an extensive archive
(13:09):
of mental health related articles and videos we've got you.
Some episodes of the Survivors podcast for suicide loss survivors and lived experience blogs to
interactive tools and professional connections.
The help hub needs you where you are and helps you move forward with strength and support.
Remember, you don't have to do this alone.
(13:29):
Visit the help hub.co today.
I am.
Well, because, you know, I used, I've used your site.
So when in November, when I got into another bad place, I downloaded some of your guides,
like some breathing exercises and things for me because I had really bad anxiety.
(13:51):
Didn't quite understand what it was.
Went out to your site, got the resource I needed, started using it.
It's so easy to use.
It is 9,000 times better than Google because I'm going to tell you, Google mental health,
you're going to get 80 million results back and like two of them are helpful.
But now you've had to dig through like 87 pages to get to that resource.
(14:16):
But, you know, I love your resource.
And, you know, when you and I get our first pre interview, we talked a lot about the help
hub.
And I love it.
We promote it now on our podcast.
I love that.
And I appreciate you for that so much because that's the whole point.
It's a resource that is helpful to you and spread it out to the world, share it with the world
(14:37):
because you just never know who's going to connect with one piece of it that helps them
in a moment when nothing else would.
So that's a whole idea behind, behind months like this where we just amplify all these resources
and we share them all with the world so that everybody has the benefit of using them
when they need them.
And, you know, you talk about resources that help people feel supported and less alone.
(15:01):
And that's a great time to talk about shit that goes on in our heads, which is your other,
you're cheating on me with another podcast.
Yeah, well, I don't know.
I think I'm cheating on the other podcast with you.
So, yeah, it's all good.
But you're right.
Shit that goes on in our heads came out of a really dark place.
(15:22):
Our first episode dropped on February 14, 2023.
And that was two months after I tried to, you know, try to take my life.
When we started the podcast, we thought we'd probably only do two or three episodes.
We kind of started it as a joke, moved to like April of that year, but yet by that time
(15:43):
we'd had like 10,000 downloads and we're like, wow, who's listening to us.
The true mission of our podcast is to normalize how we talk about mental health because every
time we share a story, we unlock somebody else's prison.
Because people aren't feeling so alone and terrified in their own journey.
Every episode you get a little negative information or something different to try and we have
(16:08):
a ton of resources.
We have almost 110 episodes now.
We drop every Tuesday at 3 a.m. and we're booked with so many amazing guests.
And it's not just like authors and therapists.
It's normal everyday people that want to share their stories and really normalize how we
talk about mental health because there shouldn't be a stigma to that word as there shouldn't
(16:33):
be a stigma to the word suicide.
We all suffer in our own ways.
And for people that have come on as guests, they say it's like sitting around a campfire to
shoot in the ship with a friend.
And the listeners get that same experience.
Their show is never scripted.
We have amazing guests.
Sometimes it's one episode.
(16:54):
Sometimes it's two episodes.
And we're fortunate that we get to do this.
The sure fact that we hit a million downloads in December of 2024 and we listened to an over
60 countries because mental health and mental unwellness is across the globe.
It's not just in one geolocation.
It's everywhere.
(17:14):
We've had guests from Australia.
We've had guests from England.
We've had guests from Scotland, Canada, United States.
It's everybody wants to share their story.
And I will say that over the last two years, especially on LinkedIn, I see that companies
are really taking notice and starting to incorporate mental health wellness practices into their
(17:38):
companies.
And that warms my heart.
And we've heard from so many amazing listeners and guests for our podcast that you know,
it helped them.
We got an email from one of our listeners that said that we saved their life.
They actually ended up calling 988.
We tried to mention 988 in every single podcast.
(17:59):
988 saved my life.
I had the courage to pick up the phone on that day and make that call on my life today because
of that.
For me, my healing was too hard, right?
Sharing my journey and laughing.
So in our episodes, you know, these are laugh, cry, or both, but I'm sorry, just 2020, and
(18:19):
I can look back at some of the shit that happened with me.
And I can laugh at it now.
I couldn't laugh at the time, but I can laugh at it now.
And our guests find the same thing.
Like they've gone through some really, really deep stuff, but they can laugh about it now.
And laughter is part of healing.
It releases that cortisol and gets your endorphins going.
(18:41):
Now, when you're laughing, you're not thinking about the other shit that's going on in your
heads.
And that's really how I became a mental health advocate by dealing with my own depression,
working on this amazing podcast with my amazing co-host like 30 Skittles and I have it going
on.
Like I've listened to a ton of mental health podcasts.
We're not like anybody else.
(19:02):
We're not clinical by any means.
We're just a couple of people out there trying to deal with their own shit and trying to
help others in the world deal with the stuff that's going on with them.
That's my other resource too is just I started my own company.
It shows that you're telling them well-misplacions.
Half my company is technical.
The other half has to do with wellness and wellness within companies and getting resources
(19:26):
out there.
We have a website.
You can go out to goesoninourhead.net.
You'll see all our episodes out there.
We're on all the platforms.
The only thing you'll see on YouTube is just a video version of our audio podcast.
We don't do, we don't.
You do now.
Well, I do on this podcast, but on shit that goes on our heads, it's always going to be
(19:48):
an audio podcast.
So I encourage you to go listen.
We have every kind of mental illness that people have gone through.
If you can think of somebody that you would like first to have on the podcast, reach out.
If there's a contact page on our website and I'd be more than happy to bring more guests
on, we are actually booked with guests until January of 2026.
(20:13):
That's just mind-blowing.
It really is.
I mean, I know that I've had the experience, the good fortune of not only listening to your
podcast, but I've been a guest on your podcast, which is the whole reason why you and I are
here to begin with.
We met initially through your podcast and I can tell you that the chemistry you talked
about that you and Dirty Skittles have is real.
(20:36):
I mean, that's legit chemistry.
The two of you just feed off each other in such a beautiful way.
The conversations are like being around the kitchen table or being around the campfire.
I know how I felt as a guest.
You say unscripted and I know that you and I here are also unscripted.
You and I have a topic that we decide on before we record and then we just hit record and
(21:03):
we talk about our experience relating to that topic.
I know that you and Dirty Skittles do the same thing and it's just such a beautiful example
of what can come from an organic conversation from two people who are just leaning into
their lived experience as humans, whether it be work-life balance or mental health or
(21:24):
physical wellness or relationships or like what you guys literally deal with all of the
shit that goes on in our heads, whatever that may mean.
And it's such an easy experience as a listener because chances are good that whatever it is
that you guys are talking about on any given episode, it's something that most of us have
(21:44):
dealt with and the way that you frame it, the way that you engage around it is just so funny
most of the time and it's just so real and there's so much inspiration that's just kind of
popping in and out of everything that you're saying that it's a beautiful thing you're doing
and it's helping so many people because it's it's you know it's a general mental health
(22:07):
and wellness podcast so it's not like you and I are in a lane.
We're in more of a defined lane because we're talking predominantly about suicide and
loss and all the things attached to that but you guys have a kind of a longer runway.
You're like a 50 lane highway.
Very very very busy highway.
A very busy highway.
No, what's also kind of crazy too now is that in the United States, we're ranked in the
(22:33):
top 10 for mental health podcast in on Apple, which means that we're going to be able to
attract even more listeners and for each listener has a ripple effect.
So one person listens and then they talk to another person and then they listen and then
they talk to another person. So it's helping to destigmatize mental health and that's really
(22:53):
what I want to do.
I know from my own personal journey how horrified and terrified I was about what was going on
in my head and just giving people a place to listen and try and figure out hey you know
I'm kind of going through this and I you know I know you know maybe these are some things
(23:13):
I can try and in our show notes we give as much information as we can but we also have
a newsletter where I give out a ton more information.
You know in the process of updating that goes on on our heads dot net website of adding
more resources and some blog posts and things like that just forming a community and I'm
(23:35):
so thankful that I get to do that podcast and also very thankful when I get to do this
podcast which just focuses a little bit more on my story as being a suicide attempt survivor.
You're kind of a podcast slut.
I am but you know what I'm okay with that.
In a good way.
In a good way and we're getting our message out right and this is such a vital message
(23:58):
especially in the month of May and I'm going to go as far as to say as far as like 2025
goes it's been a shit show this year for so many people and this is a month where you can
really hone in on all the resources are out there what you can do to help not only yourself
but maybe somebody else is going dealing with some mental health issues and just forming
(24:22):
a better community and being okay with saying I have a mental illness and not feel stigmatized
by it.
Yeah and and it's a great time to restock your toolbox.
It's a great time of the year.
It's almost like a shopping mall is open to the public and everything is free.
So just go have at it.
(24:43):
Just all these resources are being pushed out there by all of these organizations and all
of these platforms and all of these support systems and they're all there to just stockpile
save them share them spread them and and this is the month where you're going to see
what everybody has to offer in the most beautiful of ways and I just feel so grateful that that
(25:05):
it was so serendipitous that we started our podcast at this time of the year so that we
could be here to be part of this conversation and part of this month long kind of celebration
of all the resources that there are the beautiful resources that there are in the world.
So I would love to ask people to do a little bit of homework between now and the next time
(25:27):
we're back next week.
I would love if you're listening today.
There are three resources that we've talked about today.
We have this podcast, the Survivors podcast.
We have the shit that goes on in our heads podcast and we have the help hub.
Pick one.
Pick one or pick all.
Go check it out.
Just go check it out.
See what's there that might be appropriate for you.
(25:50):
Find something, some point of connection and bookmark that.
Share it, maybe just dig through it to see what you can find that serves you or serves somebody.
That's your homework.
We will test you when you come home.
And for me, my homework for everyone is if you have a resource that we haven't mentioned
(26:12):
and you think you have found to be super helpful, please let us know so we can get it out
on our website and share that information out with our listeners and any guests or any
other resources that we use.
I mainly post to Instagram and LinkedIn, but we're always willing to learn and engage.
(26:34):
And I just want to thank all of you for listening to us this week and I can't wait to talk to you
guys next week.
To the left.
To the left.
Thanks for joining us on the Survivors.
Remember, no matter how tough things feel, you are enough and the world needs you just
the way you are.
You're not alone in this journey.
There's a community here and every step forward counts.
(26:55):
We're so grateful you took the time to listen and we hope you'll take one day at a time.
Just know there's always more light ahead.
Thanks for being here friends.
Just remember, help is out there in so many different places.
So if you or someone you know is struggling, please call 988 and a trained crisis counselor
like me will be there to help.
(27:15):
You can also find an inclusive and comprehensive directory of mental health resources, tools
and content at thehelphub.co.
Just remember that help is always just a call or a click away.
We'll catch you next week.
In the meantime, keep surviving.
[BLANK_AUDIO]
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