Active Minds VP Brandi Pretlow: Student-Led Mental Health Is Changing Everything

[Music] Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart Hustle podcast for the next leader, Miss Brandy. How you doing today, ma'am? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. Brandy, I'm super excited. It is Friday for us currently. for whoever may be watching. Maybe it's not Friday, but we definitely getting ready to, you know, for the weekend. What is your go-to thing to do on the weekend, Brandy? Like, is it gardening? Is it house stuff? I love a good hike. I love the outdoors. In fact, this weekend I'm going to Zion, which is just in the backyard of Vegas. Beautiful national park. So, that's my go-to. And good for self-care as well. Love it. Is that home for you, Vegas? So, I grew up in California. Um, but yeah, Vegas is now home. There's a lot of us Californians transplants who made it out to Vegas. Uh, so I'm West Coast your whole life. Never thought about coming to the East Coast. Uh, I have lived on the East Coast. I lived in DC. I lived in Boston. So, yeah, I did a little tour. Made it to the Midwest. I've never lived in the South. So, maybe one day. Well, maybe one day. That's where I'm at. The South. Where's your What's your thoughts on Boston? You know, um, it was not my favorite place. So hopefully there aren't like Bostononians on this call. A lot of rich history. Um love the people that I met but I was only there for two years and I went there for school for grad school um and then headed headad headed on down to DC in that Yeah. I was born in Boston. So you saying that it's like damn I thought you were going to say something positive about I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I'm just joking. I just you know I um I don't remember it to be quite frank. I was uh adopted at seven. We moved to Florida. So and I'm 35. So let's be honest. Am I from Boston? Not at all. Right. Um I'm from Florida. I'm from Orlando. This is what I know. However, I have gone back and um thought it was fun. Even my wife, like when I told her we were going to Boston, she's like, "What the hell is in Boston?" Well, there are plenty for sure. For sure. And I I haven't been back since I moved, but I would go back. And I'm glad that I had that time in in New England. And the Red Sox were good when I was there. So, that was like a thing going to Finland. Don't try to suck up now. You already said what you said. Okay. You already said what you said. No, I'm just joking. Um, no, there's a lot of history. We stayed in downtown Boston and I I really did love it. And we got to eat some lobster rolls. Okay. I love a good lobster. Love a good lobster roll. Yeah. Yeah. That was good. Well, tell us what is it that you're doing, Brandy? What's the organization that you're behind? What is your role as organization? Yeah. So, I work with Active Minds. We are focused on mobilizing youth and young adults to make change for mental health in their communities and on their campuses. I am the vice president of community initiatives. And so what that really means is that we know that a lot of young people are in schools. We also know that there are other ways to connect with young people. And so our team goes and does our programming at schools, but we try to broaden it to like other communities. So that's community organizations, sometimes that's workplaces, um, and a variety of other other things as well. Um, I've been at Active Minds, it'll be two years in a few weeks. Um, but have always had my career at the intersection of education and mental health. And so, this is just a continuation of that of that journey. My next question is why you could be doing anything else getting paid, but you're in this space, which is I love it. This is a passion purpose. I always feel like people that are lined into this world is it's a passion and a purpose. It's not about paychecks. Um, why why do you get into this work? Yeah, it's a really great question. um a few different reasons. How I ended up in like education was that there were always people whether it was like a a single counselor or a teacher who really believed in me and encouraged me and helped me get to that next step. So I really wanted to be that person for other people for other young people. What I found though once I started my career off in education in the out of school time space and working from educational nonprofits was that there were a lot of unadressed mental health needs. And so I was like, okay, that's a space that I also want to learn more about. So I really, you know, I think it's I always tell people that my mom, she's not a social worker. She's always been in like uh finance and business, but she was like the first social worker in my family. And what I mean by that is that, you know, if like cousins or whoever were having trouble, they would come through to my mom's place and she would help them out. So, I think being raised in that environment, it was really encouraging and figuring out like how can I utilize or learn skills to have the most impact and help people that in the communities that I care about. So, shout out to mom for really planting the seed. Yeah. You know, one thing that you mentioned and I think is so crucial is that you had someone in your life that was just cheering for you. Um, and so many times we don't have young ones that have that. You mentioned your mom. A lot of times we don't have that mom, father figure, uh, or just parent at the home that is uplifting us. And so you being in this space and as a color woman, I think is also like crucial, right? Because representation does matter. So, I love that you're in this space and you you realize you just want to be for someone else on what you had in your life. And for me, I kind of do the same line of work, but really different because I want to be for someone else for what I wish I had in my life, right? Understanding that need. But just like you, I had someone in my life that believed in me before I even was believing in myself. There was so much going on in my in my home, the sexual abuse, the adoption. Um, and it was teachers that seen me for who I was. So, when I was acting up in class, it wasn't that I was a trouble kid. It wasn't that I was stupid. It was like what's really going on? And I can imagine you you come at it from that direction. Not that this is a bad kid, but mentally there's something there. Is that is that correct, Brandy? Yeah, absolutely. So, I I did clinical social work at a school in the Bay Area for several years um before making other transitions. And I really like to think that that's what I was for a lot of our young people, right? Like helping them to see beyond like the current situation and their circumstance and having that perspective of like I believe in you. what's really going on? How can we shift things if possible? What kind of support, what kind of resources can we connect you to so that eventually you can start to see and believe in that vision for your life and for yourself as well. I love it. I I love that you're in the space and I love that you have this passion and just smiles to still do what it is that you're doing. When you look at the origin story of of um Active Minds, what part always continues to inspire you? I know you said two years, but there was obviously that thing that just allowed you to continue to every day to show up and say, "I love this." Yeah. Well, well, two things I'll mention. One is how I came to Active Minds was I was working at another organization at a time and I attended the Active Minds conference, which is for youth and young adults around mental health, the national conference. And I was just so encouraged and excited and enthused and all the other e-words um by the energy in that space for like youth and young adults who are like I want to make things happen and I am here because I am already dedicated to this field and like making change. So I was like you know what this is amazing. Uh and I looked at the job postings and luckily there was a job that like fit my interest and I applied for it. So that's how I came to active minds. Um but then like learning more about the origin story, you know, I think um Allison's story of starting the first act of my chapter um at University of Pennsylvania following um her brother dying by suicide. It's just um inspirational to have that wherewithal as a firstear student um after grieving right and and still experiencing the loss of a brother but like hey I know this is something that not just affects my family but probably has affected thousands and millions of family and young people. what can I personally do to make some change um so that you know things around mental health aren't as stigmatized and people feel comfortable expressing what's going on with themselves and reaching out for support. So I think you know the the origin story of active minds is is very inspirational for me and is a reminder of the work that we're doing. you just talking about that. I'm gonna ask this question and I don't know how secret it's going to be anymore, but what is the secret sauce you guys think at Active Minds that you guys have thinking about um some of the special things that you guys do at this organization? That's a good question. Um I guess maybe the secret sauce is really listening and centering the experiences of youth and young adults and being responsive to the things that we're hearing that they want and desire. um in terms of like the programming that we provide um and the the resources that we provide. So I think that's the secret sauce. And then I guess I'm always like when when people say or ask these kind of questions, I always just think about the people, right? Like because people get things done and people make things happen. So the youth and young adults and then obviously the staff that are there and are supportive and are dedicated to this to this field. Oh yeah. Believe me, people all day. I'm in a place now where we have this organization been around for 35 years at the school level. So, it's a foundation that, you know, kind of attached to the school I graduated from. And so many people will tell you they didn't know it exists, right? Because people are not good enough at telling the story or just being out out in the public. But also finding people that just have a passion. That's what we talked about right at the beginning is that you have a passion and purpose and not everyone has that. You know, a lot of people are chasing the paychecks. I would ask you, do you feel when we talk about um just our kids and we're telling them to go become these you know doctors and become these whatever it is right these high level paying jobs they go into corporate or they they go into debt whatever that may look like but then I don't think that we talk about this lane enough like the nonprofit space the impact work do you feel that we should see more you youth into the space it's a really great great question um and you're as you were talking I started thinking thinking about my time. So, I worked at I guess what some would call it, elite university. Um, and um, I worked though with the first generation low-income community there and I ran some programs there. Part of the work there was advising these young students who would often come in like, I want to be the doctor, I want to be the lawyer, I'm going to med school, etc. And as their journey sort of evolved, they're like, you know what, they're those roles and professions are super important. And also there are other ways that I want to impact my community and so there was a little of a discovery process. So I say all that to say like I think both is needed. I think it's important to you know to the extent possible. I know there are some situations and circumstances where some young people or even adults like I don't have time to explore. I got bills to pay. I have mouths to feed. Like I get all of that. But if there is that opportunity and that leeway to kind of lean into and figuring out what you're most interested in, it doesn't always have to be that full-time job that you do, but it could be the thing that you do on the side. It could be that hustle. It could be that thing that you're dipping your toes into. I think that's important just for purpose. Um, you know, I think purpose, having a purpose in life, whatever that may be, is one of the things that like helps and contributes to like a happy and satisfied life. And so I I do encourage that exploration. Um especially when it means expanding horizons. Like I know when I first went to college, you know, I knew about like three or four careers. I think I'm I'm older. So if the internet wasn't like as vast as it is now, but um I think as I went into my educational journey, my world opened up and I'm like, "Wow, there are different ways that I can do this kind of work that's most meaningful to me." Sorry, that was all over the place, but hopefully. No, no, no. That was so good. And and it it it makes complete sense because believe it or not, as I speak to leaders, no one decided they were going to do this from jump. They got into it because life happened some way or somehow, right? Um I would always go back to this judge. He was one that kind of stands out where he's like, "I was tired of seeing these young kids in my courtroom and I realized that I had to walk away from being a judge and go backwards to start working with these kids, you know, one-on-one." So, they're not in the courtrooms. And I was like, "Wow, that's how you just know, right? That you found your purpose. You found passion." And not everyone finds it at 20 or 30. So, yeah, life sometimes you got to kind of experience it. Tragedies sometimes make us realize, wait a minute, I need to kind of live uh keep this legacy going. how do I get involved? But I love one of the things you said is just start volunteering. Just start with a day, you know, because in the nonprofit space especially, they're always looking for volunteers. So, if you could just start one day, find something that you love. I can use Google and research a nonprofit and something that you truly are passionate about, I can imagine there's probably one in your area, right? Exactly. So, you're definitely test it out. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was good stuff. Um what's one marketing challenge you think you face when when you tell students and I can imagine this happens all the time mental health matters and they say yeah we've heard that before. Yeah, I think you know because there's a vast amount of information available to young people these days. I think really it's the trying to understand from them like what is your value ad? Like yes, mental health matters and what are you all doing that's like different or significant or that or could support the things that are most important to me. And I think what's beautiful about the programs at Active Minds is that we can help you help a young person figure out, well, what is the thing that's most important to you? Like if you know that mental health matters and you're seeing this issue on your campus or in your community, let's figure out how we can address that and support you in addressing that in in your space. So I think what I guess the differentiator there is this like studentled piece of like understanding what's most meaningful to them around mental health and supporting them with being able to act on that. Brandy, this organization, is it chapters? Is that what it is? Different chapters throughout uh the country or is it a specific location? What does that actually look like? Um when you guys talk about being in these spaces? Yeah, it's a great question. So we have our national chapter network which is um we have 500 plus chapters at high schools and colleges across the country. So in a lot of different states. Um but that's just one of our programs. So the chapters really are our like peer-led youth and young adult le um clubs that are taking action for mental health on their campuses and in their communities. And they can decide like again like I was saying before what actions are most important what is needed in their communities. We also have other programs. We have sin silence packing which is our national um tour around mental health and trying to get young people to mobilize for mental health. So we go and visit different college campuses and engage them in actions um that things of things that they can do to improve mental health in their community. We have a speakers bureau. We have programs for individuals who want to com um want to create mental health campaigns in their campuses and their communities. So, our chapter network is, you know, where we started and over the past 20 plus years, have expanded to other different kinds of programming. Um, again, listening to what what's most important to you and young adults. Love that. And when we're talking about the digital age, things are changing so much, innovations happening. What's that one digital strategy that you found effective for actually normalizing mental health conversations? I think you know chat PT everyone's kind of using that but I can imagine there's a lot of different things that are actually very helpful because still chat PT is not where we would love it to be especially on mental health for sure. Yeah. So we have um one of the biggest things that we launched um just a few years ago is called ask which stands for acknowledge support and keep in touch and essentially it's an interactive you um YouTube experience that anyone has access to. It's free. You can go to YouTube. Um, and we developed it in partnership with MTV Paramount. And basically, it's a 10-minute digital experience, very interactive where you it's a simulation of like two people having a dialogue around a challenging situation. So, we call it the stop, drop um what? Sorry. Uh stop, drop, and roll. That's what it is. Um for emotional support. Um, so in 10 minutes, a young person or anyone really could learn how do I engage in these kinds of conversations with my peers um that are supportive um and can help them deal with some of the everyday situations. So that's, you know, one sort of example of how we're recognizing that people live in digital spaces now. So how can we continue to innovate um to meet folks where they are at? I love that. And there's so so much to really kind of talk about in this space as well because I think we have to figure out in the space of mental health, how do we measure that? So what metrics matter for when you're measuring mission success and not just the dollars that are being raised because I think the dollars, yeah, is great, but in reality the mission is what matters more. Absolutely. And this is something, you know, that we are really focused on. We have a measurement team um at Active Minds. And so I think what I've seen from like personally and working at other nonprofits like the first step you're really trying to understand like who are we reaching like what are the numbers of people that we're reaching with all our our different programs etc. The step that usually comes after that is like, okay, what is the change that they're experiencing? And so in alignment with our strategic plan, our newest newest strategic plan that we've um developed in the past few years, all of our programs are really becoming very clear on like what is the change that we're measuring. And so, you know, not into get into all the nonprofit/corporate measurement speech, but um you know, we have key performance indicators that we'll be measuring against just to make sure that our programs are doing what we say they are going to do. I love that. And uh in your early nonprofit days, what was the biggest lesson you learned about um about mission? You've been in this space for a very long time. And maybe also talk about sustainability as well. Yeah, I think in my early nonprofit days, uh probably the biggest lesson is that it mission creep happens so easily and um you don't necessarily notice it at first, but then you start delving into all these different things that are maybe slightly or tangentially related to the original mission. Um but that can really burn out staff, right? And so I think, you know, it's important for nonprofits to be very clear on their mission and focus on like this is what we're going to do and all those sort of tangential things that may come our way like feeling confident and comfortable with saying no because we're really focused on trying to move the needle on this specific mission. I think there was another part of your question, but I can't recall. Uh it it was just talking about the biggest lessons about uh you learned about mission and sustainability is pretty much being in space for some time. So, I think you definitely covered both of them. Um, you must love the work. You've been doing it for so long, though. You know, you can you see yourself doing anything else. If the Heart and Hustle podcast has ever sparked any idea or made you think differently, do us a favor. Make sure to guys share this, post it on LinkedIn, or even text that nonprofit friend that you just have. Whatever works. This is what keeps the conversation going and allows us to just grow this community together. Seriously, we appreciate you. Um, honestly, no. I I think I will I mean the mental health and education space is so broad. Um, but I think I will always either work at a nonprofit educational institution. Um, I think that's my comfort right now. I think I have a network in that space. I think the impact that um, you know, we're making in this space is important. And you know, I think one of the things you hear with nonprofits is like you're trying to work yourself out of a job eventually, right? But given our world, you know, sometimes it's like, is is that going to happen in my lifetime? I don't I don't know. I I would want it to, but I don't know. And so I think I'm I'm here for the long haul. Um and trying to Okay. Is it one day that you're is there like a a role that you're looking for? Right now you're in the VP spot at some point. Are you the CEO? Like what does that look like long? Good questions. you know, I maybe need to take some steps back and reflect on that. I feel like in the present, I'm feeling really good with the the role that I have. Um, and excited to maybe to make the impact that I can in this in this role. Yeah, you just take life one day at a time. That's that's the way to do it. I always tell when I when I was advising young people, I would say like every role or experience I have has revealed more about me and more about life. And it's important to pay attention to what it's revealing to help you understand and determine what your next step is. And so, um, you know, I've been on this earth for 41 years and that's worked so far. I'm going to knock on wood and hopefully that continues to work for me. Um, I like to say when I go to jobs, it's always what's in it for me. And I haven't I mean, I've left the corporate world, but any position I took was what's in it for me. Um, and I always give myself a timeline as well, you know, for so for those young individuals that are listening, every job is a learning experience. As you mentioned, you're learning something whether it's an actual, you know, thing that you can take on to your next job or as you're learning about yourself more importantly. Um, and that happened to me my first job. I never knew that I was going to be a leader that I would be able to manage a store. And I did that at 19 years old. And that changed the trajectory of my life. Goes back to someone believed in me. Someone says, "Wait a minute, this guy shows up every day. he's he doesn't you know when we need somebody cuz somebody called out he's showing up he's here closing all these different things allowed him to realize oh wait this this guy's a leader I didn't see that in myself but now here I am really leading people so yeah if you're you're asking yourself is it for me figure out what's for you something there is for you so I love that you actually bring that up for sure yeah I really appreciate you sharing that story because I think also you know some people sometimes say might say no or maybe to something because they don't feel like they're ready for it. And so like again being able to to to dive into some opportunities and for every experience and role you do learn things along the way. And sometimes the learning is like yeah this is for me and sometimes it's like this is this is not for me and I'm going to go do something else. And even through failure one of the biggest lessons I've learned is always going to be through failure. when you fail, as much as it hurts and it it it stings and it feels bad and you the imposter syndrome and you start down yourself in reality, there's something to learn in that from the failure as well. And I had to learn that early on in my life, you know, as I was kind of going through these entrepreneurship roles is just because you fail doesn't mean it's over. Yep. Learn what's right, what you can take from it, and then don't make the same mistake twice. There you go. Simple. easier said than done, but that's just some of the things though. Um, what's your hope for the next five years when we talk about active minds and how you can actually uh keep people plugged into the now? Yeah. Well, you know, our main driving force right now is to mobilize 100,000 youth and young adults to make change for mental health in their communities and on their campuses. So, that is like that is my hope for us over the next few years and to really hone in on the ways that we're we're doing it. Um, there was the another part of your question that I forgot. Sorry, the memory on Friday is it's Friday. Okay, no worries. You're already on the weekend here. No, it was just what's your hope for the next five years, Active Minds, and how can people continue to uh stay plugged into the Oh, yeah, for sure. So, you know, follow follow us on socials. Um, for sure. So, we're on LinkedIn, we're on Instagram, um, Active Minds, going to our website, activeminds.org. Um, so you can see the variety of different programs and ways that like youth and young adults can engage in our programs and those are probably the best ways to to stay connected to us. How many programs you guys would say off the top of your head, maybe you don't know the exact number, but you have a number of programs you guys actually offer? Um, I'm gonna say like 10. Um, that sounds That sounds about right. Don't quote Don't quote her. Yeah, don't quote her. Okay, don't quote her. She's It's funny. I've never thought about the number of programs that we've had. I've thought about, you know, the number of chapters we had. So, but yeah, about 10. That sounds about right. Yeah. Go. You mean you can check the website. You can check the website. I love it. And uh what would you tell someone as we start to wrap this up? What would you tell someone who says, "Mental health is bigger than me. What can I do?" That's a good question. Um, I guess I would start with the movement is big, but you as an individual, all of us as individuals, we all have mental health. And having mental health, a functional way of being and doing in life is essential. And so what you can do varies. It may just be taking care of yourself. Maybe that's the number one priority right now. It may be taking care and supporting your community, your peers, your family, um, loved ones, or it may be the larger level of doing some campaigns and actioning on your campus or in your community or it may be advocating at the federal policy level. So I guess what I would say is like no matter where you are on that spectrum, if right now today it's like I want to take care of my mental health, that is what's most important to me, then do that by seeking out the resources. You go to activeminds.org. Um taking care of yourself, if that's what's most important, then do that. Those actions are just as important as the things that we're doing on the federal policy level. So, the movement is big, but there are so many different ways that individuals can partake and have actions in it. Before I give you this blind question and put you in the hot seat, you mentioned taking care of yourself. How do you take care of yourself? What is your your go-to? Like, believe it or not, I love plants. So, I get lost in planting and all that. What is your go-to? Yeah. Oh, I think you said hiking. Was it Is it hiking? Hiking is one of them. I do like working out. Like a good yoga class or a good spin class. I think movement. So that's like working out, dance, music, all of those things are important to me. Reading a good book, and even things like, you know, lighting a candle and like taking a moment to just like sit back and relax. It' be a vibe. It'd be a vibe in here. Exactly. Looking at photos. Um I love a good nature landscape. So there's so many and and it's important to have varying ways, right? Because sometimes you may only have a minute or two to kind of take care of yourself in a moment. And sometimes you may have a whole day or a whole weekend. And so, um, yeah, I try to integrate all of those things into my I love it. But no, that's true. Taking care of yourself more than anything. Um, and especially mental health. I think last year I had to dive deep into that and understand what that looked like when I was um trying to build my business and realizing that it's a lonely world in entrepreneurship, right? Sometimes even in leadership sometimes very lonely. You can't talk to everybody in the space. Y and um I had to speak to my friends less, certain friends less because sometime I realized they were kind of dimming my light a little bit probably and not not intentional but was dimming my light. Um had to listen to more worship music. Had to just really find myself. And sometimes it's just cutting out the noise, finding the things that make you happy. Um because as leaders we're we're never shown how to pour into others when we have empty cups, right? A lot of times we're pouring pouring pouring and people look at us like they come to you all the time and you're like, "Man, I'm drained." And I was finding that that friends were calling me never even asking how I was doing. They want to give me all their drama, all this, right? And um so yeah, I love that you said that. take care of yourself more importantly because if you want to take care of somebody else, my wife said that earlier on when I never mentioned I I was sexually abused and I never really said anything and her words very early. I was like 20ome years old. I wanted to start a nonprofit around and I did around you know youth and she said how do you expect to help somebody else if you haven't helped yourself and I thought that was deep. Yeah. Right. I'm 27 years old and and and was that and I had to figure out how was I going to help myself and I had to have that conversation with the person that was sexually abusing me. Um, you know, I never had that conversation ever, but the weight that was lifted off my shoulder because I was taking care of myself was uh was major. All right, so enough about me. I put you into this blind question spot. You lead community initiatives at at a key mental health organization, but what's that one internal challenge or pivot that you've made that you really share publicly and how has that actually changed your approach? Pivot? Do you mean it um that I've made at this organization or just in my life and approach? Yeah, your your leadership life. Yeah, that's a good question. I'm going to take some. You thought these questions was going to be easy. Is that what you thought, Brandy, when you showed up? What? Pivot. I think this may sound cliche, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Um, I think in in my first sort of foray into leadership in my career, it was a lot of like sweating the small stuff. And for me, that's not sustainable. And so I think for me the pivot was being able to distinguish between is this this thing this issue whatever it is that I'm dealing with as a part of a leader of said organization does it really really matter is it going to detour is it going to deter or help us fulfill the mission and I think that helped me to like decipher and get through a lot of the noise and really hone in in a focus focus on um what's most important because things are going to come every single day. Yeah. There goes that noise again, right? We talked about it. That noise they get loud sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Very much so. And so that's like a mantra I still use to this day. And like I I'm not always great at deciphering through it. Like none of us are perfect, but at least being able to come back to that and answer like definitively yes or no so I can focus my energy and my time in a certain way. I think that has been um yeah, life-changing. Well, Brandy, I definitely appreciate the time that we've had here today, all the insight on who you are as a leader and continue to will be as a leader and grow. I mean, you said early only 41, you got another, you know, 40, 50 years to do this work. No, we appreciate the time and I know we'll have another conversation around this as well. Thank you so much for being who you are authentically um as well. That's most important. We didn't talk about that, but I can tell who you are on camera is who you are outside of this. And I think that matters the most when we talk about representation and a woman in this space is that authentically we have to always be ourselves to show others you don't got to beat anybody else to to be in these seats. And with that being said, Brandy, we thank you so much for the time that you have here. May you continue to stay blessed. Enjoy your weekend. For those that are watching, make sure you guys tap in with Brandy as well. Check out the websites. Check out the organization. I'm definitely going to check out those it you talk about those uh those videos about um where can I find this YouTube? Where's that at? It's on YouTube. Asktothehelp.com. As sktp.com I'm gonna go look it up. That sounds really cool. But thank you so much guys. Make sure you guys go check it out. I'm Era. This is Brandy. And we'll catch you guys in the next one later. [Music] Welcome back to another episode here on the Heart Hustle podcast for the next leader, Miss Brandy. How you doing today, ma'am? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. Brandy, I'm super excited. It is Friday for us currently. for whoever may be watching. Maybe it's not Friday, but we definitely getting ready to, you know, for the weekend. What is your go-to thing to do on the weekend, Brandy? Like, is it gardening? Is it house stuff? I love a good hike. I love the outdoors. In fact, this weekend I'm going to Zion, which is just in the backyard of Vegas. Beautiful national park. So, that's my go-to. And good for self-care as well. Love it. Is that home for you, Vegas? So, I grew up in California. Um, but yeah, Vegas is now home. There's a lot of us Californians transplants who made it out to Vegas. Uh, so I'm West Coast your whole life. Never thought about coming to the East Coast. Uh, I have lived on the East Coast. I lived in DC. I lived in Boston. So, yeah, I did a little tour. Made it to the Midwest. I've never lived in the South. So, maybe one day. Well, maybe one day. That's where I'm at. The South. Where's your What's your thoughts on Boston? You know, um, it was not my favorite place. So hopefully there aren't like Bostononians on this call. A lot of rich history. Um love the people that I met but I was only there for two years and I went there for school for grad school um and then headed headad headed on down to DC in that Yeah. I was born in Boston. So you saying that it's like damn I thought you were going to say something positive about I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, I'm just joking. I just you know I um I don't remember it to be quite frank. I was uh adopted at seven. We moved to Florida. So and I'm 35. So let's be honest. Am I from Boston? Not at all. Right. Um I'm from Florida. I'm from Orlando. This is what I know. However, I have gone back and um thought it was fun. Even my wife, like when I told her we were going to Boston, she's like, "What the hell is in Boston?" Well, there are plenty for sure. For sure. And I I haven't been back since I moved, but I would go back. And I'm glad that I had that time in in New England. And the Red Sox were good when I was there. So, that was like a thing going to Finland. Don't try to suck up now. You already said what you said. Okay. You already said what you said. No, I'm just joking. Um, no, there's a lot of history. We stayed in downtown Boston and I I really did love it. And we got to eat some lobster rolls. Okay. I love a good lobster. Love a good lobster roll. Yeah. Yeah. That was good. Well, tell us what is it that you're doing, Brandy? What's the organization that you're behind? What is your role as organization? Yeah. So, I work with Active Minds. We are focused on mobilizing youth and young adults to make change for mental health in their communities and on their campuses. I am the vice president of community initiatives. And so what that really means is that we know that a lot of young people are in schools. We also know that there are other ways to connect with young people. And so our team goes and does our programming at schools, but we try to broaden it to like other communities. So that's community organizations, sometimes that's workplaces, um, and a variety of other other things as well. Um, I've been at Active Minds, it'll be two years in a few weeks. Um, but have always had my career at the intersection of education and mental health. And so, this is just a continuation of that of that journey. My next question is why you could be doing anything else getting paid, but you're in this space, which is I love it. This is a passion purpose. I always feel like people that are lined into this world is it's a passion and a purpose. It's not about paychecks. Um, why why do you get into this work? Yeah, it's a really great question. um a few different reasons. How I ended up in like education was that there were always people whether it was like a a single counselor or a teacher who really believed in me and encouraged me and helped me get to that next step. So I really wanted to be that person for other people for other young people. What I found though once I started my career off in education in the out of school time space and working from educational nonprofits was that there were a lot of unadressed mental health needs. And so I was like, okay, that's a space that I also want to learn more about. So I really, you know, I think it's I always tell people that my mom, she's not a social worker. She's always been in like uh finance and business, but she was like the first social worker in my family. And what I mean by that is that, you know, if like cousins or whoever were having trouble, they would come through to my mom's place and she would help them out. So, I think being raised in that environment, it was really encouraging and figuring out like how can I utilize or learn skills to have the most impact and help people that in the communities that I care about. So, shout out to mom for really planting the seed. Yeah. You know, one thing that you mentioned and I think is so crucial is that you had someone in your life that was just cheering for you. Um, and so many times we don't have young ones that have that. You mentioned your mom. A lot of times we don't have that mom, father figure, uh, or just parent at the home that is uplifting us. And so you being in this space and as a color woman, I think is also like crucial, right? Because representation does matter. So, I love that you're in this space and you you realize you just want to be for someone else on what you had in your life. And for me, I kind of do the same line of work, but really different because I want to be for someone else for what I wish I had in my life, right? Understanding that need. But just like you, I had someone in my life that believed in me before I even was believing in myself. There was so much going on in my in my home, the sexual abuse, the adoption. Um, and it was teachers that seen me for who I was. So, when I was acting up in class, it wasn't that I was a trouble kid. It wasn't that I was stupid. It was like what's really going on? And I can imagine you you come at it from that direction. Not that this is a bad kid, but mentally there's something there. Is that is that correct, Brandy? Yeah, absolutely. So, I I did clinical social work at a school in the Bay Area for several years um before making other transitions. And I really like to think that that's what I was for a lot of our young people, right? Like helping them to see beyond like the current situation and their circumstance and having that perspective of like I believe in you. what's really going on? How can we shift things if possible? What kind of support, what kind of resources can we connect you to so that eventually you can start to see and believe in that vision for your life and for yourself as well. I love it. I I love that you're in the space and I love that you have this passion and just smiles to still do what it is that you're doing. When you look at the origin story of of um Active Minds, what part always continues to inspire you? I know you said two years, but there was obviously that thing that just allowed you to continue to every day to show up and say, "I love this." Yeah. Well, well, two things I'll mention. One is how I came to Active Minds was I was working at another organization at a time and I attended the Active Minds conference, which is for youth and young adults around mental health, the national conference. And I was just so encouraged and excited and enthused and all the other e-words um by the energy in that space for like youth and young adults who are like I want to make things happen and I am here because I am already dedicated to this field and like making change. So I was like you know what this is amazing. Uh and I looked at the job postings and luckily there was a job that like fit my interest and I applied for it. So that's how I came to active minds. Um but then like learning more about the origin story, you know, I think um Allison's story of starting the first act of my chapter um at University of Pennsylvania following um her brother dying by suicide. It's just um inspirational to have that wherewithal as a firstear student um after grieving right and and still experiencing the loss of a brother but like hey I know this is something that not just affects my family but probably has affected thousands and millions of family and young people. what can I personally do to make some change um so that you know things around mental health aren't as stigmatized and people feel comfortable expressing what's going on with themselves and reaching out for support. So I think you know the the origin story of active minds is is very inspirational for me and is a reminder of the work that we're doing. you just talking about that. I'm gonna ask this question and I don't know how secret it's going to be anymore, but what is the secret sauce you guys think at Active Minds that you guys have thinking about um some of the special things that you guys do at this organization? That's a good question. Um I guess maybe the secret sauce is really listening and centering the experiences of youth and young adults and being responsive to the things that we're hearing that they want and desire. um in terms of like the programming that we provide um and the the resources that we provide. So I think that's the secret sauce. And then I guess I'm always like when when people say or ask these kind of questions, I always just think about the people, right? Like because people get things done and people make things happen. So the youth and young adults and then obviously the staff that are there and are supportive and are dedicated to this to this field. Oh yeah. Believe me, people all day. I'm in a place now where we have this organization been around for 35 years at the school level. So, it's a foundation that, you know, kind of attached to the school I graduated from. And so many people will tell you they didn't know it exists, right? Because people are not good enough at telling the story or just being out out in the public. But also finding people that just have a passion. That's what we talked about right at the beginning is that you have a passion and purpose and not everyone has that. You know, a lot of people are chasing the paychecks. I would ask you, do you feel when we talk about um just our kids and we're telling them to go become these you know doctors and become these whatever it is right these high level paying jobs they go into corporate or they they go into debt whatever that may look like but then I don't think that we talk about this lane enough like the nonprofit space the impact work do you feel that we should see more you youth into the space it's a really great great question um and you're as you were talking I started thinking thinking about my time. So, I worked at I guess what some would call it, elite university. Um, and um, I worked though with the first generation low-income community there and I ran some programs there. Part of the work there was advising these young students who would often come in like, I want to be the doctor, I want to be the lawyer, I'm going to med school, etc. And as their journey sort of evolved, they're like, you know what, they're those roles and professions are super important. And also there are other ways that I want to impact my community and so there was a little of a discovery process. So I say all that to say like I think both is needed. I think it's important to you know to the extent possible. I know there are some situations and circumstances where some young people or even adults like I don't have time to explore. I got bills to pay. I have mouths to feed. Like I get all of that. But if there is that opportunity and that leeway to kind of lean into and figuring out what you're most interested in, it doesn't always have to be that full-time job that you do, but it could be the thing that you do on the side. It could be that hustle. It could be that thing that you're dipping your toes into. I think that's important just for purpose. Um, you know, I think purpose, having a purpose in life, whatever that may be, is one of the things that like helps and contributes to like a happy and satisfied life. And so I I do encourage that exploration. Um especially when it means expanding horizons. Like I know when I first went to college, you know, I knew about like three or four careers. I think I'm I'm older. So if the internet wasn't like as vast as it is now, but um I think as I went into my educational journey, my world opened up and I'm like, "Wow, there are different ways that I can do this kind of work that's most meaningful to me." Sorry, that was all over the place, but hopefully. No, no, no. That was so good. And and it it it makes complete sense because believe it or not, as I speak to leaders, no one decided they were going to do this from jump. They got into it because life happened some way or somehow, right? Um I would always go back to this judge. He was one that kind of stands out where he's like, "I was tired of seeing these young kids in my courtroom and I realized that I had to walk away from being a judge and go backwards to start working with these kids, you know, one-on-one." So, they're not in the courtrooms. And I was like, "Wow, that's how you just know, right? That you found your purpose. You found passion." And not everyone finds it at 20 or 30. So, yeah, life sometimes you got to kind of experience it. Tragedies sometimes make us realize, wait a minute, I need to kind of live uh keep this legacy going. how do I get involved? But I love one of the things you said is just start volunteering. Just start with a day, you know, because in the nonprofit space especially, they're always looking for volunteers. So, if you could just start one day, find something that you love. I can use Google and research a nonprofit and something that you truly are passionate about, I can imagine there's probably one in your area, right? Exactly. So, you're definitely test it out. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was good stuff. Um what's one marketing challenge you think you face when when you tell students and I can imagine this happens all the time mental health matters and they say yeah we've heard that before. Yeah, I think you know because there's a vast amount of information available to young people these days. I think really it's the trying to understand from them like what is your value ad? Like yes, mental health matters and what are you all doing that's like different or significant or that or could support the things that are most important to me. And I think what's beautiful about the programs at Active Minds is that we can help you help a young person figure out, well, what is the thing that's most important to you? Like if you know that mental health matters and you're seeing this issue on your campus or in your community, let's figure out how we can address that and support you in addressing that in in your space. So I think what I guess the differentiator there is this like studentled piece of like understanding what's most meaningful to them around mental health and supporting them with being able to act on that. Brandy, this organization, is it chapters? Is that what it is? Different chapters throughout uh the country or is it a specific location? What does that actually look like? Um when you guys talk about being in these spaces? Yeah, it's a great question. So we have our national chapter network which is um we have 500 plus chapters at high schools and colleges across the country. So in a lot of different states. Um but that's just one of our programs. So the chapters really are our like peer-led youth and young adult le um clubs that are taking action for mental health on their campuses and in their communities. And they can decide like again like I was saying before what actions are most important what is needed in their communities. We also have other programs. We have sin silence packing which is our national um tour around mental health and trying to get young people to mobilize for mental health. So we go and visit different college campuses and engage them in actions um that things of things that they can do to improve mental health in their community. We have a speakers bureau. We have programs for individuals who want to com um want to create mental health campaigns in their campuses and their communities. So, our chapter network is, you know, where we started and over the past 20 plus years, have expanded to other different kinds of programming. Um, again, listening to what what's most important to you and young adults. Love that. And when we're talking about the digital age, things are changing so much, innovations happening. What's that one digital strategy that you found effective for actually normalizing mental health conversations? I think you know chat PT everyone's kind of using that but I can imagine there's a lot of different things that are actually very helpful because still chat PT is not where we would love it to be especially on mental health for sure. Yeah. So we have um one of the biggest things that we launched um just a few years ago is called ask which stands for acknowledge support and keep in touch and essentially it's an interactive you um YouTube experience that anyone has access to. It's free. You can go to YouTube. Um, and we developed it in partnership with MTV Paramount. And basically, it's a 10-minute digital experience, very interactive where you it's a simulation of like two people having a dialogue around a challenging situation. So, we call it the stop, drop um what? Sorry. Uh stop, drop, and roll. That's what it is. Um for emotional support. Um, so in 10 minutes, a young person or anyone really could learn how do I engage in these kinds of conversations with my peers um that are supportive um and can help them deal with some of the everyday situations. So that's, you know, one sort of example of how we're recognizing that people live in digital spaces now. So how can we continue to innovate um to meet folks where they are at? I love that. And there's so so much to really kind of talk about in this space as well because I think we have to figure out in the space of mental health, how do we measure that? So what metrics matter for when you're measuring mission success and not just the dollars that are being raised because I think the dollars, yeah, is great, but in reality the mission is what matters more. Absolutely. And this is something, you know, that we are really focused on. We have a measurement team um at Active Minds. And so I think what I've seen from like personally and working at other nonprofits like the first step you're really trying to understand like who are we reaching like what are the numbers of people that we're reaching with all our our different programs etc. The step that usually comes after that is like, okay, what is the change that they're experiencing? And so in alignment with our strategic plan, our newest newest strategic plan that we've um developed in the past few years, all of our programs are really becoming very clear on like what is the change that we're measuring. And so, you know, not into get into all the nonprofit/corporate measurement speech, but um you know, we have key performance indicators that we'll be measuring against just to make sure that our programs are doing what we say they are going to do. I love that. And uh in your early nonprofit days, what was the biggest lesson you learned about um about mission? You've been in this space for a very long time. And maybe also talk about sustainability as well. Yeah, I think in my early nonprofit days, uh probably the biggest lesson is that it mission creep happens so easily and um you don't necessarily notice it at first, but then you start delving into all these different things that are maybe slightly or tangentially related to the original mission. Um but that can really burn out staff, right? And so I think, you know, it's important for nonprofits to be very clear on their mission and focus on like this is what we're going to do and all those sort of tangential things that may come our way like feeling confident and comfortable with saying no because we're really focused on trying to move the needle on this specific mission. I think there was another part of your question, but I can't recall. Uh it it was just talking about the biggest lessons about uh you learned about mission and sustainability is pretty much being in space for some time. So, I think you definitely covered both of them. Um, you must love the work. You've been doing it for so long, though. You know, you can you see yourself doing anything else. If the Heart and Hustle podcast has ever sparked any idea or made you think differently, do us a favor. Make sure to guys share this, post it on LinkedIn, or even text that nonprofit friend that you just have. Whatever works. This is what keeps the conversation going and allows us to just grow this community together. Seriously, we appreciate you. Um, honestly, no. I I think I will I mean the mental health and education space is so broad. Um, but I think I will always either work at a nonprofit educational institution. Um, I think that's my comfort right now. I think I have a network in that space. I think the impact that um, you know, we're making in this space is important. And you know, I think one of the things you hear with nonprofits is like you're trying to work yourself out of a job eventually, right? But given our world, you know, sometimes it's like, is is that going to happen in my lifetime? I don't I don't know. I I would want it to, but I don't know. And so I think I'm I'm here for the long haul. Um and trying to Okay. Is it one day that you're is there like a a role that you're looking for? Right now you're in the VP spot at some point. Are you the CEO? Like what does that look like long? Good questions. you know, I maybe need to take some steps back and reflect on that. I feel like in the present, I'm feeling really good with the the role that I have. Um, and excited to maybe to make the impact that I can in this in this role. Yeah, you just take life one day at a time. That's that's the way to do it. I always tell when I when I was advising young people, I would say like every role or experience I have has revealed more about me and more about life. And it's important to pay attention to what it's revealing to help you understand and determine what your next step is. And so, um, you know, I've been on this earth for 41 years and that's worked so far. I'm going to knock on wood and hopefully that continues to work for me. Um, I like to say when I go to jobs, it's always what's in it for me. And I haven't I mean, I've left the corporate world, but any position I took was what's in it for me. Um, and I always give myself a timeline as well, you know, for so for those young individuals that are listening, every job is a learning experience. As you mentioned, you're learning something whether it's an actual, you know, thing that you can take on to your next job or as you're learning about yourself more importantly. Um, and that happened to me my first job. I never knew that I was going to be a leader that I would be able to manage a store. And I did that at 19 years old. And that changed the trajectory of my life. Goes back to someone believed in me. Someone says, "Wait a minute, this guy shows up every day. he's he doesn't you know when we need somebody cuz somebody called out he's showing up he's here closing all these different things allowed him to realize oh wait this this guy's a leader I didn't see that in myself but now here I am really leading people so yeah if you're you're asking yourself is it for me figure out what's for you something there is for you so I love that you actually bring that up for sure yeah I really appreciate you sharing that story because I think also you know some people sometimes say might say no or maybe to something because they don't feel like they're ready for it. And so like again being able to to to dive into some opportunities and for every experience and role you do learn things along the way. And sometimes the learning is like yeah this is for me and sometimes it's like this is this is not for me and I'm going to go do something else. And even through failure one of the biggest lessons I've learned is always going to be through failure. when you fail, as much as it hurts and it it it stings and it feels bad and you the imposter syndrome and you start down yourself in reality, there's something to learn in that from the failure as well. And I had to learn that early on in my life, you know, as I was kind of going through these entrepreneurship roles is just because you fail doesn't mean it's over. Yep. Learn what's right, what you can take from it, and then don't make the same mistake twice. There you go. Simple. easier said than done, but that's just some of the things though. Um, what's your hope for the next five years when we talk about active minds and how you can actually uh keep people plugged into the now? Yeah. Well, you know, our main driving force right now is to mobilize 100,000 youth and young adults to make change for mental health in their communities and on their campuses. So, that is like that is my hope for us over the next few years and to really hone in on the ways that we're we're doing it. Um, there was the another part of your question that I forgot. Sorry, the memory on Friday is it's Friday. Okay, no worries. You're already on the weekend here. No, it was just what's your hope for the next five years, Active Minds, and how can people continue to uh stay plugged into the Oh, yeah, for sure. So, you know, follow follow us on socials. Um, for sure. So, we're on LinkedIn, we're on Instagram, um, Active Minds, going to our website, activeminds.org. Um, so you can see the variety of different programs and ways that like youth and young adults can engage in our programs and those are probably the best ways to to stay connected to us. How many programs you guys would say off the top of your head, maybe you don't know the exact number, but you have a number of programs you guys actually offer? Um, I'm gonna say like 10. Um, that sounds That sounds about right. Don't quote Don't quote her. Yeah, don't quote her. Okay, don't quote her. She's It's funny. I've never thought about the number of programs that we've had. I've thought about, you know, the number of chapters we had. So, but yeah, about 10. That sounds about right. Yeah. Go. You mean you can check the website. You can check the website. I love it. And uh what would you tell someone as we start to wrap this up? What would you tell someone who says, "Mental health is bigger than me. What can I do?" That's a good question. Um, I guess I would start with the movement is big, but you as an individual, all of us as individuals, we all have mental health. And having mental health, a functional way of being and doing in life is essential. And so what you can do varies. It may just be taking care of yourself. Maybe that's the number one priority right now. It may be taking care and supporting your community, your peers, your family, um, loved ones, or it may be the larger level of doing some campaigns and actioning on your campus or in your community or it may be advocating at the federal policy level. So I guess what I would say is like no matter where you are on that spectrum, if right now today it's like I want to take care of my mental health, that is what's most important to me, then do that by seeking out the resources. You go to activeminds.org. Um taking care of yourself, if that's what's most important, then do that. Those actions are just as important as the things that we're doing on the federal policy level. So, the movement is big, but there are so many different ways that individuals can partake and have actions in it. Before I give you this blind question and put you in the hot seat, you mentioned taking care of yourself. How do you take care of yourself? What is your your go-to? Like, believe it or not, I love plants. So, I get lost in planting and all that. What is your go-to? Yeah. Oh, I think you said hiking. Was it Is it hiking? Hiking is one of them. I do like working out. Like a good yoga class or a good spin class. I think movement. So that's like working out, dance, music, all of those things are important to me. Reading a good book, and even things like, you know, lighting a candle and like taking a moment to just like sit back and relax. It' be a vibe. It'd be a vibe in here. Exactly. Looking at photos. Um I love a good nature landscape. So there's so many and and it's important to have varying ways, right? Because sometimes you may only have a minute or two to kind of take care of yourself in a moment. And sometimes you may have a whole day or a whole weekend. And so, um, yeah, I try to integrate all of those things into my I love it. But no, that's true. Taking care of yourself more than anything. Um, and especially mental health. I think last year I had to dive deep into that and understand what that looked like when I was um trying to build my business and realizing that it's a lonely world in entrepreneurship, right? Sometimes even in leadership sometimes very lonely. You can't talk to everybody in the space. Y and um I had to speak to my friends less, certain friends less because sometime I realized they were kind of dimming my light a little bit probably and not not intentional but was dimming my light. Um had to listen to more worship music. Had to just really find myself. And sometimes it's just cutting out the noise, finding the things that make you happy. Um because as leaders we're we're never shown how to pour into others when we have empty cups, right? A lot of times we're pouring pouring pouring and people look at us like they come to you all the time and you're like, "Man, I'm drained." And I was finding that that friends were calling me never even asking how I was doing. They want to give me all their drama, all this, right? And um so yeah, I love that you said that. take care of yourself more importantly because if you want to take care of somebody else, my wife said that earlier on when I never mentioned I I was sexually abused and I never really said anything and her words very early. I was like 20ome years old. I wanted to start a nonprofit around and I did around you know youth and she said how do you expect to help somebody else if you haven't helped yourself and I thought that was deep. Yeah. Right. I'm 27 years old and and and was that and I had to figure out how was I going to help myself and I had to have that conversation with the person that was sexually abusing me. Um, you know, I never had that conversation ever, but the weight that was lifted off my shoulder because I was taking care of myself was uh was major. All right, so enough about me. I put you into this blind question spot. You lead community initiatives at at a key mental health organization, but what's that one internal challenge or pivot that you've made that you really share publicly and how has that actually changed your approach? Pivot? Do you mean it um that I've made at this organization or just in my life and approach? Yeah, your your leadership life. Yeah, that's a good question. I'm going to take some. You thought these questions was going to be easy. Is that what you thought, Brandy, when you showed up? What? Pivot. I think this may sound cliche, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Um, I think in in my first sort of foray into leadership in my career, it was a lot of like sweating the small stuff. And for me, that's not sustainable. And so I think for me the pivot was being able to distinguish between is this this thing this issue whatever it is that I'm dealing with as a part of a leader of said organization does it really really matter is it going to detour is it going to deter or help us fulfill the mission and I think that helped me to like decipher and get through a lot of the noise and really hone in in a focus focus on um what's most important because things are going to come every single day. Yeah. There goes that noise again, right? We talked about it. That noise they get loud sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Very much so. And so that's like a mantra I still use to this day. And like I I'm not always great at deciphering through it. Like none of us are perfect, but at least being able to come back to that and answer like definitively yes or no so I can focus my energy and my time in a certain way. I think that has been um yeah, life-changing. Well, Brandy, I definitely appreciate the time that we've had here today, all the insight on who you are as a leader and continue to will be as a leader and grow. I mean, you said early only 41, you got another, you know, 40, 50 years to do this work. No, we appreciate the time and I know we'll have another conversation around this as well. Thank you so much for being who you are authentically um as well. That's most important. We didn't talk about that, but I can tell who you are on camera is who you are outside of this. And I think that matters the most when we talk about representation and a woman in this space is that authentically we have to always be ourselves to show others you don't got to beat anybody else to to be in these seats. And with that being said, Brandy, we thank you so much for the time that you have here. May you continue to stay blessed. Enjoy your weekend. For those that are watching, make sure you guys tap in with Brandy as well. Check out the websites. Check out the organization. I'm definitely going to check out those it you talk about those uh those videos about um where can I find this YouTube? Where's that at? It's on YouTube. Asktothehelp.com. As sktp.com I'm gonna go look it up. That sounds really cool. But thank you so much guys. Make sure you guys go check it out. I'm Era. This is Brandy. And we'll catch you guys in the next one later.

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