One of the anticipated consequences of COVID-19 will be a massive mental health crisis. The United Nations released a policy brief entitled COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health citing the deep toll the crisis has taken due to social isolation, losing a loved one, and the economic turmoil from lost income. Now more than ever we need to talk about mental health.

I've experienced the "trifecta" of mental health.

1. I grew up loving and caring for my bipolar mother.
2. I helped build the largest mental health employee resource group at a fortune 50 company.
3. I experienced depression due to a life event reminding me that nobody is immune to mental illness at any given point in their life.

My book Breaking Into My Life was written to help myself—along with the rest of us—better understand the world of mental illness. My story of perseverance and triumph helps challenge and transform the “suffer in silence” dynamic, and makes mental illness more understood, treated and accepted.

I am out to do my part to eliminate the stigma by normalizing the mental health conversation in workplaces and within the first responder community. I partner with innovative leaders to bring my programs and mental health strategies to help them cultivate cultures of compassion for those living with or caring for those with invisible disabilities. My Resilience webinar has made an impact with empowering hundreds of employees during COVID-19 quarantine.