WEBVTT - Featuring Daniella Pierson 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:04.080 Hey guys, and welcome back to this week's episode of 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:06.480 the Let's Be Real Podcast. I'm your host is always 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:09.200 Sammy J and welcome. We're so glad to have you here. 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.440 This week, I got to chat with the incredible entrepreneur 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:15.600 Danielle Pearson. You may know her from being the founder 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:18.239 and CEO of the new zet or the co founder 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:20.520 and co CEO of the new mental health startup with 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.959 Selena Gomez and the TV called Wonder Mind, and she 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.560 is just breaking barriers and is so inspiring. So I 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:29.800 am so excited for this conversation and I hope you 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.199 guys like it. Hi, Danielle, and thank you so much 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:36.760 for coming to Let's Be Real podcast. I'm so excited. 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:38.839 We have so much to talk about, and I really 0:00:38.880 --> 0:00:40.840 appreciate you just taking the time because I know you're 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:44.960 incredibly busy. Well I'm sure you are even more busy, 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:47.239 So thank you so much for having me on this 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.479 incredible podcast, and just it's truly an honor, So yes, 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.720 thank you again. First and foremost, you are just a 0:00:54.840 --> 0:01:00.440 very smart business woman and entrepreneur and I have spreneurial 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.959 bug as well, and so I have to ask when 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.200 was the first time you're like, oh, I want to 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:10.000 create something. Well, you definitely are a badass entrepreneur yourself. 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.720 It's funny how people think, you know, or at least 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:17.080 thought before all of these new entrepreneurs came into the scene, 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:19.639 but people would think an entrepreneur was somebody who literally 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:23.319 had like a store or like, you know, a product. Um, 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.880 but even you know, my twin sister is a writer 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.600 and she has books, like she's an entrepreneur. You have 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.880 this incredible podcast, You're an entrepreneur. It's like it looks 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.640 in so many different ways, and so I always kind 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.000 of had the bug. Um. My parents are both hustlers. 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.479 My mother is an immigrant from Columbia. She grew up 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:48.639 like poverty level core and so she essentially the dream 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.680 and I think it's still is, like the dream job 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:55.559 in Columbia is to become an oral surgeon. And so 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.640 my mother, in order to do that, had to win 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:02.680 the only scholarship every single year at the Columbia um 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.600 you know, university, and then also in elementary school, middle school, 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:08.840 high school, like you know, all the way up until 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:11.680 graduating at school, there was only one scholarship and it 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:13.639 was for the best student of class, So my mom 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.680 had to hustle her ass off and be that best student, 0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:19.799 and so I come from that kind of drive. Then 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:23.400 my father also grew up a pretty you know, poverty 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.360 level core as well in Niagara Falls, and his father 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.840 worked at a factory and had you know, many kids 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.200 and a wife to support. And so my dad uh 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:36.760 just literally started from like uh, fixing cars to Washington 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.320 cars to selling cars and then you know, finally having 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.760 his own dealership. And so both of my parents are 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:47.440 incredibly entrepreneurial. The drivers in your d n A. It 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.800 really is um and so that I always knew that 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.239 I wanted to do something and probably have a business. 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:58.160 I hated school. It just was not for me. My sister, 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:01.799 my twin sister, was completely the opposite. She definitely got 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:03.880 more of my mom's jeans, where she was, you know, 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.400 the best student. She went to an ivy league school. 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.360 I was much more like my dad where you know, 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.800 I hated school and I just didn't realize why I 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:16.320 had to learn about you know, mitochondria and and at 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.480 am fifteen different times over my you know, high school 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:21.400 and middle school career. When I knew I was not 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:24.640 going to be a scientist, and I didn't really apply 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:28.360 myself as much until the final years of high school, 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.520 where I realized, if I don't get my ship together, 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:34.680 I'm going to be stuck in this town forever and 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.840 I want to go do big things. And so that's 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.320 when I really focused my energy, became a really good 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.600 student and was able to go to be you. And 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.520 so when I went to be you, I knew again 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:49.440 that I wasn't happy with you know, the things I 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:51.680 was learning. I wasn't learning about business. It was going 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:54.440 to be two years of like normal classes and then 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.000 I was going to learn about business. And finally, my 0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:01.600 sophomore year of college, I was like, Okay, if I 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.280 want to do something for myself, I want. I was 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.040 just begging for that kind of passion and something I 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:10.600 could put everything towards because I didn't have it. And uh, 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:12.480 I thought, okay, I'm going to write down the things 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:16.400 I'm good at. I made that list. It was completely blank. 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:19.960 I was good at absolutely nothing. I highly doubt that. 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:24.560 I truly like I'm not being you know, funny or anything. 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:26.760 I was not good at anything. I didn't even know 0:04:26.800 --> 0:04:30.039 who I was. I truly was like a chameleon. In 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.120 the worst way. I would be whoever I thought people 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.800 wanted me to be. I didn't know who I was, like, 0:04:35.080 --> 0:04:38.320 really didn't have any skills. And then I thought, okay, 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:40.440 well what do I love to do? Like, what are 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.200 my passions? And the one thing that I always loved 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.599 was reading magazines, Like I would just be just you know, 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.640 encompassed in a magazine when I opened it. And so 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:54.880 I thought, well, what if I could make my own 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.920 magazine and maybe that would help me get an internship 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.440 or a job at a magaze zeene or maybe you know, 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:04.000 this works out for me and I can do this 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.440 after college and work for myself because I knew no 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:09.640 one would hire me with my bad grades. Um, so 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.640 I thought, maybe I can hire myself Dan, Yeah I can. 0:05:12.640 --> 0:05:14.360 I tell you that we have so much in common. 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.240 I grew up in school with learning differences and thought 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.240 I was incapable of learning for so long and O 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.800 C D and anxiety as well. Okay, so we are 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.720 the same person because we are the same person as 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:27.720 you're talking about this. Yeah, I have a d H 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:31.840 D O C D UM and anxiety and depression, et cetera. 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.920 So yes, with a d H D N o c D. 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.599 I got you. I know exactly what you're talking about. 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:42.760 School is hard. Yeah, school was so freaking hard. Yes. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.839 How did you not let your lack of confidence in 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.560 the classroom affect what you want to do outside of 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.000 the classroom. Yes, so it's really funny. I actually did 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.520 not get diagnosed with a d h D until about 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:59.120 six months ago. Did everything just makes sense afterwards? Oh? 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:03.279 I completely made sense. And um I realized and when 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:07.159 talking to my you know, psychiatrists, that the kind of 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:08.720 a d h D I had, and I think it's 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:10.560 different for a lot of people. So I don't want 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:13.440 to blanket statement. This is like, I care about what 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.880 I care about, and I can do that and be 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.880 very specific, and especially with the O c D combined, 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.479 I can then obsess over that. But if I don't 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:25.760 care about something, it is almost impossible to focus on it. 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.440 It's not going to get done. Yeah, it's it's almost 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:33.960 just like it just you can't do it feels genuinely incapable. No, 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.400 it's true. There are assets to in their negative sides 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.080 to it. I'm in college right now, so I'm also 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.360 realizing the negative sides to it. When my brain can't 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:45.120 process textbook readings, so when I have to do them, 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.760 it takes me forever. But like when there's like something 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.280 with the podcast or something that I love, it's just 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.960 like I love it. Yes, yeah, No, So I was 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:58.520 very similar and I didn't know that when I was there. 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:01.600 I don't even think I grew up in Flora Jackson, Florida. 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:03.840 I don't even I went to a private school. I 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.359 didn't even think, like, you know, people would even know 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.160 what a d h D was back then, learning differences 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.840 aren't talked about. And something that's so unfortunate is that 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.760 so October was Learning Disability Awareness Month, and I think 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.160 it's really important that we talked about these issues because 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.520 so many times, and I've talked to people about this, 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:23.760 like you kind of get used to the feeling of 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.880 not being able to learn. And I hope that people 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:29.640 listening know like that you are capable of learning, you 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:31.840 just have to find that passion. And I think it's 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:33.440 so cool like what you did with the news that 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.400 the newsletter you created and how you built upon that 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.040 was the news that the outlet for all your creativity. Yeah, 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.320 So to answer your first question and go into that 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.520 in school, you know, identical twin sister is a rock 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.760 star school, top of the class, um, you know, so smart, 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.080 and I was her biggest cheerleader, and that's all she 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.480 cared about. She went to school and she just did grades, 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.160 like didn't care about anything else. That was her thing. 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:01.440 She wanted to go to Ivy League school. And so 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:05.680 my sister was incredibly impressive. UM for me because I 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:08.480 didn't like school and I basically just had to like 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.840 get through it. Um. I was a BNC student, and 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.480 so my parents would judge us equally by like, if 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.080 my sister got straight a's great, if I got these 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.840 and seas fantastic. So it we weren't on the same 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.800 playing field, and I appreciate that they everyone knew that 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:30.400 I was different. Yeah, However, I realized my junior year 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.280 my sister was getting all of these incredible pamphlets and 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.280 you know, info and reach out from these huge schools 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.160 and these big cities. And I wanted to go to 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.680 a big city and I was getting nothing. You know, surprise, surprise. 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.240 They don't send it to like the BNC students. They 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:47.359 send it to, you know, the people who are really impressive. 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:52.560 And so I realized, Wow, if I don't get on 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.679 this train. And even though I don't care about you 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.720 know how big a triangle is and you know how 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.680 many uh you know, different elements there are an atom 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:05.360 and all these things I knew I was never going 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.000 to use. I was like, I need to start caring 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:11.000 because that is the catalyst to me getting out of 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.959 the city and moving into a big city and making 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.000 my dreams come true. So it find a way out, yes, 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.839 And so essentially I I thought I was done, Like 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:22.200 my people would call me the dumb twin and like 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:25.319 I really thought I was just like incapable. But then 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.960 I there was this one class, a history class that 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.559 I really really liked because it was almost like learning 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.200 about a story or like reading a story. And I 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.439 got an eight plus on one of the tests and 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.240 everyone else failed it, and I was like, wait, I 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:42.640 can do this. So I decided to. And I don't 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:43.920 know if this has to do do with a D H 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:46.480 D or O C D, but I can do things 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:48.920 in sprints. And so I said, Okay, the second I 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.200 get to school at eight o'clock AM until I leave 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:55.520 at three thirty or three forty five, the only thing 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.600 I'm going to do is be an incredible student. So 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.120 during class, like I will follow along with the textbook, 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.200 take every no, ask every question. During my lunch break, 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:06.880 I didn't really have a lot of friends and so 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:08.760 and my sister and I had different lunch breaks, so 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:11.200 I would go to the library first while everyone would 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.400 eat in the cafeteria like study and do all my stuff, 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:16.400 then go to the cafeteria at the very end and 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.080 eat when no one else was there so I have 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:22.040 to sit alone, and you know, basically took every inch 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:25.600 of my day at school and made it into you know, 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:28.640 me learning. And then when I got home, I would 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:32.120 just watch TV like I don't think I did one essay, 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.959 one you know, study session, one homework ever at home 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.320 because I was like, okay, if I do all of 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.800 this in this time and like, you know, just get 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.680 it all banged out, then I can have my free time. 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.679 And junior year and senior year. It ended up working 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.360 so well like that that I ended up getting all 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.160 a's and a pluses, and my parents were like, what 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.880 is going on here? But it truly was because like 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:00.600 I refused to let these things that don't interest me 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:03.559 be the reason why I can't go to a big 0:11:03.600 --> 0:11:05.600 city and do what I want to do, like, I 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.240 just need to get on the path and like, you know, 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.640 not rebel anymore. And so that's what I did, Um, 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:15.040 and I ended up going to be you. And uh, 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.880 that's again really when I started thinking about what I 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:21.640 wanted to do and uh and thinking, you know, I 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.080 have four years. I was so lucky. The ultimate gift 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:27.680 my parents gave me was they paid for my college education, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:29.440 so I didn't have to have a job while I 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.960 was in college. And so I immediately thought, Okay, I 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:36.120 have four years for basically the only time in my 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.840 life that we're all I'm responsible for is going to 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.600 class and like partying or making friends or whatever. I'm 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:47.280 going to take these four years and actually try to 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.200 get a job or create my own job so that 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.080 when I graduate, I'm like set up. Because when in 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.160 your life are you ever going to have four years 0:11:56.240 --> 0:12:00.119 where you don't have you know, a family responsibilities or anything. 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:03.040 And so I almost thought, you know, to not take 0:12:03.080 --> 0:12:05.280 advantage of that and try to build a career and 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.960 build a wife for myself was would just be a 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:12.840 massive you know, disappointment and disadvantaged for me. Daniel, your 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.400 story is so amazing and so inspiring. We have to 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:19.200 take a quick break, but when we come back, I 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.480 want to hear about your college experience and what you 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:24.720 think the keys were for the News that to become 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:28.400 so successful in your new company with Selena Gomez and Nandy, 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:38.320 Tiffy Wondermind and much more. We'll be right back before 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.400 we talk more about college and post college. I'm curious 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:43.760 back in high school because of everything you were dealing 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:47.080 with with socializing hard did you find and did your 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:50.319 anxiety and O c D affect that? Yes, But I 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:54.040 realized I had O c D um Like I realized 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.120 something was wrong with me when I was about six 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.000 years old and my ster and I had like these 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:01.680 canopy beds, and one side of my canopy broke because 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.920 I was probably hanging off of it like a fucking monkey, 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.800 and as you should, yes, and my uncle came in 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:12.040 and taped it with black tape. And so I sat 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.840 there going to sleep. And as you know, one of 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.360 the you know things that O gets different for everybody 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.679 is like a semmetry, and so there was black tape 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:22.360 on one side and not on the other. And I 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:25.400 stayed up that entire night just looking back and forth, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:28.440 and I ended up having like an anxiety attack over it. 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:30.400 My parents had no idea what was going on. And 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.200 then after that I developed rituals were like, you know, 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.520 I had to close the door a certain way, and 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.320 you know, all of these different things that kind of 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:41.120 take over your life. And because my mother is Latina 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:42.960 and um, you know, I don't want to speak for 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:45.439 the whole culture, but at least, you know, and in 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.120 her belief system, you know, people didn't really go see 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:51.880 psychiatrists or anything. My dad is this very manly man 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.160 from you know, Niagara Falls, New York. Going to see 0:13:55.200 --> 0:13:58.040 a psychiatrist or therapist was definitely not a thing that 0:13:58.120 --> 0:14:00.640 he was going to be okay with and so they 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.040 kind of just ignored it and like looked at it 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.360 as almost like a cork for me trying to get attention. 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.480 And then my uh, freshman year of high school, we 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:13.199 took a health class and we started learning about mental 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.440 health illnesses. And when we got to O c D 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:18.959 and we started talking about it, I was like, oh 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:21.880 my god, I have O c D. And it was 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.040 just such a like aha moment because I had no 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.040 idea what it was. I know it was a mental illness, 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.320 and so you know, I asked my parents, can I 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.880 please go get help for this? And the answer was no, 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:37.840 And so, yeah, that's so hard, especially after I think, yeah, 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.920 my mom feels very bad about it now, but she drew. 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:43.160 I can't blame her, like just a stigma like that 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.240 was ten years ago or longer, and so you know, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:51.000 it just wasn't what she was raised thinking about. And like, 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.720 no one wants to think that their child has a problem, 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.720 which is why Wonder Mind and everything I do with 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:59.520 the news that, et cetera is all about, like empowering 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.760 people to speak up for themselves and to think about 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.760 mental health just as you would with your physical health. 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.520 Like no one's embarrassed to say they have high blood pressure, 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:10.120 So why are you embarrassed to say that you are 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.320 O c D? And why are you embarrassed to take 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:16.520 medicine for that? Exactly? And so the entire time for 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.640 high school with just depression, no c D and a 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.160 d h D, which I didn't know about at the time, 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:27.760 it was very hard. From twelve to eighteen. I had 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:31.480 a pretty traumatic journey during that point in crying almost 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.360 a recent day and whatever. So yes, definitely too the 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.160 toll on me I didn't realize o c D was 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.760 so debilitating until I found out I had o c D. 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.680 I didn't realize what it was. I thought I was 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.440 just making myself like, I go down what I call 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.600 the what if Yes, yes, my undfalls where it's just 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.720 endless and I think, you know, having the courage to 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.200 advocate for yourself is really hard and taking those steps. 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:59.240 What was the moment or was there a moment where 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:02.280 you're like, Okay, even though my family might not be 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.760 supportive of this now, but I need to do what's 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:07.320 best for me and go get the proper hope. When 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:11.040 was that? Yeah? So, as you know, it's incredibly expensive 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.400 to get help, especially for something as specific as o 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.640 c D. You mean, specialists, and these people cost a 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.240 lot of money, and so my parents made very clear 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:25.960 that they not be okay with me going and UM. 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.360 At that time, it was probably it was my junior year. 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.360 I had just had an entrepreneur project that I worked 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.440 with eight other people who are UM I ended up guy. 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.240 So I had my other business, like the real business, 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.040 this project business, and then all of our classes on 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.760 top of it, and so I basically like just worked 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:48.840 seven that semester and I did all of the work 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:52.000 for this project. You know, starting a company with eight 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.880 different people obviously is not the way that a normal 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.840 person starts a company. It's with yourself for one or 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.720 maybe two other people, it's not eight people. So but 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:02.680 I like did my lane of work. I went to 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.680 every single meeting. I accomplished everything I had to do. 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:08.640 But when you know, the group members would go and 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:10.800 you know, get a drink or you know, hang out 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.439 all together, I would go work and do my new 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.399 set stuff. And so that ended up being to my 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:19.760 detriment because they all became friends. And for some reason, 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:24.639 the grading system was peer based and someone one person 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:28.760 on the team had to fail, and so they chose me, 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.240 and they basically said, oh, well, she has another business, 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:32.879 so you know, there's no way she could have been 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:35.439 as dedicated as we were. There was literally someone on 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.679 our team that never brought a lot of talked to 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.159 any meeting and he got a C plus draw is 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:47.160 dropped and so junior year that was yeah, so um eight, 0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.080 that was like seventy or eighty percent of our grade. 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:52.439 And so even though I did totally fine on my 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:56.960 in the classes, I ended up failing that semester, and 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:00.960 I basically got a letter from the GAN saying you're 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:05.000 on academic probation. You essentially have one semester to not 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:08.200 only retake all the classes you failed, but also take 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.680 all of the additional business classes you're supposed to take 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.720 next semester, and if you don't get this g p A, 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:18.760 you will be kicked out one semester before graduation. And 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.080 at that point, the news that was doing well. But like, 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.240 you know, I wasn't trying to monetize yet. I really 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:27.520 want to wait until I hit a certain subscriber member 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.800 and work with the best friends in the world, not like, 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.600 you know, the smaller frands that might, you know, give 0:18:32.600 --> 0:18:35.040 me some income. I want to wait. I was really 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:38.760 patient about waiting and telling you know, advertisers, no, like 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:41.080 we're not going to monetize until next year or whatever. 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:44.200 And so at that point I had zero backup plan. 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:47.639 My mother was in hysterics. She didn't even tell my 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:51.480 dad because my dad would have freaked out. And here 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:54.600 I am completely alone, you know, saying, oh my god, 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.000 I'm going to fail out of college one semester before 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.480 I graduate, and I'm going to have nothing. I put 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:02.440 all of my eggs in the basket of the news 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.159 that because I knew I would get like you know, 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:07.639 decencies or whatever in my grades, it was not going 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:11.520 to be the top recruit for any sort of big company. 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.199 And I said, you know, I just have to make 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:15.800 the news at work and that would be my my job. 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:20.320 And so at that point it was the loneliest, most oppressing, 0:19:21.000 --> 0:19:24.520 just the lowest point in my life. And my o 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:30.480 c D became absolutely debilitating. So like constant you know, thoughts, um, 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.440 constant rituals and they called them in truths of thoughts 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:35.840 as you know um. And there was one day when 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:37.879 I was looking under my bed that was the way 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:41.359 one of the rituals I had, and I just to 0:19:41.440 --> 0:19:43.840 make the feeling go away. And I was so angry 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:46.679 and emotional that I just kept banging my hands on 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:50.960 the floor until they started bleeding. And my sister saw that, 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:55.520 and she and my boyfriend basically talked and they were like, 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:57.760 you need to go see a theratist, like this is 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:00.840 not okay anymore. And I was essentially crying. Every single day. 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:02.720 I would go to the computer to try to even 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.439 do my homework and just ball and not even be 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:07.320 able to focus, and so I was like, there's no 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.399 way I'm gonna get kicked out, Like there, you know, 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:11.800 there's no way I'm even gonna ever be able to 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.400 make this work. And so I with the little affiliate 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:18.200 money that I made from the newsette, so we weren't 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:21.440 monetizing like doing brand partnerships, but I was linking out 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.359 to affiliate, uh you know, sources. So if somebody bought 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.760 a product I recommended, I would get a percentage, and 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.400 I ended up being able to make quite a bit 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.080 of money over the last three years for that. So 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:34.480 I had a little bit of savings and I used 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:38.919 that to find a psychiatrist and a therapist, and essentially 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:44.880 they got me on medicine prozac, and that completely changed 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.280