Panel Discussion | Mental Health

Video Credit: Kevyn Tapia

This past month, we hosted a series of mental health workshops in honor of Mental Health Awareness May. The first of the 5 workshops was our Panel Discussion! This panel discussion was led by our Executive Assistant, Maya, and included community members, Jasmine and Marquan, and Spring ‘22 Alum, Tracy. Maya led this discussion with a series of questions about each storyteller’s journey through mental health and the importance of incorporating that into their lives. Follow along in this captivating conversation with the video above and enjoy!

The Art Of Therapy | Dana Harris

Photo Credit: Amie

This past Saturday, Dana from Paint on Purpose came back to TFD! Dana teaches art to people of all ages. She finds joy in guiding others through something so therapeutic. As we move through Mental Health Awareness Month, we have seen community members arrive excited to learn new things and find a moment of peace in their busy lives. A few members joined us on Saturday to relax with some smooth jazz music in the essential oil-filled air while painting. Dana guided them through painting beautiful cherry blossoms, which signify change in the seasons of our lives. Everyone enjoyed the peaceful environment and left with incredible artwork!

You can find more on the work Dana does on her website!

Photo Credit: Amie

Practicing Mindfulness | Crystal Dorado

Last night we had our second of five workshops for Mental Health May! Crystal Dorado and her assistant, Stella from Verde Holistic Wellness Studio, led a workshop on Mindfulness. A few members from our community came to join this exciting workshop. We began our time learning the cultural aspects of holistic practices and understanding what mindfulness is all about.

Crystal describes mindfulness as “the capacity to be fully present, aware of who we are and what we are doing, and less reactive or overwhelmed by external forces”. With this definition, she led us through practicing these moments of mindfulness. We began meditation and viewed our thoughts as if they were playing on a TV in our minds, we then attempted to turn it off and clear our thoughts. Crystal shared her Mandala beads and how to use them, as well as some beautiful clear quartz crystals and a singing crystal pyramid that produced a sound and vibrations when tapped.

We ended our session with another meditation in which we were guided through “the cosmos” and attempted to view ourselves as one with our surroundings. While everyone slowly began to go deeper into this meditation, Crystal began to chime the singing pyramid. This meditation was a way of opening up our minds to understand that we have more access to our sub-consciousness than just within our physical body. Crystal taught everyone so much and we all had a great time learning about these holistic healing practices! To learn even more about Crystal and her practices, you can visit Verde Holistic Wellness Studio in Chicago!

Creating A Brand | Part 6

As the mentees continue to work through their businesses, it is also the last week of mentorship. Today, the mentees started off with a fun bell ringer of “Guess Who”. Each mentee wrote a person down and stuck it to their forehead for the rest of the mentees to give them hints on who they were. Some celebrity guesses were Kanye West, Beyonce, and Bill Murray.

After the game, the mentees were focused and went right into continuing to build their businesses. Jasmine and Jocelyn continued a design job TFD was hired to do. On this day, they worked on putting photos into the client’s website design. Tracy continued to work on his denim design by finding new inspiration. Jordynne, Jamia, Cameron, and Kendall all worked more on their website designs. Lastly, Julian finished his website design and plans on starting to record his podcasts! As we wrap up the last week of our spring mentorship program, everyone is starting to feel the bittersweet moments. Nonetheless, we are so proud and grateful our mentees have found a business they want to continue with.

Podcasting 101 | Xochitl Carmona

This Saturday, the mentees went through a podcasting intensive to learn all of the ends and outs of podcasting. Xochitl of Werk Mija shared what it takes to make a successful podcast. Xochitl shared that your podcast should be centered around getting leads to your business, recognition, and message. The mentees shared their favorite podcasts and how they connect to the importance of why people have podcasts.

Xochitl explained what a niche is and how it is important to have one to make your podcast stand out. They wrapped the podcast workshop up by going through the logistics of where and how to record as well as how to market their podcast. The mentees then partenered up and applied their skills to creating a welcome episode where each mentee chose the role of either host or guest. It was great to share and hear the epsiodes that they created. Some of our Mentees will be developing podcasts for their businesses. We look forward to sharing more about that soon.