Introduction to Mental Health Advocacy

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour. Today we are hanging out with a new friend, Heather Brown. And the reason why I asked Heather to be on the show is because she is doing wonderful work in the realm of mental health, protecting your mind, body, and spirit. And I resonated so well with that because I think in the prevention field, oftentimes we are asked to do so much more than one person should be asked to do.

And if we don’t have the ability to take care of ourselves, how are we going to take care of other people? And so I wanted to bring Heather on, ask her about her story, what kind of things she’s doing to support people. and we’re gonna, we’re gonna dive in and see what we can talk about in the next half hour. So just a quick info about Heather is she is an energetic podcaster, writer, online mama cheerleader, and healthy living advocate behind the brand and podcast.

Healthy by Heather Brown. She and her college sweetheart, hubby, Eric, they live in Birmingham, Alabama with two young boys. And since she started blogging 14 years ago, Heather is privileged to reach over a million women every single year. She runs her podcast and business with a team where they share daily ways for young moms to love their life, pursue health in mind, body and spirit through her Sunday reset. Heather, this is so cool. Welcome to the show.

Yay. Thank you so much, Jake. I’m pumped to be here and I’ve already loved getting to know you just a little bit before we hit record. So I know this is going be really fun and hopefully educational episode for your sweet listeners.

Yeah, absolutely it will be. So I guess I just want to dive in and go right into your background because before we were talking about just kind of you leaning into media and you have an incredible platform on Instagram. If somebody is, you if you’re not driving, just go look up Heather Brown on Instagram and see her platform. She’s so consistent. She’s doing it well and her content is so helpful. But you had a background before.

You’ve been blogging for 14 years. What got you started with this as your, as your outlet? And was it always your main thing or like, I guess in a short version, right? Like, how did you get where you are today?

Heather’s Journey: From Blogging to Mental Health

Great question. So yes, I would love if you guys came over to my Instagram. It’s at healthy by Heather Brown. anywhere you can find me, you go to healthy by the Brown.com, but y’all long story short, I’m from Birmingham, Alabama. And like Jake said, I’m at my college sweetheart there. And, we have been married now for it’s so crazy 16 years. So I always joke with people, our marriage is old enough to drive.

So we are so grateful for the life that we have, but it definitely has had lots of ups and downs, just like everybody has. And so I started the blog many, many years ago because I had a journalism and mass communications degree from Sanford and I was just, you know, living life, working in a marketing job. And y’all, my husband decided that he actually struggled with some depression.

He had chosen the wrong field and he wanted to be an accountant. And so he was working and we joked because when we got married, was like, babe, I didn’t know when we got married. I needed to find a roommate because he was never in town. Like he traveled, I think like 45 weeks out of the first year that we were married. We only saw each other on the weekends. And of course, you know, one thing led to another and he ended up having depression. The Lord radically changed his life and he completely switched careers, went to become a nurse practitioner. But all that to say, um, budget was tight because he went back to school early on in our marriage. And so we had to figure out how we’re going to live on $40 a week for groceries. That’s what we budgeted for the two of us. Yeah. Now granted four zero, four zero. Um, so I, um, just started figuring out like, okay, well, what does this look like to coupon and save money and all these kinds of things.

Like literally think of like that TLC show back in the day about couponing. That was me. Because we couldn’t afford anything else. And so as I started learning this myself, a bunch of my girlfriends were like, Heather, how the heck are you doing this? Like, what are you doing? How do I only spend $40 a week on groceries? And so one of my friends was like, you know what, Heather, I’m just going to start a blog for you and then you can share the deals that you’re getting with us. And then that way, if anybody says, well,

How did you get that? You can say, well, you could have found it on the blog. I’m telling you how to do it there. So simple, humble beginnings. Nobody had a blog back then that I knew in real life. I mean, that was so like off the grid at the time. anyway, all that to say the blog then like hit it big on Pinterest and people started following me, finding me. Meanwhile, I was working in marketing at Emails.com, which is a meal planning company and also teaching Pure Bar, which is a ballet bar based exercise fused with Pilates and yoga. And you know, like honestly, God was so, I mean, he just breathed on the business. And I know that not everybody believes the same way that I do, but truly like, it was bigger than me. Like I could not have done what I did. And so all that to say he grew it and grew it and grew it. And now I have over 200,000 followers on Instagram a million people a year that are touching my brand in some way, or form. But I give all the glory to him because little old Heather Brown from Birmingham, Alabama could not do it alone.

Wow, that’s incredible. And how did it go from, this is what’s so interesting. It started as you sharing tips, right? Couponing or like tips that would help you financially. And now you’re in this space though of mind, body, spirit, mental health. How did that transition happen?

Transitioning to Mind, Body, and Spirit

Yeah, great question. So long story short, when I started the blog, we obviously didn’t have kids. Um, Eric and I will say we’re fortunate enough where we got married so young. were 22 years old when we got married that we just waited for about seven years before we had kids. And then I knew that I, as the brand was evolving, I just thought, you know, I don’t want to talk about couponing for forever. And I had really starting to get passionate about working out and health and Jake, I don’t know, I’m going to skim this over and you can go as deep as you want to go or as shallow as you want to go on this. But I had, I had my first son and long story short, I had a really traumatic delivery with him. And then I slumped into postpartum depression and literally just was like a shell of myself. Like I, I, I just, I’m an energizer bunny and I’m always like happy and uplifting and all these things.

But you and I connected about that being a seven on the Enneagram, like that’s where I can tend to go with my personality. And I was crying multiple times a day and just like, when am I gonna feel like myself again? Who is this person? And so again, thank goodness, I came through that with lots of support from my friends and family and husband and the Lord. And then I was like, you know what?

I wanna talk about things that are more in depth. Like I really wanna speak to women’s souls that are like really struggling with how to balance all the things and struggling with depression and who are thinking like, well I go to church every Sunday and I check the box, but they never take it any deeper on like their personal relationship with whoever they believe is their God. Or they work out every single day, but then they can’t find any deeper meaning outside of just themselves. And they’re like, why am I so discontent? And so how that came to be is I really feel like I had to learn as I was rebuilding from that postpartum depression, that not only did I miss the workouts and the endorphins and like getting that hit, but also I learned that your mind, your body and your spirit are so interconnected and that if one is struggling, unfortunately, it’s going to pull down that whole system. And so I was like, this is something that’s not talked about in culture. And so I really wanted to be somebody that women could look to if they were also struggling in that same boat that I was.

Wow, okay, that’s really helpful to know. And it’s fun how your career has started with some sort of struggle or challenge you faced. And it sounds like you’re just a pretty resourceful person. And what I’m hearing too, faithful, right? Relying on the Lord. And I relate to that too, as someone who follows Christ and trying to my best to follow his example, is that miracles can happen. And you’ve been going through this challenge.

And then as you find your solutions, you’re finding other people with that same challenge and just helping them through it. And media has been your way of doing that so that as many people who want to join you can. And so just, really admire that story. I admire the passion behind it, the mission. And I want to dive in because I think this is such a cool opportunity for our audience. You have taken something that you’re passionate about.

Our audience is really passionate about mental health and also helping others get passionate about it. And with the purpose too, like professionally is they want to reduce substance use. And we know the underlying use of, of that or the underlying reason why someone would use, oftentimes it comes down to that health or maybe body or spirit. Like, like you said, they’re all connected, but I want to have you speak to our audience specifically is, Hey, a lot of them, would say maybe 70 to 80 % are women professionals. They have a lot on their plate. They basically have 10 jobs rolled into one. And there’s times where it feels like, I don’t know how I’m doing this or how long I can do this. So taking care of themselves is a really, really big issue. And you’re right, we don’t talk about it a lot. We talk about professional strategies and especially on this show, because that’s the way my brain works. So I want to give you full permission, Heather to let’s lean into problem and solution. Like if you can think of our audience as these professional, mostly women professionals with a lot on their plate, maybe we’re struggling with a lot of the same things that you did in your audience. What are you seeing are the typical problems? And then what are some solutions we could lean into to maybe just get 5 % better this month whatever that improvement might look like.

Addressing Professional Women’s Challenges

Yeah. okay. This is so good. I actually feel like as you were talking, this phrase came to mind and I know that there’s, like you said, the majority of your woman is moms and one of my friends, actually, she has a child that has, CP and she works a full-time job and her husband travels for work. And so I think it’s probably a lot of women are going to relate to that.

And as she was kind of struggling recently through something going on with her child and a surgery that needed to be had on top of all the other things on her plate. One thing that she said that like struck me straight in the heart was she said, you know, guys, I’m so frustrated with just the medical system and all the things that are happening and that are piling on and that he has to have this other surgery. But she said at the end of the day, I can’t personally protect my son from God’s testimony for him.

And I was like, my gosh, wow. Like how incredible that really, that was just such a like turn switch in my heart and in my brain of any struggle that you’re going through right now, y’all, God is using that to write your testimony. And if you’re struggling with something right now, as you guys well know, you’re gonna get to turn that into one day where you’re coming along some side, somebody and linking arms with them and helping them out through that struggle.

Practical Solutions for Self-Care

So first of all, I wanna empower you with that. And second of all, you mentioned something about getting like 5 % better every month or something like that, Jake. And I love that. One of the key phrases that I say often with the Healthy by Heather Brown Girl Gang is what I call them, is that we’re not trying to like, I just think it’s so funny because people get so overwhelmed when we’re like.

Well, you need to start drinking eight cups of water a day. You need to work out every day, but you also need to stretch and don’t forget to use your red light and make sure you get in the word and do da da da da da, but also work full time and take care of your kids. And it’s like, whoa, nobody can do all that and do it well, unless you’re actually just thinking all my goal is to do is just to get 1 % better every day. And it’s a long game, y’all. I think that that’s one thing that I really had to learn because I felt like such a failure after I had my son and I literally was laid up on the couch. I couldn’t move for six weeks. I had to sit on a donut. Like I was on medication. I’m trying to learn how to breastfeed, like all these crazy things. And that was so freeing to me when I was like, okay, I get to recover. I get to have this downtime. And the one thing that I started with is my like little cornerstone to start building around is meal planning.

And so for me, that was my little 1 % that even though my body was broken, my mind was broken, I was crying all the time. I was like, but this is something that I know how to do like the back of my hand. And even though I’m laid up on the couch, can meal plan for the week. And Jake, that probably sounds so silly, but the meal plan now I’ve realized became the cornerstone of what I now call my Sunday reset. And the Sunday reset is truly just a time to sit down and y’all hear me say, we’re talking about 1%. So if you want to start big scale with the Sunday reset, awesome if you have the bandwidth for that. But if you’re like, Heather, I can’t think of one more thing I could do. Can you give me 10 minutes? If you can give me 10 minutes one day a week and just sit down and take the time to be still, to silence your notifications, to pull away and just to think, pray, whatever it is that you want to do journal, to just say, what went well last week?

How am I feeling? How am I being intentional with my spouse, with my work, with my kids, with my workouts, with my church, whatever your thing is? And y’all, if it’s not going well, why? Why isn’t it going well? Is it that you’re not able to eat a home cooked meal ever and that makes you feel like a failure? Or are you like, no, I really don’t care. I feel great about eating out, but what I feel bad about is that I can’t move my body.

But if you’re not taking that even just five to 10 minutes a week to sit and be still and to think about what went well and what didn’t go well last week, how can you ever get a little bit better? So, Jake, I want to pause there because I’m like, what have I said so far where it hasn’t made sense if anything?

No, this is great. I think what it reminds me of too is the way sometimes we start our day or start our week. And I’m guilty of this. I started putting my phone across the room for the sole purpose that I would get up when I said I wanted to. I set the alarm for a reason, so I’m not going to give myself the snooze option. And what I realized is when I had an excuse to get up, like working out or like our church does a workout class, so it’s extra accountability. And so I’m like, all right, I’m going to get into something that makes my body feel good. We’re going to have an opportunity to pray about the day and get connected. And then the rest of the day, I’ve got an extra couple of hours because I woke up early. those things, it starts with the prep before, kind of like your Sunday prep, is it makes your whole week better. And what I realized is the first step of me equipping myself for tomorrow, is what I’m doing right now today, which might be putting my phone across the room, putting on the alarm and saying, I’m waking up no matter what. And that’s, that’s when I operate at my best. When I cheat and I don’t do it, like I can feel it throughout the whole day. Like it does make a difference. And so I love what you just said, because it kind of reminded me of all those steps and that prep and how a decision later is kind of dependent on the 1 % right now.

Yes, I completely agree. Exactly. And one of the biggest phrases that we talk about often in my membership group is that if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. And so that’s what you just harped on Jake and it makes so much sense. And so for me, it’s like, I know that if I don’t have my meal plan for the week and that Sunday reset, then I am setting my entire family up for failure. And so even though like, I think it’s like, well, that’s just nice for me.

My husband has actually even told me, hey, I feel bad asking you this, but I don’t know what our meal plan is. And now I feel like, am I stopping after soccer and getting food or like what’s going on? Like it actually does impact the people around you. So I would highly encourage you just to, you know, choose your day. My day is Sunday and I sit down and I have figured out that the things that make me operate well on a week to week basis are, you know, spiritual health. Okay. Let’s check in on that, you know, part spiritual health. I want to get to church on Sunday.

I want to get the small group on Wednesday night. Do I have a devotional set up for this week or am I joining a new Bible study? If I am, then do I have that Bible study in place? Do I need to place an order for the book on Amazon? It’s kind of just getting yourself spiritually set up for the week. And maybe even if it’s your thing, praying and asking, Lord, please help me to see open gaps this week where I can serve you better. Like bring someone to mind that I can touch or like for your women, like who in my family do I need to reach out to and pour into, or who can I reach out to in my city that I feel like would be a really good touch point and ask the Lord to give you that insight because it’s incredible what he’ll do when you even just open up that little part, you know? So that number one, and then I’m looking at my mental health. For my mental health, I know that I have to get to the gym and be around people multiple times per week.

So then I’m looking at my calendar and maybe the Lord brought that person to mind and I’m like, ooh, I haven’t seen Jenny in forever. So I’m gonna text Jenny on Sunday and be like, hey girl, I’m open for lunch this week on this day or this day. Is there any way that we can get together and get coffee or walk or something along those lines? I also have noticed for my mental health that I have got to be outside multiple times per day.

Hydration and Nutrition for Mental Clarity

So for me, that means setting a step goal of eight to 10,000 steps a day. So that way I’m getting outside, I’m getting the sunlight and I’m either able to pray and talk with the Lord while I’m doing that or just be phone free where I’m not overwhelmed constantly by a screen. And then for my physical health, like I said, I’ve got to get to the gym because I do work from home as a podcaster and content creator. So I need to be around my people and see those people at the gym if possible daily, five days a week and then get those endorphins out and going. So for me, those touch points and the meal plan are really what keep me on track because y’all you can’t pour from an empty cup. And that is what we as women wanna do so often. And I just wanna encourage you that the Lord has more for you and that he says you have to love your neighbor as yourself. So the assumption is you’re taking care of yourself, but we as moms sometimes kind of forget that part.

Okay, hold on. I feel like the top half of the top half is in.

And then we let our relationship with the Lord go. We let our food intake go. We let, you know, all these things that power and fuel our body to do the work set out before us go. And then not only are you suffering, but everyone around you is suffering. So it’s kind of like where I go back to you had to put your own oxygen mask on first, just like on a flight.

That’s so good. What I’m taking away from what you’re telling me right now too, is that it’s important to recognize when you feel at your best or how you best operate so you can strategically put those things throughout your day. You had mentioned going outside, seeing a couple of friends each week because you are that extroverted connection type person. Because faith is so important to your foundation, you’re setting these weekly things that you do with church, with small group, with time in the word.

Those things are important to you. So I’m going to ask our audience right now, what are those things where you’ve noticed you’ve operated at your best and how can you put them in your schedule? I’m talking on your calendar from this time to this time, you separate yourself from your normal environment. You’re not at your desk doing it. Like maybe you hop outside, maybe you go to the gym, maybe you go somewhere quiet. Maybe it’s some white noise. I don’t know, but you can put that on your schedule. that was, Heather, this is so helpful for me because when I started learning how to do more with less time, it was realizing that as I go and I’m working like an hour and a half, two hours at a time, and I’m not taking a five, 10 minute break, I did stuff for an extra hour, but I didn’t really accomplish anything. And this is where you said everything is interconnected is we’re like trying really hard, we’re running, but it feels like we’re still in the treadmill. Like we’re not actually out in the world getting things done, going places. And I love what you said too about connecting because me personally, I’m like you. So I’m like, yeah, I need to be around people. Basketball is my physical activity. If I schedule it twice a week, I’m going to have an amazing week. I’m going to be around friends. I’m going to do that. And I’m going to feel really good.

I’ll even have an incentive to keep working out and keep eating healthy because I relate it back to the one thing that I enjoy. If I don’t have that, don’t, Heather, I don’t even work out. I sleep in, I don’t work out, I eat like trash. I’m like, my incentive is gone.

Isn’t it funny though? Like it’s so cyclical, like you start moving your body and you’re like, but I need to fuel my body to feel better, to be able to move faster on the basketball court or whatever. It’s so cyclical. It’s crazy.

Right? And it’s your own reason, right? Like we all have that thing and sometimes we just need a reminder. Hey, what is that thing for you? What do you enjoy so much that you’re going to plan around it? You’re going to protect that time. You’re going to put it in there. So that honestly, shoot, that was so practical and helpful. I want to ask for more though. What else do you have for us? Like this is good

Yeah, for sure. I’m all about the practicals because I think the thing is that as a busy mom or as a busy, you know, worker and wife and all the hats that we wear, it is so important to give the practicals because you don’t have the time to be like, okay, you gave me this big picture thing, but now how do I translate it into my life? So I do also want to say you mentioned community. Are you familiar with, my gosh, I think his name is, my gosh, I’m blanking on his first name, but it’s Whitmull Early. did Habits of the Household book. Have you heard of him? my gosh. He just wrote this book all about, so the first book was Habits of the Household. He’s a lawyer, incredibly brilliant. I’ve had him on my podcast. I’ll have to send you the link to that episode so you can listen to it and you can maybe link it in the show notes. But he talks a lot in his next book about loneliness and how currently in our culture, we have an epidemic of loneliness and so I think that unfortunately so much of what 2020 did was that it did isolate us and a lot of us either didn’t go back to our churches or to our small group or to our, know, whatever it was, bridge club. I mean, tennis, like whatever it is you do.

So I would highly encourage you. think Jake that like, truly, I think God laid that on your heart because I think someone that’s listening to this episode is supposed to hear that they are maybe letting themselves become more isolated than what they were designed to be. And y’all, you guys help people with turning away drugs and all that kind of stuff all the time. You know that the people that you surround yourselves matters so much. And so if you’re finding yourself isolated, y’all, that is where those negative thoughts take a hold. That is where you feel like everything gets so negative. I noticed that even when I’m sick and I’m stuck at home for a valid reason, inevitably my mindset is just not as healthy. I’m doom scrolling. Next thing I know I’m like, how did I get here? And like, the world is so awful. And then I like go outside once I feel better and go to lunch. And I’m like, no, people are still great. They’re still like saying hi and being friendly. And you know, it’s just crazy how quickly that isolation has such a powerful effect on your mind. So as you guys are, you know, in your emails, you’re on phones and zooms and all those kinds of stuff.

That’s still not the same though as connecting in real life out with people that you love and care about. So I want to encourage you. That’s your challenge from this episode is to look at your calendar and to say, who can I reach out to, to either get reconnected at church and a Bible study in a bridge club, to play Mahjong, what your tennis, basketball, whatever it is you do and put it on your calendar for next week. and then also Jake, you mentioned something earlier that I wanted to touch on. if you guys also are not drinking enough water and hydrating from a cellular level. That is just one of the most basic bare bones things where if you’re like, meal planning wouldn’t be my step one, Heather, to like get back on track. Are you drinking enough water? Because that’s somewhere that everybody can start. I say that I started with meal planning, but actually I started with the water because on the couch you really can’t do much. But if you’re drinking enough water, then you feel fuller for longer.

Your body, y’all, I think is something crazy, like 70 % more of water. But unfortunately, if you’re just drinking water, you just pee it out once you get to excess and your body can’t actually physically use it. So I also would challenge you to figure out some type of either electrolytes or high quality salt to add into your day-to-day routine because that hydration will make you have more energy. I know that sounds crazy.

But even in the Bible, if that’s what you believe, it even talks about how we’re called to be salt and light. And the Lord refers to salt and light often. And it’s so cool because my chiropractor and naturopath has gotten me on this path of, so I have a ramekin that I keep in my kitchen so that every time I pass by it, I’m reminded to get the salt. But I pour like Redmond real salt or a Celtic salt, something like that in there. And you just take a pinch, you put it on your tongue, you take a sip of water and then, you’ll be shocked what that does for you. It’s like your body goes zing. It’s like this quick little zing of energy. And it’s because your body needs electrolytes or salt to function, not just water. So that’s what’s so crazy is even though people are carrying around these massive O’Walla’s and Stanley’s and brewmates, people are saying that we’re actually still one of the most dehydrated people in culture right now. And it’s because we’re only drinking water but not getting the electrolytes that a lot of our ancestors just got through things that they would pick up naturally. So that has been a game changer for me in my energy level without caffeine. And also it helps your body run more optimally. That was such a random tangent, but that’s just what came to mind. Yes.

That’s cool. I love it because that’s easy to implement too of saying, all right, well, number one, I’m going to make sure I get enough water. And number two, is there a way that I can get salt or electrolytes in there as well? I don’t have to change my whole life to do that. That’s great.

Yes. Yes. So y’all what we learned today, let’s recap real quick. One, electrolytes and salt or water. Number two, can you do some kind of Sunday reset or like take 10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever you need to evaluate, figure out your community situation. Number three is you’re going to text or call somebody and make plans for next week. So I’m like, wow, that was some good, tangibles we got going Jake.

Yes, Heather, you’re a pro because we’re coming up on time and I want to give people a chance to connect with you. So if people want to learn more about Healthy by Heather Brown, they want to check out your podcast, many of your pages or your blog. I also saw you have like some free resources and stuff. So yeah, tell us where to go, Heather.

Closing Thoughts and Resources

I do, I do. Yeah, for sure. So you guys can go to healthybyheatherbrown.com. My membership is linked there. And then if you go up to the top tab, there’s a hover down where it says like resources. There’s a ton of freebies, like a gratitude challenge. There’s a water tracker. There’s a meal plan for you guys. Tons of things that you guys can pick up. And actually Jake, I’ll just send you the link to the freebies page so they can go to the show notes and click that if that’s okay. Obviously I’d love to have you guys check me out on

Instagram at healthy by Heather Brown. You can even see I have a postpartum depression highlight there. If that’s something that maybe you’re struggling with or your kids are struggling with, or even you’ve seen that in some of the people that you’re helping with with some of these addictions is depression. I do try to have a lot about mind, body and spirit health there in those highlights. And I would just love to help in any way that I can. Jake, do you care if I pray to close this out? Go for it, that would be great.

Awesome. Okay, dear God, thank you so much for the powerful work that Jake is doing, Lord. I’m so grateful for what he has laid on his heart and what he is doing to get this message out, Lord. And thank you so much for the powerful people, men and women, that listen to this show. And I pray that they would just leave encouraged and leave feeling just even more empowered in what you have called them to do today, this week, and then in this organization, God.

You’re a powerful God and we know that you created us, mind, body and spirit health and they all connect together and that’s how you designed us. You designed us to move, you designed us for connection and I pray that you would just help us to intentionally lean into that today. We thank you so much for who you are and then what you are doing through Jake and with the show and with his organization. In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. Thank you, Heather. That is awesome. And I love that you said it. Thank you to everybody who’s listening. I want to encourage you, if this was helpful for you, or if you think of someone who might like this episode, send a link to them, press that share button and send it their way. Hopefully they can find some encouragement because I know you and I are not the only ones who feel overwhelmed or feel like there’s not enough time or resources or ourselves to go around.

And so if one thing from today could make things a little bit better, we definitely want to share. And my ask for you is as we make this a free resource, if you enjoy the show, make sure to leave us that review or that rating. Please send your friends if they want to be a guest on the show. It doesn’t, it’s not always these people like Heather who have these big platforms, which is amazing. She has this reach and we can learn from her. Sometimes it’s you in the audience who are doing prevention work in your community and you have a story to share because if it worked for you, maybe it’ll work for someone else. So definitely reach out, stay in touch, and we will see you next Monday for another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour.