Get To Know Us
We created Ride the Wave because we all have a common goal in helping out the mental health community- to reduce stigma, provide resources, and create a safe place where we can talk about mental health and the stigma associated with it. We are just as along our journeys as you are yours. This is as new to us as it is to you! We would like you to get to know more about us- the writers of this blog- real gals, who have been impacted by mental illness or the stigma of mental health.
Courtney’s Story:
Hi guys! Courtney here. I am the Co-Founder and CEO of Grey Bandit. I’m excited to share my journey on this platform in hopes to help someone else. I know that years ago I would’ve loved to read this type of content to help me feel like I wasn’t so alone or a burden in this world.
I’ve had anxiety since I was a kid, but I didn’t always know what it was. I used to think that I was just sick because that was what the doctors would say. I would leave a friends house from a sleepover, miss out on multiple graduations or a dance, because I wouldn’t feel well. Finally, after getting picked up from high school often because I felt sick and a ton of doctors appointments, one doctor said to me, “I think you might have anxiety.” After hearing that, I went to a psychiatrist the summer before going into college and she diagnosed me with General Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Depression. I was trying to understand what I had been told by the Psychiatrist and work through my feelings with my Psychologist.
When I first got to college I didn’t even want to get out of the car. I was absolutely terrified. I couldn’t eat. My body was shaking. My chest felt tight. But I did… I got out of the car and I had to face my anxiety head on. It helped that I was so lucky to have best friends who would literally hold my hair whenever I would feel sick, throw up, or have an anxiety attack. Ever since I’ve just been pushing through those difficult feelings even though there are still a lot of tough times. Like a wave, I go in and out of getting anxious. Sometimes I let it overtake me and other times I do not. I look back on my past experiences and realize that all of those difficult times have helped shaped me to be who I am today. I haven’t fully conquered my anxiety. I don’t think I will ever truly be able to fully conquer it but I am still on this journey of figuring it out and working on it day by day and I know that’s okay. I look forward to sharing more about my own story as we dive deeper into this blog!
Lindsey’s Story:
Hi everyone! Lindsey here. I am the Co-Founder and COO of Grey Bandit. It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything, but it feels therapeutic to get back into it! I wrote this post so you can learn a little bit more about me, why we started Grey Bandit and how it helped me through my journey of self love and anxiety.
Growing up as a triplet, we gained our love for entrepreneurship from our mom. My senior year of college is when I actually made a business plan for Grey Bandit but it was an idea we had been talking about since middle school. Little did I know what that plan would turn into. In that business plan, I had the same initiative embedded in those papers: to help raise awareness for mental health and mental illness.
The root of this initiative started with my own ignorance going into my Freshman year of college. That summer going into college Courtney had just come home from her first appointment with her psychiatrist. I heard the words “anxiety” and “depression” and immediately felt sorry for her. The topic was a bit foreign to me which led me to my own ignorance on the topic. Fast forward a couple years, I had my first anxiety attack. That ignorance slowly slipped away. I started reading more about mental health and mental illness and quickly began to realize that everyone has mental health and that “nearly one in five U.S. Adults live with a mental illness.”
If you had asked me 8 years ago that I was going to deal with any form of anxiety or self love issues, I would have laughed. I may have not been the smartest, or funniest, or prettiest person growing up but I was confident in who I was regardless. Add in social media and so many life expectations and my perception of myself had quickly changed. Just in the last year or so I have slowly started to see myself in a more positive light again. You read and hear about how it is so important to love yourself. How the only opinion that matters about yourself is your own. Heck, we preach that across our Instagram page and we likely will in this blog. But even though we preach it, I still struggle with it. I figure that maybe the more I say it the more I will believe it and accept myself for who I am. In this blog, I hope that my own story can resonate with some of you. I hope that my own journey of self-love can help you navigate your journey of self-love. I am nervous, anxious, and excited to have you along for the ride and can’t wait to explore more in the blog!
Michelle’s Story:
Hi, Michelle here! You have probably seen or heard a little from me by now, but let me tell you a little bit more about myself. I am 22 years old and I am from Bridgewater, New Jersey. I am Grey Bandit’s Project Manager for all things mental health related. Trust me, I have been through it all and it is a continuous journey. With that, I hope to at least let you know that you are not alone.
To continue, I am so grateful that I have gained the opportunity and confidence to share my journey with you all. I am one of the writers for Ride the Wave along with Lindsey and Courtney! I am so excited for you all to get to know me, my story, my experiences, and hope to help at least one person feel connected or relate. I have come a long way and I am finally in a place where I have stability in my mental health. When I was a Freshman in college, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and general anxiety disorder. When I left my safe haven, my home town, I left everything. I left my friends, my family and even myself. How can you be the best version of yourself without the other half of your life? You have to redefine yourself and reintroduce yourself. This was not easy, and it still isn’t. On the way I hit rock bottom- I saw and felt darkness. But with the darkest of times, even though it doesn’t always feel like it, you can still find light. It has definitely not been an easy journey, but it has brought me here, thankfully. I hope by sharing my journey, I can inspire you to find yours! Let’s ride this wave.