photo credit: Alicia Bruce

photo credit: Hernan Santiago

photo credit: Hernan Santiago

photo credit: Alicia Bruce

photo credit: Alicia Bruce

About Me

After graduating from James Madison University in 2001 with a degree in Marketing, I fell into the recruiting world and worked my way up over four years as an agency recruiter for creative types. I then spent a number of years in corporate recruiting. After having my son in 2008 and my daughter two years later, in 2011 I traded in my resume evaluating skills to focus on my family and to pursue my passion - writing - which would eventually lead me to discover my life's purpose.

Today I am a 45-year old wife and mother of two teens. I love the beach, books, fitness (walking the trails in my neighborhood is my favorite) and eating healthy (most of the time). Nineteen years ago I suffered my first of two manic episodes and several months and many doctor’s appointments later, was finally diagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder – type 1.

I experienced four psychiatric hospitalizations within five years – two before any diagnosis was reached, and two more because I was trying to protect my newborn son (postpartum psychosis) and my unborn daughter (antenatal psychosis) – and all were because I was unmedicated at the time. After nearly seven and a half years of stability, I had a fifth hospitalization due to a manic episode after the sudden death of my dear friend and partner who helped me launch my nonprofit, Anne Marie Ames. Living in recovery is a daily endeavor, but I am determined to live successfully despite this condition. I'm so fortunate to have loving, supportive family and friends who are there for me when I need them.

I have learned so much from my nearly 20-year journey thus far with bipolar and hope that by sharing my experiences through my writing, I can help others living with bipolar realize they can make their dreams a reality. I am living proof that it is possible. I take medication and have regular appointments with my psychiatrist and therapist because these are my responsibilities to myself and my family. My self-care routine keeps me on track. And my incredible support system helps me to live fully. I attribute a great deal of my success to their encouragement over the years.

photo credit: Lauren Johnson

photo credit: Lauren Johnson

My Bipolar Balance program is a framework for mental wellness that I’ve been developing over the past ten years which I’ve started to launch on my other writing home - my Substack. During the pandemic I dreamt of launching a podcast geared towards helping parents talk with their kids about mental health from an early age, but only got as far as a pilot episode with my son Owen which I’m very proud of.

Writing openly about living with mental illness inspired me to start a non-profit in 2014 called This Is My Brave, Inc. which for a decade provided a platform for people to share their story live on stage through poetry, original music, comedy and essay. Shows were professionally videotaped and made available on our YouTube Channel. 

In June of 2016, This Is My Brave was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, in a story titled “The Healing in Revealing.” We were also featured on the front page of the Washington Post that same month, with the headline, “Unwell and Unashamed.”

Over the ten years This Is My Brave existed as a nonprofit organization, we produced over 110 unique shows across the US which featured 1,200 individuals who shared their stories of hope via our stages, and in 2017, with the help of an incredible man by the name of Tim Daly, we expanded internationally, as he created a branch of our nonprofit in Australia, TIMBA. Through the work of This Is My Brave, Inc, and the research that was conducted by our partners at the University of South Florida and their Stigma Action Research (STAR) Lab, our core program — This Is My Brave: The Show — became an evidence-based mental health intervention and is now available to anyone who would like to bring the life-changing experience of This Is My Brave to their community via ThisIsMyBrave.com.

In October of 2016 I gave a TEDx talk where I shared my take on the legacy I hope to leave behind through the work I was privileged to do with This Is My Brave:

To one day live in a world where we don’t have to call it “brave” for talking openly about mental illness; we’ll simply call it talking.