Senior Emma Meredith says that the past few years of her life have been a constant fight in the battle to maintain her mental health. Whether it be dealing with an eating disorder, anxiety or depression, Meredith has learned a lot about what it takes to triumph over a negative mindset.
Meredith realized that her experience could help others who are going through similar situations. So, she decided to start her own podcast, “Well-bean.”
“The main goal of this podcast is to really create a space that is welcoming to everyone and people can relate to (each other),” Meredith said. “Also to break the stigma behind mental health.”
Over quarantine, Meredith started listening to podcasts about happiness and overcoming internal struggles. During this same time, she also began posting more openly about her mental health on social media.
Posting on her social media made Meredith realize that she could make a difference in people’s lives, and it left her wanting more. Witnessing how much podcasts were able to help her get through quarantine made Meredith realize that starting her own would be the next step.
Her podcast will enable her to impact the lives of many, and her longtime friend, Senior Princess Kioni, knows firsthand the impact that Meredith can have.
“Seeing her post about her struggles kinda helped me realize I wasn’t in the dark and I can openly talk about (my struggles) and get help from others too,” Kioni said.
Kioni believes that with all of the experience she has, Meredith will be able to lead others going through the same things that she has.
“She’s definitely had some mental struggles that she’s had to get through, and so many obstacles in her life that she’s had to figure out almost on her own,” Kioni said. “So I think her looking back at those can help her help another person that’s going through something of the same sort.”
Since her goal is to help as many other people as possible, Meredith knows that her podcast will need to be raw and real.
“It’s going to be like a personal diary in a way,” Meredith said. “I want it to be natural.”
She’ll accomplish this by sharing what she’s going through as it happens. Though the podcast will center around mental health and well-being, the specific episode topics will be decided on a more week-to-week basis to keep it current.
While the main goal of the podcast is to encourage positive mental health, she hopes that it will also be beneficial in her future career path.
“I plan to go to college for something like communications,” Meredith said. “I would love to public speak or motivational speak, so this I feel like is my stepping stone into that.” By starting “Well-bean,” Meredith makes her message clear: Mental health is valuable, struggling with it is normal and talking with others about it is vital.
“I know a lot of people see me as that outgoing person at school, that person that’s involved in a lot of stuff,” Meredith said. “But I think it’s really important that people realize that everybody struggles and that just because I am that really loud person at school, I go home and I really struggle, and it’s OK to struggle.”