Baking Up Mental Health Awareness
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode. It’s Monday and we’re on the Drug Prevention Power Hour. I’m your host, Jake white. And today, I’m hanging out with a new friend. Her name is Dayna Altman. And I’m just gonna say this, I saw a bunch of cakes and baked goods mixed with some positive messaging on LinkedIn. And I was like, I have to meet her. So you get the benefit from this as well. Because Dana is a nationally recognized energetic and dynamic entrepreneur, author and creator. She’s the operator of Bake it Till You Make it LLC. That sounds interesting. And she has a passion for mental health advocacy, by using food and baking to create an authentic recipe for vulnerable storytelling. So that doesn’t get you excited to talk about there. I don’t know. Well, so Dana, thanks for being on the show. Really, really pumped to talk to you.
Yes, thank you so much for having me and what an introduction you know, it’s always nice to hear it sometimes back in, you know, back to you. So I really appreciate it. I’m really happy to be here. Thank you for asking me to come on this show.
Of course, I we’re gonna talk about everything mental health, substance use prevention. And can you just like give us the give us the GET TO KNOW YOU details? You know, I’d love to choose or ally or give us a buddy.
That’s so funny. You say that because I’m always tinkering with my two truths and a lie because I’ve done some really cool things. But anyway, I am Dana as introduced. I am Boston based. Born and bred here. I am an author and entrepreneur and a mental health advocate. I have struggled with my own mental health, basically my whole life, but I wasn’t diagnosed with anything or really received treatment until I went to college when I was 18. And that really came from, you know, first time away from home not having my support system around. And that was kind of the perfect storm for my mental health challenges to kind of come up from the from the like, what I was hiding, I guess, up to the surface. It’s through this journey. Through my own mental health journey, I’ve always felt like a bigger purpose and passion to share my story. I feel like it’s a responsibility. And I don’t think that my need by any means is everyone has to do that or like, feel that way. But for me, that’s just always been something that I feel really connected to this idea that like, this is my purpose on this earth is to be a mental health advocate to share my mental health story and help others feel less alone. I struggled with OCD depression, and I’m an eating disorder recovery. And a big part of my recovery. And a big part of my life is fake it till you make it, which is an organization that I founded in 2019. And this organization, as introduced by Jake is an organization that uses food and baking to talk about mental health and a couple of different ways. The first way is through mental health cookbooks. So I create books, where people share their individual stories as well as recipes are important to them. And then I put it all together with resource pages of the Bake it Til You Make it series available, like on Amazon, and, and some like, select independent bookstores in my area. So if anyone’s listening from the northeast, at that I also do these workshops and events where I share my own mental health story while I bake. And whether that has I do that at middle schools, high schools, colleges, workplaces, I’ve had amazing test kitchens, and I’ve also had microwaves or less than that a table, you know, I can do anything, make anything work. And I do I really believe that the metaphor and the entry point of using something we all understand or know, to talk about a topic that can be really hard for a lot of people is is yeah, it’s what I do. So that’s that’s like the nutshell, I guess for sure.
Baking, Books, and Beyond: Dana Altman’s Journey in Mental Health Advocacy
That’s so fun. Okay, we’re gonna have a lot to talk about. I love the fact that when you’re working with people, you’re baking at the same time, and that yes, that’s an engaging piece. And I didn’t know that too. You had you have a book, like a book. It’s it’s crowd sourced that there are other people sharing their stories in it too in their recipes. How special is that? That’s so cool. Um, I you. I saw I linked in. Do you have a documentary coming out to?
I do, yes. I can talk a little bit about that. Yeah. Well, it’s interesting that you said that about the other people’s stories because I’ve always Like, for a long time, I felt like it was just like me telling my story. But I’ve realized that I have a passion to like uplift, and get stories out of, you know, people who I know or don’t know, I remember my physical therapist decided to contribute her story to the book. And she said, like, I don’t know, I remember asking her like, what inspired her to do this because I had broken my tailbone. We were working together at the time it was putting the book out. And she was like you data like, you inspire like, you made me feel like safe enough to share my story. And so I love that. And that is like, such a compliment. And like such a gift that I’m so grateful that she had shared that with me.
What is it people that share their stories? Are they sharing like a mental health struggle? Or maybe a piece of advice that helped them overcome something? Like what’s the premise for them? Which stories get in the book and or don’t? Or what you’re looking for?
Yeah, what a good question. So I’m very proud to say that I have a series of books of it’s, which is very cool. So it just differs a little bit between the two. So the first book make it till you make it the tried and true mental health cookbook that is a really arranged you know, people who are speaking from their own personal standpoint, as you said, advice, some people sharing story as a loved one who like or like love someone who struggles with their mental health, some people, I did some interviews, some Q and A’s, and then I have another kind of like, second integration to that book. And that one is a little bit more specific to the personal narrative. So not so much like advice, or necessarily like, I guess, you know, one, one person removed, but it’s really like that personal narrative, I guess. Yeah. In that way. So. So that’s, that’s where we are with that. Yeah. Thank you for asking.
No. All right. Now, now we got to hear about this documentary.
Documentary, yeah, so in 2022, I had the honor of a lifetime to go to the White House. This was part of the Youth Mental Health Action Forum, which took place in part their ship with MTV and the White House. I had found the application on Instagram Live. So I saw like, Do you love mental health? And like, do you want to go to the White House? And so I applied not really like thinking of anything I do remember, though, like the moment I applied, it was like lying on my bed, like, just on my phone. And then yeah, let’s later I found out that I was a semifinalist. And then, you know finalist to get to be one of the 30 young mental health advocates who had the the absolute honor of going to the White House and working kind of within different groups. So kind of two parts, there was one area where all 30 of us were in small groups, working on different ideas and projects that we could present to major key players. Really big companies like Spotify and Snapchat, and who were all going to be present at the store. I’m listening to our ideas and Pinterest, things like that. And then on the other side of things, there was a kind of fireside chat earlier in the day, and I had the honor of being one of the people to get to speak on stage, you know, at the White House with the Surgeon General. And the first lady of Selena Gomez, who was also there. At her house. Yes, exactly. Everyone, everyone was there. Um, so anyway, long story short, through that opera through that opportunity, one of the other 30 mental health advocates, Thea Hutchon, has a production company called Sonido media that’s based out of LA and heard my story and efl called to reach out to me to create a documentary. I mean, like, couple months later Thea the camera person at the time came to Boston, they followed me around, we had 10 days of shooting. And we did it, we created a full length documentary that’s currently in the film festival circuit doing well and winning, picking up some awards, which is really amazing. And that’s super cool. And now I got we premiered it in Boston in my community, which was awesome. And now we’re bringing it to La which is a Theo’s kind of like, community and domain and obviously having just having a documentary screened in North Hollywood, like that is so cool. So yeah, I mean, I couldn’t be more excited about that.
Wow, that’s really really cool. Oh, yeah. I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to ask this. No, it’s okay. Yeah. Y’all, you seem so young?
Oh, I’m not. I’m just I’m just a couple years younger than you. I’m 31. Okay, I have a youthful energy. No, no, it’s okay.
We get that we get the same thing, then people are like, oh, what? Like, are you in college? You just graduate? Yeah. I’m like, yeah. Graduated like 10 years ago just graduated.
Right, right. No, I mean, I guess that’s good. It’s gonna benefit us for when we’re older, too. So Right.
Finding Balance in Mental Health Advocacy and Prevention
Well, I mean, and with with our line of work, and I love what you said about how you feel this calling and responsibility to share and be an advocate. Is I relate to that. And I think maybe it’s just a blessing we have. Yeah, you that work? Because students, I think we get trust from students because we look younger, even though they guess you know that we are younger, and it probably helps our messaging a little bit, you know?
Definitely, I love that. Yeah, I totally agree. I think speaking to students always, is always like, so I don’t know, sometimes I’m like, Oh my gosh, like, I feel so old. And like, it makes me think about like, even like with social media, like I just grew up with, like, aim and like Facebook, in high school and thinking like, oh my god, what would I do if like, I had all these platforms? And like, how would I handle things and all of these things. But then, at the same time, sometimes when I get the opportunity to meet students or talk to engage with students, I’ve always like, things haven’t changed. Like, there’s still some things that like, are, you know, the same? I don’t know. Yeah. So.
Yeah, let’s talk a little bit about what you see students struggling with and what you think students need right now. Because I view you as a very, like you said it in your bio like that. You’re very creative entrepreneur, you’re in problems, and you’re coming from a unique angle, which I think the people listening to this podcast, something I’ll pull out just from this conversation so far. Yeah, the creativity you can get away with, in combining your passion with your work is exemplified in your story. Because students, like a lot of times, we’ll try to relate to student athletes, because that’s the popular money making thing and people like entertainment that way. Our music is one that I use, which also could be overused. Sometimes, cooking is very unique. And for somebody listening to this podcast, I would just want to ask you like, what would it look like if the next time you went into a school or you did education, or you are tasked to create something, if you took your personal passion and interest and you infused it with them, and I will, I’ll make a bold claim. And I’ll say, one, I think that you’d have more fun doing the work that can sometimes seem scary. Putting yourself in front of kids that honestly they could be blunt about you sometimes. So having more fun in front of them not only makes it more fun for you, but it also makes you more likable and relatable, because I know this, the students that I goof around when they see me goofing around on stage, there is a trust and likability factor that happens just because you are showing them your authentic self.
I love that. Yeah.
I’m gonna pull that out right now.
That’s amazing. Okay.
Yeah, tell me tell me more about what you’re what you’re experiencing. And what you are, are seeing students need in the realm of mental health, stuff like that.
Will help so many things. I love what you said about the, about the cooking part of what I do. I mean, it’s, it is like, it’s funny, because like, it didn’t start about like it began till you make it started with the cookbook. But having a eating disorder history, like I didn’t always love to bake or cook by any means. So it’s interesting that this is where my path taken me and like, but that also speaks like volumes about what I have done in my recovery and how much changing my relationship with food has, has helped. And that’s like something me and that’s something that a lot of students pick up on to like, you know, did you say you were struggling with this and now like, this is what you do for a living? You know, that is really interesting that to have that like wherewithal, I don’t know if I was a student and if I would have be able to put that together. So that’s really awesome. I think that I Well, I’m very grateful and proud to have come from like a very privileged background like have like a lot of resources growing up in a community with a lot of affluence and a family. And so I think sometimes being able to speak to students like myself who are in perfection, as expected, because they do have everything at their fingertips is always like an interesting kind of killing way, like means for me to speak to students. But obviously, that’s not the reality of everyone I speak to you, of course, and that’s just a special but in a different way, I think I just see myself a lot in the those really those like pressure cooker environments, like anytime I’m at like a preparatory school or some something like that. But I do want to say that something that I’ve noticed a lot in the mental health world in general is that we are getting super comfortable talking about anxiety and depression, which is like amazing, who would have thought that like we would be at this place that like we could talk about mental health online, like at schools, etc. But add about but add anxiety, depression are the two of many mental health challenges. And I think that sometimes with that D stigmatization, which, again, is amazing, but sometimes I think we leave out some of the other like, things that those folks struggle with. And I think that at least speaking for myself, that can be a little bit isolating, to like, not really see anyone talking about like OCD, for example, and like, or just in a way that isn’t representative of the way I speak. So that feels really important to me, when I talk to students, like, Yes, I struggle with depression. But I also struggle with these other things. And I guess, just recognizing and realizing like, those are two very real disorders, and we need to support anyone and everyone who may struggle with them. But also, this is kind of scratching the surface of a larger, you know, area and like mental health is so broad, and we all have mental health, you know, not that we don’t all have mental illness, just like not everyone has physical illness. But just like everyone has physical health, we all have physical health, we all have mental health, excuse me. So figuring out how to tend to that and recognizing where we fall on the spectrum, I think can be really helpful and something that students seem to lean into as well.
Yeah, that’s where I see it in the prevention field and doing the work specifically for substance use prevention. Yeah, students are, they’re wanting to self medicate, because they, they’re not waiting to find out if they actually have something or they’re just thinking, Oh, I feel a certain way. And it seems like it’s so okay to say that I have depression or anxiety when they probably couldn’t even define it for you. Yeah, right. There there is this lie this pendulum and I saw you catch yourself to say like, but and then and, yeah. Which I think is, it’s very good. Okay, I want to I want to unpack that a little bit. Because, yeah, we do this as a culture, we swing from one side of the pendulum to the other. And it’s most prevalent in like parenting styles. And, oh, my parents did this, and I will never going to do that to someone. And so like, you have those styles coming back and forth, the generational impacts of either having, you know, funds and asperity or not, you know, right in poverty. And so we swing back and forth, on what we value on our decisions, but I see for mental health, before we didn’t talk about it, and it was the suck it up mentality dirted it like this, this fine, which that wasn’t very healthy. Now, we’re swinging to this other side of the pendulum, which is like, “Hey, your feelings are the only thing that ever matter.” And, like, we need to identify something wrong with you right now. Because you need to go on medicine, and we need to fix the way that you feel. And you should never feel hurt or scared or anxious. And the healthy balance belongs somewhere in the middle, which is a resilient student, even an adult that’s resilient, that understands that the things happening to me, some are in control, some are not in my control, and that my body has an optimal performance. And it’s up to me to figure out where that is, by this trial and error. And then if I do need to introduce medicine, or a diagnosis at some point, that it’s not up to me to look to other people to find that diagnosis, say well what about you what do you wouldn’t have right right, good to really trust science and professionals who really care about you and that are not just trying to sell you something. And I think that’s kind of the the pendulum that we’re on, which could be true could not but that’s that’s what.
A Conversation on Mental Health, Substance Use Prevention, and Life Skills Development
I know that’s really interesting. Especially I personally am such a black and white thinker or like an like and I saw something I’m proud of like I really try to live in like the gray and so that really rings true to me anyway, like on personal level that it’s and as what you said in terms of like, identifying feelings or like wanting to fix the problem like instead of just being able to sit with it like that is so me as well. Like I sometimes it’s really hard for me not to go to like let me diagnose the problem feel better immediately when really sometimes you know, struggles like you have to send them sometimes, and that’s, that’s really difficult and, but, and then it was really, it can be really hard, it can be really hard. And I think the resilient student or the resilient person, I think, is really important. And I think that it comes from both angles as well. Like I think resilience comes from from struggle, but also from support. And it’s also really interesting what you had said, especially from like the substance use prevention lens, as well, like with students, or like at least mental health, I know there’s a statistic that like, I think it’s over 50% of students will tell a friend before they tell like before they find professional, that they’re stressed, tell them that they’re struggling, and so on, I’m sure like in substance use world that’s probably like, yours introduced each other to these types of coping skills that might not be like the healthiest or helpful. And so I think that’s important to recognize that like there is such a peer to peer impact. And if we can educate your students and in turn their peers on how to be supportive, and what healthy coping looks like or when when support is needed. I think that can be really helpful too.
Yeah. Which is really cool to think about how we can introduce these concepts at a young age, which, again, comes to what you had said, there’s mental health, and there’s mental illness. Yeah, we have mental health. I love that. Because it’s one of those, we want to focus on the negative because that gets headlines, and that needs attention right now. But thing the mental health side is what is preventative? And what’s the create change and momentum. And I just speaking from business, it’s the most cost effective way to change culture and futures. So I’m, I’m curious for your programming. What kind of age group are you normally working with? Or maybe your sweet spot favorite age groups you really work with and then empower.
That’s such a good question. I think that high school college area is like where I thrive, I have had a lot of opportunities, I’m so grateful to have spoken at middle schools and in the corporate setting, and like, I think that a transfer, you know, obviously my story is my story and the cooking and baking kind of transfer across as well. But I feel like my sweet spot is really in that, like later high school to college space. And I think that I feel most connected, at least personally to that time, because I know, that’s when I wouldn’t have really needed help and so many of my peers, but also I think that there’s an a readiness to hear the message, or at least like, generally speaking, I found in those kinds of like high school years that like folks or students are like, wanting to hear these messages, where I’m sure that’s not true for everyone. But I found that that can be there, there seems to be a lot of impact there with like, where when I’m speaking and like, there’s like a level of interest. And that can be helpful to you. When I’m but at the same time, like do we need to be educating students who have no interest? You know, how else are they going to learn about like, like mental health stuff, disease prevention, etc. But I do think from like a speaker perspective, it’s always nice to have like, buy in from the audience. And especially, and again, like that is such a personal time for me you’d like or that’s when I would really need it to hear those messages. And so I think that I could speak to that like younger data, as well, thinking about, like the audience that I’m connected to and connected with, but I do really enjoy speaking with, like adults and like professionals, because I think that as I’ve grown up and have been in my career, especially like before becoming a speaker in the nonprofit world, like it’s really hard to find any type of work life balance, like I remember when I left college, I was like, This is life, like how am I supposed to do all of these things like, so? I don’t know, I think it can be helpful to talk about mental health in the workspace, obviously. So that can be kind of cool, too.
Okay, that’s yeah, I one thing I’ll just say this because I think it may be a be a way to help start the conversation earlier. Yeah. There’s a lot of after school programs that I’ve seen are developing kitchens, because their students love cooking shows and they love cooking and it’s a great life skill. One and even two I’ve got like a few friends that run after school programs that I’m going to connect you with because I bet you that love to have you do like come in and do some cooking workshops and you know present while you’re doing it like and I’m gonna selfishly invite like, Yeah, I’m gonna invite myself to go.
Wow. I love that. Thank you so much for thinking of me. That’s really interesting. You say that because Before I jumped into his public speaking full time, I worked in an after school program. And so I have, I have such a soft spot for that. And I know how impactful that can be like getting students after school involved in the community involved in talking about these really difficult issues. So that is really cool. Thank you for that.
Empowering Youth Through Skill Building and Support
Yeah, of course. And you know, it’s cool too, because I appreciate the skill building. And we know that with mental health and substance use prevention isn’t just about tackling symptoms, and after the fact, it’s about building skills, building confidence building, even things that will help people become employed. And so what’s really cool is that the students are that when they learn how to cook, they cut out the catering job. Now they can do all these things that help out their families and build this competence, which is, it’s great, like those are life skills that benefit not only your mental health, but your physical health and your competence and your career goals, which I think is so cool. I can I put you on the spot? Dana, please? Yes, yes, of course. I’ve been thinking of this question. If you had to give like a one sentence speech. Now, that’s not a speech. But once one sentence on what you think teenagers today need to know, based on your topic and passion, you have one sentence to relate to them. What would that what would that be?
Well, when you first said that, I was like, Oh, I know. But I think I’m gonna expand to Oh, my first my first thought and like, I think my biggest take home message is just like you’re not alone. Because I think it’s so easy to feel so isolated and struggling with your mental health, whether that’s diagnosis or stress management, or like whatever is happening right in front of you, I think we feel so isolated, especially when we’re struggling. So that’s part one, but I’m going to add an add. And there is help, you know, and so you’re not alone. And there is help. There are resources, there’s support, there’s people who want to help you, teachers, counselors, hotlines, be individuals, adults who want to see you succeed, I think those would that would be my sentence. Because I it’s, they’re both true. You know, there are so many people who struggle and it’s not, you know, for me, it’s been something that I have turned into a career. It is my calling it is my passion. But there are so many people who live with mental illness or live with mental health challenges, or even struggle on the stress really hard, like an old with a lot of stress on the spectrum. That, you know, we’re really full lives that have nothing to do with mental health. So that’s amazing to have. It’s both, you know, so.
Okay, I love that. I love that. So you are not alone. And there is help. Yep. That’s great. You did a good job. You kept it to one sentence. I can’t. I know.
I know it. Sometimes it’s it’s difficult. That that is those are my takeaways. I think the biggest.
I love that. And it’s so important to have that though. Because as as speakers, we could talk all the time. Right? Of course. Yeah, I think it’s the difference between a good speaker or an okay speaker and a fantastic speaker, is if you do know, your one sentence I can, I can say with better clarity. You’re good at what you do versus if you were to ramble. I know this was a hidden test data.
Yeah. Oh, my gosh, well, that means a lot. Thank you saying so. Yeah, it’s, um, I think, yeah, no, I really appreciate that. I was just gonna say, I think that I’ve come to learn that in the last couple of years, especially with people living with anxiety and OCD like this is, this career is very uncertain. And like anxiety. Always. My OCD always wants certainty. And so the fact that I continued to push past those barriers and those obstacles, like it shows me that like, this really is the right place for me. So I appreciate you saying.
Of course, and thanks for being someone that shares your story. I think that when we are in a field that we’re passionate about, which is a lot of the people listening on this show, and you know, we don’t do it for the money, we’re struggling. Maybe we’re working another job for them. We’re like, Yeah.
Yeah exactly that’s my reality right now.
But we do it because we have this sense of responsibility. And yeah, knowing that we can make a change and not wanting to sell ourselves or anyone else short on that opportunity. So I just, I want to echo everything that you said, and also just relate it back to our audience. Because if you if you feel this sense of responsibility, and you feel like you have a story to share, is sometimes you you have those moments where you, you have a sentence with a student in passing, you have a moment where someone walks across your table. And you you set up like a little trade show, and you don’t expect anyone to even show up. Yeah. But there’s a man that take a little bit of bravery that you get to reach out to someone. And there’s other ones where they’re coming to you like a presentation, and you do have a longer time and a longer moment. And for the win for being someone who’s choosing partners, like, for example, if they’re bringing in Vive 18 if they’re bringing in Bake it Till You Make it they’re putting a lot of trust in us to do a good job. And I think that what I don’t want to ever forget, is how how amazing it feels to be one of us who gets to be a guest in someone’s community to pour into the students. And then oftentimes, we’ll have a program, we can leave them and train them on something like that. But we we don’t, we don’t get the highs and lows of the everyday job description.
Yeah, that’s important. Yeah.
Which, you know, from working in after school program is like, um, with the highs and lows, because that that scene kid that was a joy one day is having a bad day, the next war, who didn’t have socks that like one day or something or didn’t have something they need? They were hungry. And so you got the back end of that deal? Because, right, right, right, dude. And so whether you’re listening on this podcast, and you’re, you’re someone who is a caring parent, a teacher, a counselor, maybe you’re in prevention, or you’re just a passionate entrepreneur, and you’re looking for your place to get into this field of helping other people. Yeah, let Dayna is a perfect example that it’s possible when you follow your passion. And you know, it is what you’re supposed to be doing. And you’ll spend years figuring it out. And I don’t, I haven’t. When people look from the outside, they’re like, Oh, Jake, like Vive 18 is so huge, and it’s so awesome. But that’s just because they don’t see that 10 years it took to try as many things. And I’m gonna look back in another 10 years, and I’m gonna say, Oh, we were doing bread crumbs. Like today now, right? i Right. Yeah, hopefully. Right.
That’s hopefully no, no, totally, that makes a lot. Yeah, I appreciate that perspective. So much. It feels very aligned with how I feel as well. Yeah.
Yeah. Awesome. What, please tell us how if someone’s listening, and they want to learn more about what you offer, and how maybe you could work with them? Where can you go? And what can you check out?
Definitely, I think the hub for everything is my website, which is Baking Until You Make it till has to L. Sometimes there’s some confusion around that. So basically, bakeittillyoumakeit.co.Co and that has information about the books, the workshops, the events, and like an odd place to contact me by email is just like my last name of my first name at Gmail classic, altmandayna@gmail.com but on my website, there’s like the space to contact me. I also love to share kind of the day to day to on my Instagram, and like social media, but especially on Instagram, and again, like it’s just my name, Dayna Altman. I’m on Instagram and you’ll see kind of like the highs and lows. I think social media as we know, it can be really effective in connecting people, but also it can be really harmful. And so I like to show you know, the real side of this work and just like the hard days, but also the celebratory moments and I post a lot so you just have to know if you’re going to follow me on Instagram like you gotta know now, but I would love to have you in my corner. The Internet by Gabbi website is a great or my websites a great place to start.
That’s incredible. Okay, thank you for your vulnerability onstage and online. So we can follow you and get the real scoop on everything. For everyone listening. This has been another episode of the Drug Prevention Power Hour, and we’ll see you next Monday for another episode.
