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00:00Welcome, lovely to be here. I am Vanessa Craft. I am the head of content partnerships for TikTok
00:05and in my role my focus is on supporting the TikTok community, in particular the black community
00:12on the platform across fashion, beauty, lifestyle, entertainment and sports. And I really love
00:17helping black creatives build their brand and develop their strategies. Black creators as you
00:23know are the heart of the platform and in fact the internet and I guess everything else pretty
00:28much, right? Let's be real. I love how we drive culture in such imaginative ways and in particular
00:34today with what we're talking about, the way that we discuss the importance of self-care in a world
00:40that does not often help us communicate that and understand it. So this conversation today will
00:46highlight the creators who are impacting others to prioritize their wellness and their well-being.
00:53Please give a big welcome to my guests Morgan Lindsay and Shawnee Tran. These are two creators
01:00doing important work of destigmatizing the conversation around wellness. Hi. Everybody
01:08looking cute. Yes, hello. Good afternoon. Just checking the mics are on. Okay, we're good. Thank you both
01:15for being here. So before we get started, I do want to introduce the audience to you and you to the
01:20audience. Morgan Lindsay is an international host, media personality, and founder of the impact
01:27lifestyle brand WellDamn. Her aim is to empower a new generation to co-create a life and world rooted
01:35in authenticity and well-being. On TikTok, Morgan treats her followers to the food, fashion, and content
01:41that helps her stay balanced. She has worked with Viacom. She has been featured in Nylon, Bustle, and
01:4817. LA Times, Mary Claire, I could go on. Welcome. And Shawnee Tran is a licensed professional clinical
01:57counselor. She is the creator of the Shawnee Project, which offers insight into the world of therapy. She's
02:04particularly focused on educating around cultural humility and working with people of color who have
02:09historically been underserved by the mental health community. She was recognized as a 2022 Mental
02:16Health Awareness Month featured creator. Her work has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times,
02:23PopSugar, and Teen Vogue. On TikTok, you'll find her using humor to advocate for inclusivity in therapy.
02:30Shawnee stresses the necessity of cultural competency amongst therapists and critical well-being practices
02:36like setting boundaries. I could do a whole other panel on that if we need to trust. I'm so glad you're
02:42both here with me today and we're excited to get the conversation started. Thank you. Yes, let's clap.
02:48Yes, yes. Okay, so first of all, I want to know about your origin stories. I want to know how wellness and
02:56how mental health became a passion for both of you. And of course, most importantly, how you turn that
03:01passion into action. So Morgan, let's start with you. What is the story behind Well Damn? I feel like
03:08you have to snap when you say it. Well Damn. I like that. And now I'm going to be doing it every time
03:11I say it. Okay, so my origin story starts in a place that I think every woman in this room can relate
03:19to. And if you haven't, you will, where you realize that things can be better and you are the best person
03:27to make them better. So I studied broadcast journalism and quickly realized that I didn't
03:33want to go and just stand up and spit facts at people. I wanted to be in conversation with the
03:39community. And so I went into entertainment with hosting and then quickly realized that the most
03:44impactful conversations were always had off camera to the side about how's your mental health? What are
03:50you going through? What would you call this chapter in your life right now? And so I created Well Damn.
03:56first a podcast to have these conversations and push them to the forefront about how do we create
04:04our own version of a Well Damn Good Life, a life rooted in authenticity and well-being for not only
04:10ourselves, but for each other and for the planet. And that expanded into Well Night In, The Night Out,
04:16because I really believe, and I think it's obvious in everything that I do, especially on TikTok,
04:21that having a really good time and feeling nourished and connected is not mutually exclusive from
04:26moving culture forward. So yeah, pandemic happened, the live events were no, and TikTok became the
04:32platform where I was able to bring everything that I love together and present it to a completely new
04:37audience and find a whole other community. And I think that's really the beauty of it is that just
04:42with, you know, a push of a button, you're introduced to so many new people who are ready to be in community
04:49with you and ready to hear what you have to say. And most importantly, ready to have a conversation.
04:55Amazing. And Shani, you're no stranger to the mental health community. You are out here.
05:00I'd love for you to share with everyone your journey to becoming a counselor and why black women
05:06mental health care providers in particular are so important.
05:11Yes. So I feel like my origin story has two paths. One is the therapy and then the other is TikTok.
05:19So for me, therapy started where I was in college. It was my first time going to see a therapist.
05:26I had no idea that you could even choose your therapist. I had no idea of what to look for.
05:31I just remember thinking for me, I had suicidal thoughts in college and I was like, if I don't
05:37talk to someone, I'm not going to be here a year from now. And I remember walking into the office
05:43and it was a white woman. And I remember telling her just trauma dumping, which is essentially,
05:49here's all my shit, take it. And, you know, I don't think she really took it.
05:55And seen. And seen. And I remember walking out like, yeah, that's not going to work.
05:59So I had always loved psychology in high school. And so I was like, okay, this is going to be my
06:05major and I'm going to be able to be a representation of what I needed. So honestly, for me, my healing
06:12came from doing the thing that I needed for myself. And TikTok started during the pandemic.
06:20The first sound was, I'm in the house, in the house, in the house bored. And I was like, okay,
06:26I can make a, I can make a little fun clip to this. I did that. And then the second sound was, okay,
06:32okay, okay. And I was like, why don't I help people find a therapist? And it blew up. And I was like, y'all
06:39like this? Y'all like talking about mental health? So from there, I went on to create content about mental
06:45health. And it was really important that I speak to my community. And how do you, one, access free
06:51therapy? What are some red flags for a therapist? How do you know rather or not you're doing the work
06:56in therapy? And sometimes how do you fire your therapist? And from there, I combined both of them
07:03and I got a book deal. So my first book called Dope Therapy will be coming out August 23rd.
07:10And that's my origin story. So I'm here now.
07:13Yes. And what's so wonderful about that is we know how important it is to de-stigmatize this
07:18conversation. And when you put it on a platform like TikTok, the conversations go in directions
07:23you may not have predicted. One of the things I find so interesting that we're seeing around this
07:27de-stigmatization conversation are some of the trending hashtags that are popping up and some of
07:32the storytelling like around black girl luxury. And that is actually an interesting place to start
07:37going. Or hashtag black joy. Sorry. Hashtag black joy. Hashtag black girl health. So important. You
07:44see videos of black creators such as yourselves, you know, making choices and choosing happiness
07:49over a lot of the other conversations that they could be taking place. So what do you make of this?
07:54You know, how do you think this is speaking to our community when we start thinking about navigating
07:59wellness? Morgan?
08:01I think kind of like the starting point for so many of us, especially as black women and women
08:09of color in general, is realizing that self-care really is about being like the greatest lover to
08:17yourself, the greatest friend, becoming that mother that you needed, that father that you needed,
08:23being everything for you. And I think luxury is a manifestation, like the highest manifestation
08:29immaterial of saying, I am worth that thing. I am worth that trip. I am worth that purse or whatever
08:35it is. So I think, you know, people like to say that's very superficial, but it is just like a symbol,
08:41you know, of where we're at. And I think we should lean into that and enjoy it if we can. And, you know, if
08:48you can't, there are so many beautiful, simple pleasures that you can find in the everyday to, you know,
08:53tap into that, that feeling of nourishing you and taking the time for you, whether it's a meal,
08:58that's luxury. Like saying this meal is for me and it's going to be whatever I want. And with the most,
09:03you know, incredible ingredients or taking that bath or taking that walk, we just, I think we should just
09:08like luxuricize. I don't know if that's a thing. Luxuricize or romanticize is the thing on TikTok.
09:14Romanticize your life. Agreed. Agreed. Shawnee? I love hashtag black joy, but maybe not for the reasons that
09:23people think about. So whenever I have someone enter my office, usually the thing that they want
09:29is to be happy. And I let them know that I might not be able to provide you with that because happiness
09:35is a fleeting emotion. Happiness will come and go, but joy is what carries you through. Joy is what
09:46creates resistance. Joy is what helps carry you through those tough times when you're like,
09:53I can't get out of bed today. I don't want to talk to anyone today. I don't want to do my job today.
09:58Why am I here? That's where joy comes in. And when I think about hashtag black joy for our community,
10:05I think about the mental health behind that and everything that we're seeing in social media
10:11and on TV and we're just trying to, we're just trying to survive. And it's the joy of coming
10:17together. It's the joy of maybe having brunch with your girls. It's the joy of saying, you know what?
10:26I made it through another day. So I love hashtag black joy because that, that's what's going to help
10:31us go from surviving to thriving. I love the way that you frame that. And I think one of the things you
10:36do so well on the platform is reframe things. For example, even just talking about re-imagining
10:41trauma and what that means. So the question I have is, do you think that with the millennial
10:46generation, Gen Z generation, this shift towards self-care and radical self-love, I guess, do you
10:54think that that's a reaction to this trauma and this constant trauma? Could you speak a little bit
11:00about that or a lot about that perhaps? Okay. Okay. So I have me and the DSM, which is the
11:11diagnostic statistical manual that professionals use, doctors, lawyers, therapists, the trauma
11:19diagnosis, PTSD is not culturally competent at all. And the reason why is because it excludes being
11:26exposed to trauma through social media? I don't know about you, but for me, scrolling through
11:34social media over the past two years has been traumatizing because... You mean the little
11:39black square that everyone posted and then racism was solved? Is that one? Yes. Yes. And, and
11:47it's, it's the part where I'm just like, it's not culturally competent and it literally excludes
11:54an entire population. And I think about what can self-love do with that? And I say self-love
12:05instead of self-care because I feel like self-care has become a trend. You see someone on social
12:09media, they're kicked back, they've got their mimosa next to them, they're reading on the
12:14beach. Um, I don't know about you, but that's not my self-care on a daily basis. Self-care,
12:19when you reframe it into self-love, it's looking at ways that you love yourself. So one of the tips
12:25that I would want to give everyone in this room is no, being able to say no, and also recognizing
12:33that it is not your responsibility to take care of people's reactions to your no. That is how you
12:39show that you love yourself and you care about yourself and recognizing how being able to do that
12:46creates the mental capacity to be able to do the things that you do in life.
12:53Yes. Yes. Yes to your no.
12:59Morgan, I want to talk about, um, what I love about your content and the way that you take,
13:05um, your black Jamaican roots and, uh, you know, you take food and you make these beautiful dishes
13:11that are obviously so real to you and to your culture. Um, so do you think that this movement
13:18with so many black creators in general around preparing the food of their ancestors, of their
13:22families, of their grandmas, um, do you see that as a form of self-love and self-care? Um, and also,
13:27I think a bit of a form of resistance. Yeah. Um, I definitely think I'm a rebel through and through. So the
13:36moment that I discovered food TikTok and I saw the food that was being served, I was like, Oh, really?
13:43Um, so here's this jerk chicken and here's this and that, because, you know, I think a lot of first
13:50generation or anyone who has immigrant parents, um, you went through the experience of having to
13:57make yourself smaller, uh, put the food away. What's that smell? Um, or even just like this idea
14:06that the mainstream culture has accepted that there is a certain food that is excellence and
14:12everything else is subpar. You're just using the scraps to make that. And so for me, it was really
14:19important to like, if I'm going to share food and food is my personal way to take care of me, you are going
14:24to learn about my ancestors and the people that got me to this country first and foremost. And,
14:30you know, just the power and the love that goes into preparing it because, you know, we have this
14:37opportunity, as you said, Gen Z millennials, we have a new framework to really reimagine, uh,
14:43you know, culture to be more inclusive. And we don't have to keep telling the story of what good food
14:48is the way it was, you know, depicted to us before or what good style or good mental health is. Like,
14:54it is our responsibility as a form of resistance and self-care, honoring the people that came before
15:00us and honoring ourselves and our identity to show up and say, this is what I love and you should love
15:07it too. And here's how you make it. And here's how you wear it. And here's how you think like it. And,
15:11you know, it's just so important because everything I think is a record of some sort in a form of
15:17history and we are making history in this moment. So we, we gotta take it seriously. Like, but have
15:24joy. I can't with the women on the stage today. Wow. Just, yes. Wow. So speaking of black women and,
15:31and just, you know, black people in general, but black women, what are your hopes? Um, you know,
15:36when it comes to the community and centering wellness and centering self-care, self-love,
15:41um, Morgan, start with you. That's an easy one for me. Cause it's what I want for myself. And I feel
15:47like it's a lifelong journey and that is wholeness and, uh, to allow myself to be all that I am,
15:55the messy, the freaky, the beautiful parts and not feel like I need to compartmentalize or diminish to be
16:02palatable or hireable or loved. Like, I just want to be able to be all that I am and bring that to the
16:10table. And I want that for everyone. Shani. I, I want people, I want black women
16:19and black people to recognize the power of healing and what that can do for you. And I think that people
16:29believe that you have to have something traumatic that happened to go to therapy and that's not
16:36always the case. You can go see a therapist because you're struggling in your partnership.
16:41You can go see a therapist because you're trying to shift careers. You can go see a therapist for sex
16:48therapy. There's so many different avenues that you can utilize a therapist for. They are rooting for
16:56you. They are your person when you find the right one. Um, that can be challenging in itself, but
17:04I want people to recognize that it doesn't mean you're crazy. It doesn't mean something is wrong
17:10with you. No, if you are living your life and you don't like the way that life is living, you can choose
17:17to change that. Even if you don't know how being able to find someone, Hey, will you be in my corner?
17:23This is what I'm struggling with asking that therapist. Have you ever helped anyone that is
17:27struggling with these concerns? If so, how do you do it? I want to work with you and starting that
17:33journey. And it's possible. It's possible to experience hashtag black joy. I think that's a
17:39wonderful note for us to end on. And remember going off of what you're saying, strong people need to go
17:44to therapy to check in on your strong friends. You know, they need that support as well from external
17:49sources if it has to be that way. Um, thank you so much for your kind generosity and grace today on
17:56the stage. And thank you everyone for attending the session. Thank you. Thank you.
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