My Biggest Speaking Engagement With 200+ College Students

TW: Sensitive topics of suicide & depression are discussed in this newsletter

A week ago, I gave the biggest Write & Release workshop to over 200 University of Wisconsin Madison college students. This was the biggest in-person event I’ve ever attended.

I began the workshop by sharing a TikTok summarizing my 9-year career in the fashion industry, including photos of all the bags I’ve designed, fashion shows I’ve attended, and the co-workers I became close to at Tommy Hilfiger. I could see the excitement and glimmer in every student’s eyes as they watched the highlight reel of my NYC fashion career.

Now that they had my attention, they were ready to listen to the most vulnerable story of my suicide attempt at 26 years old as a result of layoffs, unhealthy work environments leading to burnout, and my inability to separate my worthiness from my career. The room filled with silence as I shared my truths about the hardships of lacking the emotional tools to set boundaries, advocate for myself, and manage stress in unpredictable environments.

I shared how I got out of that depressive space by getting support, going to therapy, and beginning to use writing as a tool for processing tough emotions, leading me to reconnect with my voice and the part of myself that felt the need to make myself small in order to make everyone else comfortable. Writing was a tool that allowed me to validate my experiences and provided me with relief to move forward toward a dream version of myself.

This dream version of myself that I wrote as, too, and from has now become my everyday reality, and now I get to teach these tools that changed my life to these students.

For 45 minutes, I taught the students the somatic psychology of processing emotions, followed by intentional writing exercises to release repressed emotions and regulate the nervous system.

Watching these students write silently throughout the workshop, share their answers, and begin to build compassion and emotional resiliency in real time filled my heart with hope and wonder for this new generation stepping into their careers with tools I wish I had.

If we want a better future, we must make the next generation better than ours.

We must teach them tools we didn’t have, share our wisdom from lessons we learned through adversity, and prepare them for the reality of an unpredictable world by empowering them to ALWAYS trust and advocate for themselves and each other.

Authentic leadership is letting our ego dissolve to meet this next generation with compassion, grace, and transparency.

Write & Release is a program I believe in, and I’m so glad my workshop is getting recognition from Universities. My goal is to travel to universities nationwide to facilitate my workshop, where I teach young adults how to build emotional resiliency in their careers.

If you want to bring this program to your alma mater and have a direct contact learn more about Write & Release here.

Sincerely,

Mary

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