Taking care of our mental health, taking inspiration from Sad Girls Club
To say that recent events have been a challenge for our collective mental health would be a bit of an understatement. Everything from shopping for essentials to our social lives and livelihoods have felt the effect of COVID-19, so perhaps now is the time to focus on taking care of our mental health more than ever. This month certainly brings it into the spotlight.
Thriving or surviving?
Across the pond, it’s Mental Health Awareness Month and it’s been observed in May in the United States since 1949. Through local events and media, it reaches millions of people and the theme changes every year. For 2020, it’s all about ‘Tools to Thrive’. Fantastic coping tips are being shared, from ‘Owning Your Feelings’ and ‘Finding the Positive’, to ‘Eliminating Toxic Influences’ and ‘Creating Healthy Routines’.
Here in the UK, Mental Health Awareness Week starts on Monday and this year’s focus is kindness. As one in five of us will experience mental illness in our lifetime, and all of us face challenges in life that can impact our mental wellbeing, the need to ‘be kind’ has never felt more important.
Sad Girls Club
It’s no coincidence that we have mental health on the brain at tickety boo. We’ve just completed a new brand identity for Sad Girls Club which began as a grassroots initiative by founder, Elyse Fox, who found herself suffering with depression in 2017. Tired of mental health stigma online and in the media, she instead created a safe space for Gen Z and millennial women of colour who are experiencing similar journeys to mental wellbeing.
In three short years Sad Girls Club has amassed almost 300k Instagram followers, offering a space to express feelings without judgement along with IRL support, workshops, virtual therapist sessions, poetry slams and so much more.
Our approach to the rebrand never lost sight of its audience and also for Elyse’s wishes to go, “Beyond small talk”. While Sad Girls Club is young and approachable, its message about lifting each other up and supporting one another through difficult times, rings true for everyone. Now that the new branding is out in the world, we can’t wait to see how it helps this community thrive.
tickety boo cares
After partnering with Sad Girls Club, we wanted to reach out to our followers, friends, colleagues and contacts and work out how we might be able to help in other ways too. Creating a survey asking, ‘Are you OK’? has helped us gather insight into how people are coping during COVID-19 and to think about how we can lend our creative muscle to mental health challenges.
We’ll share some of the top line survey results and themes on our blog very soon, but hearing directly from you has helped us create ways to bring some positivity, colour and encouragement to the small business community, to brands and to each other.
The good news is our first idea will launch very soon, so watch this space if you’re a small business. We’ve got something positive coming your way, to give your brand a boost. Follow us on our social channels too, @weareticketyboo, for positive posts, creative content and more insights.