A (very) Personal Introduction

I recently set up a wellbeing company to help expand the conversation around mental health.

Why? Because I’m one of millions of people in the UK who has experienced thoughts of suicide.

We often won’t talk about these feelings due to the stigma surrounding them. I know I was plagued with feelings of guilt and shame which stopped me seeking help for a number of years, until the age of 25 when I experienced a mental breakdown as a result of burnout and depression.

Following this, I started down a self-directed route of personal development, investing in resources, courses, coaching and training which helped me improve every area of my life. All the while, I kept the extent of my mental health issues a secret from everyone around me, until September of 2018.

Starting compassionate, curious and courageous conversations.

After completing a public speaking course, I delivered a talk about my experiences with suicidal feelings to an audience of over 100. Among them were strangers, my speaking classmates and, terrifyingly, my unsuspecting parents. The talk was overwhelmingly well received, and the positive reception compelled me to continue the conversation.

A few weeks later, I set up the Dark Coffee Podcast as a way of talking to more people about mental health and wellbeing. I discuss the spectrum of experiences I've had in moving my mindset from suicidal to satisfied, taking a light approach to dark topics to help normalise these challenging experiences.

Taking a light-hearted approach to dark topics removes some of the power they exert over us.

After several months of production, I decided to expand Dark Coffee even further, joining an entrepreneur accelerator programme in early 2019 to help develop it into a wider business.

Through a series of resources, talks, workshops and support programmes, Dark Coffee creates safe spaces for people to have compassionate, curious and courageous conversations. I help businesses, individuals and wider communities develop a positive mental health culture, which in turn has a significant impact on our individual and collective success, from increasing workplace wellbeing to enhancing productivity, and so much more.

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Thanks for reading. I'm Alice and I'm the founder of Dark Coffee. If you feel you are on a similar mission, or if you'd just like to follow my shenanigans, I'd love to connect. Let's talk.

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @darkcoffeeproject