Actress, artist, producer, entrepreneur, advocate and philanthropist: Selena Gomez is all of these things. How could she possibly manage to do more? She did. Originally announced in November, Gomez, Mandy Teefy and Daniella Pierson have created a new mental health platform aimed to help improve one’s mental fitness called Wondermind. According to InStyle, Wondermind officially launched on April 4 as their first newsletter was sent out on this date. What is Wondermind, and what does it have to offer?
The venue is overlooked by therapists, psychiatrists and social workers. Wondermind provides tools, self-help practices and has been created to help improve one’s mental fitness. What is mental fitness? The founders use the term ‘mental fitness’ in contrast with the term ‘physical fitness.’ Society views physical fitness as something that someone is working on every day in order to slowly improve and see results over time. They believe that it is the same with mental health. The CEO-trio states that there is no threshold or definition to being “mentally fit,” just as long as you are practicing self-help strategies every day. Co-CEO Pierson said to InStyle, “Our motto is you should see a therapist—we’re not a replacement for a therapist. However, just like in physical fitness, if you’re lucky enough to have a personal trainer, you can’t just rely on that once a week and think you’re going to get these crazy results.” In their interview with Good Morning America, Gomez related it to Planned Parenthood but for mental health. While Planned Parenthood is a safe space for women to go when they need help, so is Wondermind.
Furthermore, they have emphasized that their platform is not a replacement for therapy but rather a free resource that is encouraged to be used on top of professional mental health assistance and/or as a starting point for those who unfortunately cannot afford mental health services. Many of the practices shared in Wondermind are inspired by some of Gomez’s own self-care rituals, such as positive post-it notes (or what she calls “Rare Reminders” after her makeup company Rare Beauty) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). DBT is a skill-based approach used in order to become better at managing emotions, stress and relationships, as defined by the Mayo Clinic.
The leading women behind Wondermind are the brilliant Mandy Teefy, Daniella Pierson and Selena Gomez. Mandy Teefy is co-CEO of Wondermind and founder/CEO of Kicked to The Curb Productions. She is best known for Thirteen Reasons Why. She is Gomez’s mother, is heavily involved in the women in the film industry and is a mental health advocate. Daniella Pierson is co-CEO of Wondermind, as well as being the founder/CEO of The Newsette, which is a women-focused media company focused on amplifying diverse voices. Finally, Selena Gomez is well known for being an actress and artist, but also an entrepreneur, producer and philanthropist. She is committed to helping advocate for those struggling with mental health, creating the Rare Impact Fund, which has a goal of raising $100 million to provide mental health resources. In their interview with Forbes, Pierson said, “Additionally, I love that we are all from three different generations—I’m Gen Z, Selena’s a millennial and Mandy is Gen X—because it represents who we are targeting: everyone. Mental health doesn’t discriminate against age, race, gender or socioeconomic status, and we’re excited to be inclusive to all.”
All three of these women have struggled with mental health themselves. Gomez opened up in 2020 about her bipolar diagnosis after expressing her struggles with anxiety and depression as a result of her lupus diagnosis. Teefy was originally misdiagnosed and later correctly diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Pierson was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) later on in life. However, they emphasize that Wondermind is “for anyone with feelings,” not just those who have been diagnosed with mental illness. On their Wondermind website, they introduce themselves by saying, “We’ve each had our own mental health struggles, and we realized there was no inclusive, fun and easy place where people could come together to explore, discuss and navigate their feelings. So, we created it. Welcome to Wondermind. Love, Selena, Daniella and Mandy.”
The founders have expressed that they completely understand that reaching out for help can be scary, but with Wondermind, it doesn’t have to be. They plan to open up the conversation and make asking for help/struggling with mental health not be such an “embarrassing” thing. They aim to create what they call a community/ecosystem of support and healthy mental health practices for everyone—not one size fits all. Since its launch, Wondermind has released their first newsletter, which anyone can receive with a free subscription. Within the newsletter are practices and tips, as well as discussions regarding mental health struggles. They have also announced that they will be releasing a podcast soon featuring some useful mental health professionals.
To see what Wondermind is all about, check out their website, sign up for their newsletters and follow them on Instagram @officialwondermind and Twitter @letswondermind!
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