We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Allie Marie Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Allie Marie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Wonderfully Made was birthed out of my personal story with low self-worth and depression. I grew up in Silicon Valley to wonderful, kind, and hard-working parents. I was a good girl with a bright future, but around the age of twelve I started to experience uninvited feelings of sadness, unworthiness, and loneliness. It didn’t make sense and because I couldn’t think of a reason to be sad, it only made me feel more ashamed. Looking back, I now know this was the early onset of clinical depression caused by many complexities which escalated up into my senior year of high school. As a scholar athlete with plenty of friends, it looked like I had it all together. I hid this depression through a kind smile, perfectionism, and over-achieving. Two weeks after graduating summa cum laude with an acceptance from a top university waiting for me, I came undone. I found myself in a deep, dark, and debilitating depression with the desire to end my life. I was hospitalized and later that summer on a gloomy June day, I snuck out of my house with one destination in mind — the Golden Gate Bridge with the intention to end my life by jumping off. My plan was diverted when I got a flat tire. I sat in my car unsure what to do, but suddenly there was a knock on my window. A silver-haired, kindhearted man came to my rescue and called for roadside assistance. After not talking to anyone for weeks I engaged in a real conversation with that man. I headed home with a little hope in my heart. Later that fall I was re-hospitalized after trying to start college on the East Coast. During this time, I read a beautiful prayer in the book of Psalms that talked about being wonderfully made — Psalm 139. Its words pointed me to the true source of worth after depression told me I wasn’t worth living. That experience forever changed me and gave me a mission to help others, but especially teen girls and young women know their worth. I have experienced challenges with my mental health over the years, but these difficult experiences have shaped me into a person of empathy, passion, and resilience. Today 1 in 3 teen girls are seriously contemplating suicide and 3 in 5 are persistently sad or hopeless. It has become not only my personal mission, but our organizations to bring hope to girls and women and help them understand their immeasurable value and purpose. We do this through our young women’s events, podcast, and resources. My life has been saved and transformed and I believe that with the right support and through a healthy lifestyle anyone can overcome mental health challenges and live an amazing life. I want others to believe this is true for them. I share my story because I want to see lives saved and I want girls to believe there is hope and a future for them and that they can overcome anything.
Allie Mare, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am the Founder and CEO of Wonderfully Made which is a non-profit organization for teen girls and women. I am also an author and speaker. Some personal facts about me include that I live in California where I love surfing and adventuring up and down the coast with my husband Paul and Golden Retriever Gidget. Our mission as an organization is to help teen girls and women cultivate positive self-worth and experience vibrant spiritual and mental wellness. We offer annual retreats and conferences for young women ages 13 and up and for the women who love them including moms, mentors, aunts, and grandmothers. Our podcast features inspiring stories of amazing women and offers practical faith-based wisdom and tips for wellness for your body, mind, and spirit. People know we genuinely care about the girls and women we serve and everything we do is to uplift them and make their lives better. People tells us that every time they leave one of our events, listen to our podcast or come across our content they feel affirmed and filled with hope. We are the only organization on a national level of our kind (as far as I’ve found) that provides support at the intersection of faith and mental health with an emphasis on serving teen girls and young women. We have hosted over forty events in California and Hawaii for over 10,000 teen girls and women. Our speakers and podcast guests are not afraid to share the hard and messy parts of their lives to selflessly give others hope. We put the pretending and perfection aside and connect with our community through vulnerability, hope and compassion. I am most proud that we are especially seeking to give girls hope because they can often be overlooked. Girls are at the epicenter of the mental health crisis that’s happening today because of many reasons but especially because of the toxicity of social media. It is our collective responsibility to fight for them and give them hope. We inspire girls that by living counter-culturally, changing their negative beliefs, cultivating positive habits, and pursuing community and a healthy lifestyle that they can live mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy lives. When a girl comes up to me and says how much my story impacted her or that it’s given her hope to keep going know my trials have been worth it. I believe even the hardest things in our lives can be used for good.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
As you know, 2020 was the year when many of us had to pivot including our organization. We had to cancel our upcoming Spring retreat and couldn’t host our in-person events, but the mental health crisis was getting worse as many girls were home isolated, afraid, anxious, and increasingly depressed. From 2010 to 2015 the suicide rate among teen girls went up 65% with the onset of smart phones and social media. During COVID, it was estimated that it went up another 50%. We were hearing stories of girls in our community who were really struggling. We decided to put together care packages for them which included a copy of my book, stickers, a notebook, and encouragement cards. We assembled each one with love and care and mailed them to the girls’ homes. We made sure we had the parents’ or guardians’ permission to gift them, but the girls were not expecting the care packages and were surprised to get such a thoughtful gift. Many of them had never received a gift in the mail before. One of the girls coincidentally received her package on her 15th birthday. Her mom sent me a picture of her holding her gifts with a smile on her face. Our organization is committed to bringing hope to young women no matter what the circumstances are. We will pivot again if needed. We will do anything we can to share our message.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
My mom is an entrepreneur and started her own successful insurance agency in Silicon Valley at the start of the tech boom which was unheard of for women. When I was riding in the car with her, I would listen along to audio tapes from Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie and Stephen Covey. Even at a young age, my little ears gleaned the wisdom they shared. My mom’s commitment to personal growth rubbed off on me. I was writing SMART goals at the age of thirteen and read the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens in high school. Even though he has passed, I still listen to motivational speeches by Zig Ziglar! I’m always reading a new leadership or business book or listening to podcasts that will help me grow as a communicator, executive and leader. I especially love the work of John Maxwell, Dave Ramsey and Craig Rochelle. I know that without my mom’s modeling I would not be the leader and social entrepreneur I am today.
Contact Info:
- Website: alliemariesmith.com
- Instagram: @alliemariesmith
Image Credits
Lindsey Drewes