We were lucky to catch up with Ann Brennan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ann, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I founded Burgers and Bands for Suicide Prevention in 2017 as a way to show people that there is hope and that their lives don’t have to end in suicide. The event started with one stage and ten kid bands provided by the Priddy Music Academy. We now have 3 stages and 27 bands at our main event and have held other events in Annapolis at Charm City Run/Annapolis Town Center and in New Zealand. The very first event proved to touch our community so deeply that I knew we would have to host it every year. It’s become a staple of our community and something that people of all ages latch on to for that sign of hope.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In 2012 I was on top of the world. I had just finished an Ironman Triathlon in a very public way and was as confident as I have ever been. Then in July of 2013 I was in hospitalized for depression. Four months earlier we had discovered out middle child was suicidal and trying to keep him alive was killing me. After I got out of the hospital I wrote a blog post for Ann’s Running Commentary called Psyche Ward Annie. Within hours of writing that article, sharing my story of top of the world to wanting to die, I received an email from a 15 year old boy who told me he had planned on killing himself that evening but after reading my post asked for help. That was the moment I knew I needed to find a way to help people see that they are not alone and that there is hope.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I was an abused child. As a child I learned that I needed to be strong, not talk about what was happening to me and just push through. These lessons carried through to adulthood. I am the strong friend you hear about. When I became depressed I knew the signs but I also knew I needed to be strong, not talk about what was happening to me and just push through. The day I finally asked for help I was on my way to jump off the Bay Bridge. The only thing that saved me was this fear of messing up other people’s days. I didn’t want to be the one who held up traffic on the bridge. So I called and asked for help. It was the hardest thing I have ever done and it was also a game changer for me. I am much more likely to ask for help these days and that makes all the difference.

How did you build your audience on social media?

One of the reasons that Burgers and Bands for Suicide Prevention has been so successful is that I own ASMM Digital Marketing and am able to promote the cause using our team. I built ASMM Digital after a long journey of personal branding. My original blog was Ann’s Running Commentary. I used the blog to discuss the mental side of endurance sports and I used social media to build my audience. I learned early on that the trick was to be active but also to be authentic always. The person you see on social media, whether it’s Twitter, Instagram or Facebook is exactly who I am. That helps people to relate to me in a very personal way and it attracts more and more people to my social media. At ASMM, we tell our clients that the trick is to be more human.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://burgersandbands.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/burgersandbands
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/burgersandbands
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennanannie/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrennanAnnie
• Other: You can follow me everywhere as BrennanAnnie

Image Credits
Steve Satzberg