We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Briera Nix a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Briera, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My business idea honestly came to me randomly one-day while scrolling through social media. I’ve been playing around with different business ideas over the past two years. I knew I wanted to sell something mental health related, but every idea I came up with didn’t feel right. One day, I was scrolling on Instagram and saw a promotion post for a self-care gift box. That’s when it clicked! I thought, “Why not do the same concept, but with a variety of mental health topics instead?”. After doing some more research into self-care boxes, I realized it was rare to find boxes that focuses on the mental health topics that I was interested in. That realization created a spark, that spark turned into determination, and that determination turned into Protect Mental Health, LLC.

Briera, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My passion for working with children and adolescents developed while I was growing up. It wasn’t until my mother became a foster parent that I knew what career I wanted to pursue. When I witnessed firsthand a mental breakdown inside of our home, I saw the impact of unaddressed mental health challenges and I knew from that moment forward that I wanted to impact the lives of children and adolescents on a deeper level. I went to college and received my Bachelor of Science in Psychological Sciences. After graduation, I went on to pursue a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

As a child and adolescent therapist, my scope of field includes anxiety, self-esteem, life-changes, and behavioral issues.
My current goal in life is to help spread mental health awareness within younger generations, while also instilling within my clients that it’s okay not to be okay.

Mental health isn’t discussed as nearly as it should be within youth, which is why I am launched Protect Mental Health, LLC. Protect Mental Health, LLC is a black owned business found in Nashville, TN designed to promote mental health awareness primarily in youth. Each month a new mental health box that focuses on a specific mental health topic will be released in order to increase mental health awareness. While each box will come with goodies, each box will also come with a book or workbook regarding that mental health topic. Self-awareness & Knowledge are some of the key factors that has contributed to individuals overcoming their mental health struggles. Here at Protect Mental Health, LLC, it is our hope that these mental health boxes bring joy, understanding, comfort, and/or enlightenment for any individual struggling with the mental health topic that is released.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

All of my start-up expenses for Protect Mental Health, LLC was funded by myself! I knew I didn’t want to take out any business loans and/or credit at the beginning. I wanted to plant my own seeds into this business and manifest financial prosperity from it! However, we are currently in the process of looking at grants to host a back-to-school community event.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

At this moment, our vision is to only sell our mental health boxes on our website! We are striving to make our website not only a place for individuals to shop for mental health boxes, but also a place to receive mental health resources within the Nashville area. We want our platform to be a platform that breaks the mental health stigma within youth!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.protectmentalhealth.org
• Instagram: @protectmentalhealth.org_
• Facebook: Protect Mental Health, LLC

Image Credits
World Boss Studios