In addition to knowing that I’ve helped people by sharing my story, I’m also encouraged by how doing so allows me to see how far I’ve come. Despite understanding the reach of the internet, I’m still surprised when I get a message out of the blue from someone inviting me to record an interview.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to speak with Steve Twynham for his show Glass Half Full on YOWAH Radio. The show will be broadcast on the station on Wednesday, February 8, at 6pm UK time (1pm US Eastern) and you can also catch it after that in the archives on the station’s website.
This was a fun conversation and I appreciate the space Steve offered me to share my story of life with and beyond depression and OCD. Recovery is a process. Everyday, I have to be intentional about doing the things that contribute to my mental health and well-being.
When I first shared my story publicly two years ago, I had no idea it would make a difference for so many people. Over 1.5 million have seen my original LinkedIn post and 11,000 have read this blog. I’m accomplishing what I set out to do: spread the message that those of us living with mental health issues are not alone; there is help available; and there is hope for the future.
From history major, with side quests in Medieval Studies and chemical engineering, to nonprofit finance leader, Big 4 tax partner, technologist, researcher, and now co-founder of Divine, nothing about my career has been linear. The throughline has always been systems: financial systems, organizational systems, technological systems, and human systems. I have an MBA in Operations and Supply Chain Management and a PhD in Organizational Leadership Psychology, and I’ve spent my career trying to understand how complex systems shape people’s choices, opportunities, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. Today, my work sits at the intersection of psychology, technology, human-centered design, and digital trust. I am co-founder of Divine, an open-source, decentralized social video app built to put creativity back in human hands and replace doomscrolling with joyscrolling. Divine is part of a bigger question I care deeply about: how do we create online spaces that support safety, creativity, identity, and belonging without defaulting to surveillance, extraction, or control? At Divine, I wear a lot of hats across engineering, finance, operations, and strategy, while helping shape the app’s trust, safety, and values work. I focus especially on teen online safety, human-generated content, participatory design, and healthier relationships with technology. I am a postdoctoral alum of Vanderbilt University’s Department of Computer Science, where I worked with Dr. Pam Wisniewski’s Socio-Technical Interaction Research Lab. I continue to write, speak, and research at the intersection of online safety, digital trust, decentralized technology, and youth wellbeing. I was named a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for Data Integrity in 2023. In 2025, I had the honor of serving as President of Division 13 of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Consulting Psychology. I also live with major depressive disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In 2020, I took a leave from PwC to focus on my mental wellness, and I now speak and write openly about mental health, especially in the workplace and in relation to digital wellbeing. This blog, Seriously Jerk Brain, chronicles much of that journey.
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Seriously, Jerk Brain?! 