Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mental wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Kiana Blake-Chung, Founder of Mental Health Tings, located in New York, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I run a blog and an online community called Mental Health Tings. My customers are young adults who have a mental illness and are pursuing healing in the community.

Tell us about yourself

I am a writer living in New York City. I began writing about mental illness a year after being formally diagnosed. Before I allowed the turmoil I was in to be my little secret. The more I opened up, the more I found that many people could relate to my experiences; they were just too afraid to talk about it. I felt extremely hopeless when I got my diagnosis. I could not find any information available from people who looked like me or who experienced what I experienced. The most information I could find about my diagnosis was damning statistics that made me think that ending my life would be inevitable. After about four years in therapy, I began to get the hang of life with this disorder. I decided to start a blog about what helped me so far in hopes that it would help somebody else. From there, the blog has grown into an online community, and one that I hope becomes an in-person community as we begin to host in-person events. Every day I am motivated by the thought of the next young person who gets diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I want them not to feel that gut-wrenching hopelessness that I felt. I want them to find a community of people who are living well and doing their best despite their diagnosis. I keep going because I hope to inspire them to keep going as well.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment is running a business and staying consistent at creating despite dealing with Bipolar Disorder. Running a business is hard enough, and running one when you have a mood disorder is even harder. There are a lot of days when I don’t feel like I want to keep going with life, much less a business. I have to constantly remind myself of my worth and remind myself of my work’s worth. Last year I had my biggest audience ever: My Instagram grew by over 500 people, and over 6,000 read my blog, which was a 45% increase from the year before. I was extremely proud of that, even more so than the two grants I secured.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

Going it solo. Building something from the ground up with minimal help is ridiculously hard, especially because I do not know very much about the foundations of business ownership. I am still playing catch-up in that regard.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Just start. Do the thing. You can learn as you go. I have trouble with executive functioning, so I would rather begin when I feel the urge to start and then create the plan later. If I only just plan, then I will never leap. So I leap first and chart my course second.
  2. Consistency means showing up regularly. It does not always mean you give 100% every single day. If you cannot give 100%, then give 1% but do keep going and don’t shame yourself for not being able to give 100%.
  3. Record every idea. You may not be able to see the value in an idea or see how it will come to fruition but record the idea. It may come in handy later on. It may work for your business five years from now, just not right now.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.mentalhealthtings.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mentalhealthtings
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mentalhealth_tings/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kblakechung
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiana-blake-chung-67b012219/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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