Mental Health Momentum

Silicon Slopes
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Biweekly

Mental Health Momentum: A Silicon Slopes podcast features thought-provoking conversations regarding mental health with Utah business owners, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and people with inspiring mental health journeys. Mental health issues are now workplace issues. The more business leaders understand about the mental health challenges their employees face, the better they can help everyone succeed. Come learn more about mental health in the workplace!

  1. 5d ago

    Jenny Groberg: Why ‘Push Through It’ Was The Wrong Advice

    Some of Jenny Groberg’s greatest professional accomplishments came during some of the hardest years of her life. And at one point, working harder wasn’t the answer. It was making things worse. In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, host Dr. David Morgan, licensed psychologist and Director of Mental Health Awareness at Silicon Slopes, sits down with Jenny Groberg, founder and CEO of BookSmarts Accounting & Bookkeeping, for a candid conversation about resilience, limitations, mental health and learning to keep moving forward when you can no longer live—or work—the way you once did. Groberg built her accounting business after failing to land a controller job she needed while her husband was in medical school. What began out of necessity eventually grew into an award-winning company with a flexible employment model designed to give talented professionals, particularly women returning to the workforce, another path into meaningful work. Then Groberg suffered a traumatic brain injury. For years, she struggled with dizziness, memory problems, fatigue and cognitive limitations that eventually forced her to step away from the company she had built. Her team ran the business while she spent three years focusing on her health. For someone accustomed to believing she could accomplish almost anything by working hard enough, recovery required learning a very different lesson: sometimes strength means respecting your limitations instead of fighting them. “I can see that it’s okay that what I used to be able to do is not the same now,” Groberg tells Morgan. Eight years after her injury, those limitations remain part of her life. But so does ambition. Groberg talks about returning to business, confronting fear, creating jobs and discovering the cumulative power of simply continuing to show up—even when showing up looks different than it used to. The conversation also explores what that lesson can teach business leaders. Employees experiencing difficult circumstances don't necessarily need the same solution. One person may need time off. Another may need more hours. Sometimes the most useful thing a leader can do is stop assuming and ask, “What do you need?” In this episode: Why some of Groberg’s biggest accomplishments happened during her hardest years Her three-year step away from BookSmarts after a traumatic brain injury Learning that pushing harder can sometimes make recovery harder Why accepting limitations requires its own kind of discipline How suffering changed Groberg’s attitude toward fear and failure Why “showing up” looks different during different seasons of life How her own need for flexible employment inspired a business model that helps other women work Why financial stress, debt and unrealistic expectations can take a toll on mental health How social media can distort expectations about money, homes and success Why business leaders should ask employees what they actually need instead of assuming they know How vulnerability from leaders can give employees permission to acknowledge their own struggles Groberg doesn’t tell a story about overcoming adversity and returning to exactly who she was before. It’s a story about recognizing that you may never be exactly who you were before, and discovering how much you can still do from where you are now.

  2. Sep 23

    Janae Moss: Why Do We Coach Athletes But Not Parents?

    We coach athletes to perform under pressure. We coach executives to lead through uncertainty. But parents—who routinely make high-stakes decisions with limited control over the outcome—are often left with little more than advice. Janae Moss thinks we can do better. In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Silicon Slopes Director of Mental Health Awareness and licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with Janae Moss, business owner, community advocate, mother of seven, grandmother, and doctoral student in Sport and Performance Psychology. Moss’s interest in mental health began long before the classroom. As a young mother, she and her family experienced the collapse of a business after her husband received the wrong medication in a prescription bottle. Suddenly, a family accustomed to taking care of itself was struggling to afford basic necessities. That experience changed how Moss understood hardship and the systems designed to help people through it. She remembers discovering just how much work we often ask people to do at precisely the moment they have the least capacity to do it: filling out paperwork, navigating assistance programs, finding counseling, and figuring out where to turn next. It also helped shape an idea that has guided much of her work since: What would happen if we reached people upstream, before they were in crisis? That question eventually influenced her community advocacy and the creation of Parents Driving Change, an effort designed to help parents recognize the leadership, knowledge, and influence they already possess within their families and communities. In this episode: Why personal hardship changed Moss’s understanding of mental health and community support What happens when getting help becomes another burden for someone already struggling Why prevention and protective factors matter before a family reaches crisis What business and community leaders can learn by listening directly to parents How Parents Driving Change grew from Moss’s community work Why parents should be viewed as leaders, not simply recipients of services The emerging idea of parental performance psychology How resilience is built one day—and sometimes one small decision—at a time Moss discovered that solutions don’t always begin in a boardroom. Sometimes they begin by asking parents a remarkably simple question: What do you actually need? Today, she is taking that thinking another step as she completes her doctorate and explores an emerging field she calls parental performance psychology. Her premise is that parents perform under pressure every day. They manage uncertainty, competing demands, emotional stress, enormous responsibility, and outcomes they cannot completely control. Yet while athletes and business leaders receive performance coaching, parents are frequently expected to figure it out themselves. Moss wants to help close that gap.

  3. Sep 16

    Melanie Call: Turn Your Pain Into Purpose And Use Your Voice

    What happens when the system isn't working for you? For Melanie Call, the answer was to try to change the system. In this episode of the Mental Health Momentum podcast, Silicon Slopes Director of Mental Health Awareness and licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with entrepreneur, civic technology builder and community advocate Melanie Call to talk about motherhood, mental health, childcare, finding your voice and turning frustration into action. After more than 20 years working in technology program management, operations and leadership, Call reached a breaking point in 2022. Balancing motherhood and her career became increasingly difficult, and limited access to childcare eventually contributed to her decision to leave the workforce. But Call didn't see childcare as simply a personal problem. She started researching how many other women were leaving the workforce because of childcare, writing publicly about her experience and connecting with advocates across the country. Her work eventually took her to Washington, D.C., where she participated in advocacy efforts and testified before Congress. Along the way, Call discovered another problem: participating in government can feel unnecessarily complicated for everyday people. That experience inspired iTestify, her civic technology project designed to make it easier for people to understand when government decisions are happening, how those decisions affect them and how they can make their voices heard. But this conversation isn't only about public policy.  Episode Highlights: When motherhood and career collide: How childcare barriers contributed to Call's decision to leave the workforce after a 20-year career in technology and operations. Turning pain into purpose: Why Call began researching childcare, sharing her story publicly and advocating for other working families. From personal struggle to Congress: How telling her story led to national advocacy and the opportunity to testify in Washington, D.C. Why your voice matters: Call's realization that everyday people need an easier way to participate in decisions affecting their families and communities. The idea behind iTestify: How Call is using her technology background to make civic engagement simpler and more accessible. What to do when you feel powerless: Why taking even one small action can help replace feelings of being stuck with a sense of purpose. “I am brave. I am strong. I am powerful.” How affirmations, writing and art helped Call rebuild confidence during one of the most difficult periods of her life. You don't need a perfect plan to start: Why believing your experience matters may be the first step toward making a change. Melanie’s experience carries a powerful message: You don't need the perfect plan to begin making a change. Sometimes you start by believing your experience matters. Then you use your voice.

  4. Sep 9

    Amber Zaugg: Why Being Together Doesn’t Mean We’re Connected

    We talk constantly about connection. We want better relationships. Better workplaces. Better mental health. And now, in the age of AI, we're being told that authentic human connection may become more valuable than ever. But do we actually know what it means to connect? In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with Amber Zaugg, a behavioral scientist, practicing clinician, entrepreneur and AI builder whose work explores what humans need to genuinely connect with themselves and one another. Her path into mental health and addiction recovery was shaped in part by discovering her former husband's addiction after they were married and had children. Their marriage eventually ended, and in 2020, he died by suicide. Rather than separating those experiences from her professional work, Zaugg talks about how lived experience changed the way she understands suffering, addiction, recovery and the people sitting across from her as a clinician.  “Suffering is the connect.” That experience eventually contributed to a larger question at the center of her work: What does genuine human connection actually require? Zaugg developed what she calls the Atlas Algorithm, a framework designed to help people connect with themselves and others through three steps: sharing fear, becoming empowered in innocence, and becoming fully alive in the present moment. Together, they discuss a system that has become very good at defining disorders, symptoms and diagnoses—but spends far less time asking what wellness actually looks like. As Zaugg puts it: “Let’s define what well looks like.” That question becomes even more urgent as people increasingly turn to technology for companionship, advice and mental health support. Can AI provide genuine human connection? Zaugg doesn't believe that's the goal. Instead, she sees an opportunity to use AI to help humans develop the tools they need to connect more deeply with other humans. In this episode: Why lived experience can make us more compassionate helpers How addiction and loss shaped Zaugg's work What the Atlas Algorithm says about human connection Why being together doesn't necessarily mean we're connected The two fundamental fears Zaugg believes humans carry Why mental health needs a clearer definition of wellness The potential limitations of diagnostic labels What it means to feel “fully alive” Whether AI can provide genuine human connection How technology might help us become better at connecting with one another Why human-to-human connection may become even more important in the age of AI Technology may be able to teach us something about connection. It may even help us practice it. But Zaugg believes there is something fundamentally different about being seen, heard, understood and cared for by another person.

  5. Sep 2

    Jon Cheney and the Mental Health Side of AI & the Future of Work

    What happens to our sense of purpose, identity, and mental health when AI starts handling the tasks we’ve always done? In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Dr. David Morgan sits down with entrepreneur and AI educator John Cheney to unpack the real psychological impact of rapid technological change. They explore why so many people feel anxious about AI “taking jobs,” how adaptability and emotional resilience have become essential workplace skills, and why creation — not just productivity — sits at the core of human purpose. John also shares his personal story of building a company, facing a near-collapse, battling depression, and learning to reframe failure as fuel instead of a final verdict. A grounded, honest conversation about using AI as a lever for people rather than a replacement — and what it takes to stay mentally steady while the future of work keeps shifting.

  6. Aug 26

    Lindsay Schiess: Why Better Leaders Start With Better Self-Awareness

    What if some of the biggest problems inside a workplace could be addressed before they become burnout, conflict, disengagement, or a resignation letter? In this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Silicon Slopes Director of Mental Health Awareness and licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with Lindsay Schiess, LCSW, therapist, speaker, University of Utah instructor, podcast host, and founder of Rise with Purpose. Lindsay has spent her career studying a deceptively simple question: What helps some people move through difficult experiences and grow, while others become stuck? That curiosity eventually led her from an early interest in broadcast journalism into mental health. She discovered that she didn't just want to hear people's stories, she wanted to understand human behavior and help people change their stories. Today, Lindsay brings those lessons beyond the therapy office and into workplaces, helping leaders, teams, and organizations understand how emotional health affects communication, relationships, resilience, and performance. And one of her biggest lessons is surprisingly practical: You can work on problems proactively, or you can clean them up later. Either way, you're going to spend the time. Lindsay and David explore why people often wait until they're overwhelmed before seeking help, why mental health progress can be harder to recognize than physical progress, and why an outside perspective can help us see patterns we simply can't recognize when we're in the middle of them. The conversation also moves directly into the workplace. Lindsay explains that many of the same problems she encounters in therapy, particularly communication breakdowns and disconnection, show up inside organizations. Her work with businesses is designed to address those issues earlier, giving people tools to build healthier environments before problems reach the breaking point. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why self-awareness can make us better leaders, partners, parents, and colleagues Why mental health deserves the same intentional investment we give physical health How an outside perspective can reveal patterns we can't see ourselves Why communication and disconnection are both personal and workplace problems How resilience helps people navigate difficult experiences and change Why proactive investment in workplace mental health can be easier than repairing burnout and conflict later How leaders can create healthier, more connected teams Why the hardest personal work can also produce some of the most meaningful change As Lindsay puts it, the real work doesn't end in a therapy session or leadership training. It shows up when you return to your family, your employees, your relationships, and your everyday life.

  7. Aug 19

    Marianne Viray: Can We Disagree Without Hating Each Other?

    What happens to our mental health, relationships, workplaces, and communities when people with different beliefs stop seeing one another as people worth listening to? On this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Silicon Slopes Director of Mental Health Awareness and licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with Marianne Viray, Executive Director of Disagree Better, to explore why healthy disagreement matters and what we can do when conflict turns into contempt. Disagree Better is a national initiative founded by Utah Governor Spencer Cox during his tenure as chair of the National Governors Association. Today, the independent nonprofit works with leaders and communities to model constructive disagreement and help Americans navigate difficult conversations without abandoning their principles. Viray explains why disagreement itself isn't the problem. Conflict can be productive. The danger comes when differences become identity, opponents become enemies, and people stop believing conversation can accomplish anything. In this episode: Why disagreement can be healthy—and even necessary How political polarization affects relationships and emotional well-being Why contempt and distrust make productive conversations nearly impossible The origins of Governor Spencer Cox's Disagree Better initiative What researchers are learning about constructive disagreement Why listening doesn't require surrendering your convictions How leaders can model healthier conflict Practical ways to approach difficult conversations with curiosity instead of hostility Disagree Better's approach is surprisingly simple: you don't have to agree with someone to treat them with dignity. Its practical guidance emphasizes listening to understand, avoiding assumptions about another person's motives, separating opinions from identity, and staying curious during disagreement. Research behind Disagree Better offers an encouraging counterpoint. Stanford researchers studying the initiative's bipartisan messaging found that exposure to leaders modeling constructive disagreement increased people's willingness to listen to opposing views, increased openness to different perspectives, and reduced hostility toward political opponents. At a moment when many Americans feel exhausted by division, Morgan and Viray offer a different way to think about conflict: maybe the goal isn't to agree more. Maybe we need to get better at disagreeing. For more information please visit: disagreebetter.us, or for the Conflict Competency 40-hour training cohort please visit https://artsci.usu.edu/peace-institute/transformative-mediation-certification-training.

  8. Aug 12

    Dr. Angela Trego: What Does a Rocket Scientist Know About Imposter Syndrome? 

    You can have the Ph.D. You can have the patents. You can even be a rocket scientist, and still walk into a room wondering whether you belong there. Dr. Angela Trego knows that feeling firsthand. On this episode of Mental Health Momentum, Silicon Slopes Director of Mental Health Awareness and licensed psychologist Dr. David Morgan sits down with Dr. Trego, a rocket scientist turned confidence and communication expert and #1 bestselling author of Squashing the Imposter Syndrome. Early in her engineering career at Boeing, Trego found herself as the only woman among roughly 200 men. Her credentials said she belonged. Her internal voice sometimes told a very different story. That experience eventually became part of a much larger professional mission: understanding why capable, accomplished people doubt themselves—and helping them develop the confidence to contribute at their full potential. “Too often, the internal feelings don't match that external reality,” Trego tells Morgan. In this conversation, Morgan and Trego explore the connection between imposter syndrome, self-doubt, confidence, mental health, leadership, and professional performance. Trego explains why imposter syndrome isn't limited to executives, highly educated professionals, or women. Her research has included people across genders, cultures, professions, and ages, and she has seen the same fundamental question surface again and again: Do I really belong here? Trego argues that when talented employees lack the confidence to speak up, share ideas, take risks, or contribute their expertise, organizations lose some of the very talent they worked so hard to hire. In this episode: What imposter syndrome actually feels like Why accomplishments don't automatically eliminate self-doubt Trego's experience as the only woman on a large engineering team The difference between our internal perceptions and external reality How confidence affects professional performance Why talented employees sometimes stay silent Imposter syndrome among men and women Confidence, communication, and leadership Moving from technical expertise into a completely different career Why organizations should care when employees don't believe they belong The conversation also explores Trego's unconventional career journey from mechanical engineering and aerospace to professional development, communication, leadership, and confidence and why technical expertise alone doesn't always prepare people to recognize their own value.  Don’t miss this fascinating conversation with one of the most authentic voices in business leadership today.

See All (91)

About

Mental Health Momentum: A Silicon Slopes podcast features thought-provoking conversations regarding mental health with Utah business owners, entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and people with inspiring mental health journeys. Mental health issues are now workplace issues. The more business leaders understand about the mental health challenges their employees face, the better they can help everyone succeed. Come learn more about mental health in the workplace!

Information

  • Creator
    Silicon Slopes
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    91
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Silicon Slopes
  • Show Website
    Mental Health Momentum