Amanda Catherine's guest appearances

Amanda Catherine

KUCI: Get the Funk Out

From The Depths of Darkness to The Light of Success

Sallie Krawcheck

Mary Higgins Clark

David Choi

Rob Paulsen

Michael Bernard Beckwith

Brad Meltzer

Kathy Najimy

Brian Scudamore

Laura Vanderkam

Eve Rodsky

Ashton Applewhite

Kate Black

Ethan Hawke

Amy Herman

Sarah Ruhl

OwlTail

In this episode I sit down and have a great chat with serial entrepreneur Amanda Catherine, who originally comes from a small town in Newfoundland with a population of about 3000 people. She first moved to Ontario back in 2003, she originally came for a visit with her sister one summer who had already lived here, but she liked it so much she decided to stay!  She is serial entrepreneur, and owns a few businesses, her most notable one is MVP Meals, where she creates meal plans and does meal prepping for others, and also has a booth at the Kitchener Market as well.  When she first came to Ontario she tried many different jobs, everything from fast food to office work. Before deciding to go back to school, she attended the University of Waterloo and WLU in Waterloo, Ontario, getting a degree in kinesiology. Which she took very seriously as she loved anything to do with fitness. She took this degree and put it to good use doing corporate wellness for many big corporations like Toyota, Ford, and Homehardware to name a few.  She really strives on being genuine and authentic in order to be successful.  You can follow her journey over on Instagram @amanda_catherine_co or follow her business @mvpmeals for many amazing meal ideas.  You can support the show by following it over on Instagram @depthsofdarkside or email the show if you have any questions deothsofdarkside@gmail.com  Thanks to my good friend and recording artist John Maksym for providing the intro and outtro music. You can go and follow him and his journey on Instagram @johnmaksymmusic or head over and subscribe to him on Spotify or Apple iTunes! Check out his latest single "Blink Now"--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lightofsuccess/message

In this episode I sit down and have a great chat with serial entrepreneur Amanda Catherine, who originally comes from a small town in Newfoundland with a population of about 3000 people. She first moved to Ontario back in 2003, she originally came for a visit with her sister one summer who had already lived here, but she liked it so much she decided to stay!  She is serial entrepreneur, and owns a few businesses, her most notable one is MVP Meals, where she creates meal plans and does meal prepping for others, and also has a booth at the Kitchener Market as well.  When she first came to Ontario she tried many different jobs, everything from fast food to office work. Before deciding to go back to school, she attended the University of Waterloo and WLU in Waterloo, Ontario, getting a degree in kinesiology. Which she took very seriously as she loved anything to do with fitness. She took this degree and put it to good use doing corporate wellness for many big corporations like Toyota, Ford, and Homehardware to name a few.  She really strives on being genuine and authentic in order to be successful.  You can follow her journey over on Instagram @amanda_catherine_co or follow her business @mvpmeals for many amazing meal ideas.  You can support the show by following it over on Instagram @depthsofdarkside or email the show if you have any questions deothsofdarkside@gmail.com  Thanks to my good friend and recording artist John Maksym for providing the intro and outtro music. You can go and follow him and his journey on Instagram @johnmaksymmusic or head over and subscribe to him on Spotify or Apple iTunes! Check out his latest single "Blink Now"--- Send in a voice message: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lightofsuccess/message" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lightofsuccess/message</a>

Episode 58 with serial entrepreneur Amanda Catherine 

Looking forward to having Amanda Catherine join me Monday at 9:30am pst!ABOUT AMANDAAmanda Catherine received her BA in Psychology from The University of San Francisco in 2008. After working as a research assistant at The University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) Hospital, Amanda took a break from the field to pursue other interests, working in Product Development at Macy's Merchandising Group and later as a Senior Account Executive at Groupon.The allure of Southern California's weather eventually brought Amanda back to Los Angeles, where she is currently enrolled in Antioch University's Masters in Clinical Psychology program for Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) licensure. Motivated by both personal and professional experience, Amanda is specializing in Child Studies with a concentration on preventative mental health care for elementary-school aged children and adolescents. ========================================Here's a very meaningful post Amanda wrote on facebook in Decemeber that inspired many folks to comment on (including myself). NOTE: the data cited is from the 5th edition of the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The full text of their document about the holiday season suicide myth is available at this link should anyone inquire: http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/Downloads/Adolescent_Risk/Suicide/myth_holiday_suicides20011204.PDFDid you know it's actually a myth that most people commit suicide around the holidays? According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, suicide rates are lowest at the beginning of winter and highest in early spring. However I have a theory about this relationship, which I've based on the suicide risk associated with antidepressants. For those who aren't aware, antidepressants actually temporarily increase the risk of suicide because they are most effective at treating the physiological symptoms of depression, but do not address the underlying causes. As such, they can inadvertently provide clinically depressed people with the energy they otherwise lacked to kill themselves. My theory is that April and May are the seasonal equivalent of antidepressants, granting enough symptom relief for potentially lethal action. As such, one would expect early spring to indeed have the highest rates of suicide.If my idea has any merit, this also means something very important and worth sharing on Facebook: the conversation needs to begin now. The people with the highest risk of suicide in Spring don't spontaneously experience clinical depression when the clouds roll out. They are likely already depressed, sinking deeper, unknowingly protected by physiological symptoms of depression including fatigue, inability to concentrate, psychomotor retardation, hypersomnia, and anhedonia.The prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder in the US is 7%, with rates much higher amongst 18-29 year olds. Risks for completed suicide include previous attempts, living alone, being male, and having prominent feelings of hopelessness. It is important to remember that most completed suicides are not preceded by unsuccessful attempts. It's also important to know that although most depressed people do not commit suicide, depression should always be taken seriously. It is a medical condition, not a sign of weakness. It does not involve the will to be happy and is very different than feeling depressed. It is lonely, immersive, hugely impairing, all too prevalent, and yet so regularly misunderstood. Disregarding variances by age, if you have 100 friends on Facebook, it's likely that at least 7 meet the qualifications for Major Depressive Disorder. And that's only one form of depression, one diagnosis, in a laundry list of mental health conditions that increase a person's risk of suicide.So my point is this: as we post on Facebook about gratitude, births, engagements, weddings, promotions, family reunions, and New Years resolutions, it is the silent who most desperately need to be heard. We live in a new age where many friendships don't receive the attention or time they deserve; we still love the people who live far away, who we can't seem to fit into our busy schedules, and who we haven't called in awhile but most certainly haven't forgotten. And in this age of status updates and blogs and tweets and group texts as the easiest forms of communication, there's not a lot of room to ask for help or discuss serious problems. It doesn't foster an environment where "bad" news feels safe to share, even though struggle is as much a part of life as those things we so readily broadcast on social media.Facebook used to have a feature that prompted you to write on the walls of your Facebook friends who hadn't been active in awhile. For a number of months in the Spring of 2010, Facebook reminded me that I hadn't communicated with my friend, Jessica Liever, in a long time. Maybe I should write on her wall, it casually suggested. I saw it every time I signed in. After staring at that icon on the corner of my homepage for what felt like a bitter eternity, I filed a notice with Facebook, attaching a link to her obituary, to let them know she had passed away. In truth, I hadn't spoken with Jessica long before she committed suicide. But I think about her all the time now she's gone.It's important to celebrate the best parts of life. I feel real, honest joy at the accomplishments of my friends and the blossoming of their most beautiful lives. I'm immensely thankful that inventions like Facebook spared me the burden of having to choose only a handful of people to keep up with, letting most slip into obscurity. I'm in one of the last generations that remembers what it's like to lose people when their immediate relevance in our lives faded away. I still recognize this as a most precious gift. But like all gifts, it's easy to take for granted. It's easy to forget that many of the people who need me the most right now may not show up on my newsfeed. I don't want any of us to wish we could have helped them once it's too late.Here's wishing all my friends a most warmly fulfilling holiday season, especially those who will never see this post. Facebook has decided that maybe you don't matter as much to me, but that is so far from the truth. You matter. Your life is worth honoring. I haven't forgotten you. And if a few people who see this are even slightly impacted by my post, perhaps together we can reach everyone who deserves -or (even better) needs- to be reminded at this time of year just how much you are loved. No matter how hard it seems, it is always okay to ask for help. We want to help; that's what friends are for.

Looking forward to having Amanda Catherine join me Monday at 9:30am pst! ABOUT AMANDA Amanda Catherine received her BA in Psychology from The University of San Francisco in 2008. After working as a research assistant at The University of California - San Francisco (UCSF) Hospital, Amanda took a break from the field to pursue other interests, working in Product Development at Macy's Merchandising Group and later as a Senior Account Executive at Groupon. The allure of Southern California's weather eventually brought Amanda back to Los Angeles, where she is currently enrolled in Antioch University's Masters in Clinical Psychology program for Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) licensure. Motivated by both personal and professional experience, Amanda is specializing in Child Studies with a concentration on preventative mental health care for elementary-school aged children and adolescents. ======================================== Here's a very meaningful post Amanda wrote on facebook in Decemeber that inspired many folks to comment on (including myself). NOTE: the data cited is from the 5th edition of the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The full text of their document about the holiday season suicide myth is available at this link should anyone inquire: <a href="http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/Downloads/Adolescent_Risk/Suicide/myth_holiday_suicides20011204.PDF" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/Downloads/Adolescent_Risk/Suicide/myth_holiday_suicides20011204.PDF</a> Did you know it's actually a myth that most people commit suicide around the holidays? According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, suicide rates are lowest at the beginning of winter and highest in early spring. However I have a theory about this relationship, which I've based on the suicide risk associated with antidepressants. For those who aren't aware, antidepressants actually temporarily increase the risk of suicide because they are most effective at treating the physiological symptoms of depression, but do not address the underlying causes. As such, they can inadvertently provide clinically depressed people with the energy they otherwise lacked to kill themselves. My theory is that April and May are the seasonal equivalent of antidepressants, granting enough symptom relief for potentially lethal action. As such, one would expect early spring to indeed have the highest rates of suicide. If my idea has any merit, this also means something very important and worth sharing on Facebook: the conversation needs to begin now. The people with the highest risk of suicide in Spring don't spontaneously experience clinical depression when the clouds roll out. They are likely already depressed, sinking deeper, unknowingly protected by physiological symptoms of depression including fatigue, inability to concentrate, psychomotor retardation, hypersomnia, and anhedonia. The prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder in the US is 7%, with rates much higher amongst 18-29 year olds. Risks for completed suicide include previous attempts, living alone, being male, and having prominent feelings of hopelessness. It is important to remember that most completed suicides are not preceded by unsuccessful attempts. It's also important to know that although most depressed people do not commit suicide, depression should always be taken seriously. It is a medical condition, not a sign of weakness. It does not involve the will to be happy and is very different than feeling depressed. It is lonely, immersive, hugely impairing, all too prevalent, and yet so regularly misunderstood. Disregarding variances by age, if you have 100 friends on Facebook, it's likely that at least 7 meet the qualifications for Major Depressive Disorder. And that's only one form of depression, one diagnosis, in a laundry list of mental health conditions that increase a person's risk of suicide. So my point is this: as we post on Facebook about gratitude, births, engagements, weddings, promotions, family reunions, and New Years resolutions, it is the silent who most desperately need to be heard. We live in a new age where many friendships don't receive the attention or time they deserve; we still love the people who live far away, who we can't seem to fit into our busy schedules, and who we haven't called in awhile but most certainly haven't forgotten. And in this age of status updates and blogs and tweets and group texts as the easiest forms of communication, there's not a lot of room to ask for help or discuss serious problems. It doesn't foster an environment where "bad" news feels safe to share, even though struggle is as much a part of life as those things we so readily broadcast on social media. Facebook used to have a feature that prompted you to write on the walls of your Facebook friends who hadn't been active in awhile. For a number of months in the Spring of 2010, Facebook reminded me that I hadn't communicated with my friend, Jessica Liever, in a long time. Maybe I should write on her wall, it casually suggested. I saw it every time I signed in. After staring at that icon on the corner of my homepage for what felt like a bitter eternity, I filed a notice with Facebook, attaching a link to her obituary, to let them know she had passed away. In truth, I hadn't spoken with Jessica long before she committed suicide. But I think about her all the time now she's gone. It's important to celebrate the best parts of life. I feel real, honest joy at the accomplishments of my friends and the blossoming of their most beautiful lives. I'm immensely thankful that inventions like Facebook spared me the burden of having to choose only a handful of people to keep up with, letting most slip into obscurity. I'm in one of the last generations that remembers what it's like to lose people when their immediate relevance in our lives faded away. I still recognize this as a most precious gift. But like all gifts, it's easy to take for granted. It's easy to forget that many of the people who need me the most right now may not show up on my newsfeed. I don't want any of us to wish we could have helped them once it's too late. Here's wishing all my friends a most warmly fulfilling holiday season, especially those who will never see this post. Facebook has decided that maybe you don't matter as much to me, but that is so far from the truth. You matter. Your life is worth honoring. I haven't forgotten you. And if a few people who see this are even slightly impacted by my post, perhaps together we can reach everyone who deserves -or (even better) needs- to be reminded at this time of year just how much you are loved. No matter how hard it seems, it is always okay to ask for help. We want to help; that's what friends are for.

Amanda Catherine joined me Monday at 9:30am pst to talk about funks, depression, psychology and more!