👩‍💻Founder Features: Meet Dre Thomas, Founder & CEO of Smile On Me

We’re back with another post in our Founder Feature series—a way to highlight badass, inspiring women who’ve founded their own companies and nonprofits. (Side note: We also feature those who are looking for their next professional opportunity and those who are pursuing really cool creative work—send us a note if you’re interested in being profiled!).

This week, I’m excited to introduce the amazing Dre Thomas, who founded Smile On Me. Since its inception in 2017, the company has championed girls’ rights to live safe and healthy lives. Its mission: to adequately prepare girls for puberty and provide a space for them to be authentic and discover something new.

Smile On Me celebrates girls, empowering them during one of the most pivotal times in their lives. Research shows that a large number of girls report feeling ill-prepared for menstruation and for changes occurring in their bodies—and girls from low-income communities in the U.S. in particular report negative experiences with this transition. That’s where Smile On Me comes in.

By providing girls with feminine hygiene products (the cost of which can be as high as $100 annually, competing with other personal care essentials), Smile On Me is not only preparing girls for puberty, but also giving them the opportunity to build a healthy foundation for sexual and reproductive health, setting the stage for girls’ relationships with their bodies for years to come. Through healthy environments that allow peer-to-peer interaction, Smile On Me encourages girls to embrace their strengths and celebrate their differences, helping to improve self-esteem and body image in a safe environment in which girls feel heard and valued.

You can read more about Dre’s story here.

Dre Thomas, Founder of Smile On Me

Name: Dre Thomas

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Currently based in: New York

Describe yourself in three(ish) words: Creative, generous, and people-oriented

I feel inspired when: I’m working to solve a problem and improve lives.

Outside of work you’ll find me: At home.

What led you to start Smile On Me? Can you tell us a bit about the origin story and how it’s evolved since its formation in 2017?

When I was 16 years old, after chatting with her mom at the dinner table, I had an idea to work with young girls in my community in Los Angeles to provide them with hygiene products and create a space where they could be authentic and discover something new. Growing up in a single-parent household, I experienced having limited access to menstrual hygiene products and menstrual hygiene education.

After nearly a decade of working with young people through various non-profit organizations, I realized that my experiences weren’t unique—that girls in communities similar to mine also lacked access to these necessities.  In 2011, I was given an opportunity to move to New York and work with inner-city youth. I discovered that these same problems didn’t stop in Los Angeles, but were common throughout New York and the country. And so in 2017, I decided to launch Smile On Me. (You can learn more about the timeline of the company and its offerings here.)

There are so many cool offerings: Homeroom, the first-ever Wellness Summer Camp for BIPOC girls, etc. How do you envision things evolving in the next year?

I’m hoping we can easily move back into IRL events. The heartbeat of Smile On Me is gathering girls to meet in person and creating lifelong friendships. It’s been great getting to create this online community, but I’m hoping we can soon have both. We are starting to plan our Wellness Summer Camp and I’m so excited. We’ve polled our girls to see what activities they’d like to experience and started reaching out to brands for potential partnerships.

In what way(s) does your work empower women?

Smile On Me empowers women by empowering girls to take charge of their lives.

What’s one super memorable piece of advice you got when spinning up your own business? Any mantras in particular that have stuck with you? 

The best (and most memorable) piece of advice I’ve received: If you stay ready, you won’t have to get ready. I often turn back to this in times of confusion or doubt. Staying ready for me is keeping my ear to the ground, listening to people around me, and understanding the need before I take action. 

For people looking to get involved in supporting Smile On Me, what are the best next steps? How can they donate? 

People can learn more on the Smile On Me website and Instagram, and can donate here.

Connect with Smile On Me here: Website | Instagram

Therapy & Mental Health Resources for 2020, 2021 & Beyond

A global pandemic. A modern-day civil rights movement. An incompetent president treating the United States like one big episode of reality TV. Wildfires causing apocalyptic orange skies. An impending election. Needless to say, 2020 was… something else. (Hands up if you’ve noticed an increase in anxiety this year. 🙋‍♀️🙋🙋‍♂️)

But as Leslie Dwight so beautifully puts it,

“What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for? A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw — that it finally forces us to grow.”

We’re at what feels like a true crossroads in the history of our world. As we teeter on the precipice of change—learning and unlearning and growing and rebuilding—it’s more critical than ever to normalize conversations around mental wellness, and therapy in particular. Change of this magnitude doesn’t (and can’t!) happen alone, nor can we expect progress unless we invest in ourselves emotionally, mentally, and physically. We’re all navigating our way through these ~unprecedented~ times, but no one says we must do so by ourselves; when it comes to our mental health, that’s where therapy comes in.

Below are crowd-sourced recommendations from friends, colleagues, and trusted sources for beginning (or resuming) a therapy journey at various price points. For a more thorough breakdown on how to get started, check out this piece and podcast from NPR. (And if you’re in the NYC area and want a local recommendation, I can’t say enough good things about the team at Citron Hennessey!)

Disclosure: The opinions in this post are my own and are not sponsored. Advekit generously offered a 50% discount code for MarketHer readers, but I will not benefit financially from any appointments scheduled through their platform.

ADVEKIT

“Finding the right therapist within a budget can be a challenge, but the founders of Advekit have created a match-making platform that also helps users understand and tap into their out-of-network benefits,” writes Christine Hall in Crunchbase. Advekit—which was founded in 2017 and recently raised $2.6 million in funding—pairs users with licensed therapists for the lowest-possible cost based on criteria like area of focus, time of day, and insurance. Though Advekit is most active throughout California, Chicago, and the tristate area, they do have practitioners across the U.S. and are actively expanding. (And their teletherapy offering makes it easy to find a licensed professional to speak with, regardless of your physical location—a plus for COVID and beyond.)

Advekit, which came highly recommended from a former colleague of mine, has generously provided a discount for MarketHer subscribers. Use code MARKETHER50 for 50% off your first therapy session. (Thanks, Advekit team!)

ALMA

Like Advekit, Alma helps pair users with a therapist that suits their needs. They offers mental health professionals and providers the tools and resources they need to better manage their practice and deliver great care, both in person and online (kind of like “WeWork for therapists”). After telling the team at Alma what you’re looking for, they’ll share a list of providers in their network who match your criteria, and from there you can schedule a 10-minute consultation to get a sense of who you might be comfortable working with. (Each provider at Alma sets their own rates and makes their own decisions about going in-network with major insurance payers.)

BETTER HELP

I feel like half the podcasts I listen to these days are sponsored by Better Help, and I’m not mad about it. As the world’s largest e-counseling platform, BetterHelp offers access to licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and board-licensed professional counselors. They’re on a mission to make “professional counseling accessible, affordable, convenient—so anyone who struggles with life’s challenges can get help, anytime, anywhere.” You can choose to exchange messages, chat live, speak over the phone, or video conference with your counselor—truly something for everyone. I don’t have a referral code of my own, but I’ll leave you with the referral link from one of my favorite podcasts, Help Me Be Me (more on that below).

HEADWAY

Headway “helps you find therapists who don't take insurance anywhere else.” During the COVID-19 crisis, all Headway providers are offering virtual sessions covered by insurance. Their site makes it easy to compare potential therapists and book appointments, whether you’d prefer to continue via video or eventually move to an in-person format.

MY WELLBEING

One of the things I appreciate about My Wellbeing is their response to the Black Lives Matter movement. They’ve compiled a list of resources for “action, advocacy, support, and learning,” including a round-up of organizations that provide mental health resources specifically for POC—a great starting point for those looking for support, as well as those inclined to donate. (One of the organizations I’m passionate about: The Loveland Foundation, whose therapy fund that provides financial assistance for therapy to Black womxn and girls.)

But back to the process. As with many of the other companies in this post, My Wellbeing pairs users with therapists through personalized matchmaking. (Think of it like ZocDoc, but for therapy.) Their COVID response was also comprehensive, with special offerings, support groups (both pay-what-you-can and free), a list of therapists offering temporary teletherapy, low-fee resources, and free tools.

ZENCARE

Zencare’s easy-to-navigate interface makes the therapist search a breeze for users in select cities and states: New York, L.A., Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, the Boston area, Connecticut, Chicago, and Seattle. This women-led company aims to better the therapist search process, and in addition to private sessions, they offer resources for therapy groups in a handful of cities and a helpful breakdown of the various types of therapy.

THE LOVELAND FOUNDATION

Founded by author, activist, and educator Rachel Cargle, The Loveland Foundation is “committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls.” They started a fund to raise $600,000 to provide 5,000 hours of free therapy to Black women and girls when they need it. You can sign up for services here, or learn more about ways to get involved and donate here.

A NOTE ABOUT TALKSPACE

Originally I’d included Talkspace in this round-up, but after reading this New York Times piece about the culture there, I can’t in good faith recommend it.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE IS STRUGGLING WITH SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, HELP IS AVAILABLE. CALL THE NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE AT (800) 273-8255.

INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS & PODCASTS I LOVE:

Not quite ready to start therapy, but want a little nudge in that direction? Below are some of my favorite Instagram accounts and podcasts for self-care, self-help, and beyond:

• Lisa Olivera // @_lisaolivera: Lisa’s Instagram account is one of my all-time favorites. (Like… one of the main reasons I stay on the app.) In addition to regularly sharing thought-starters, journaling prompts, and beautiful reflections, Lisa (a therapist and writer) just launched a new self-paced online course called “Cultivating You.” Though it’s technically not a direct substitute for therapy, I get SO much value out of Lisa’s content that it serves a similar purpose.

• Yasmine Cheyenne & The Sugar Jar Podcast // @yasminecheyenne & @thesugarjarpodcast: Please excuse me while I continue to fangirl. I’m just as obsessed with Yasmine’s work as I am with Lisa’s. Yasmine is a teacher, writer, speaker, and advocate on mental health and spiritual wellness, and her Instagram posts always resonate. With the belief that hearing other people’s stories can “help us release, heal, and grow,” her recently launched podcast centers on conversations about self-healing journeys and features incredible humans like Layla Saad, Alex Elle, and Dosse Via.

• Sarah May & Help Me Be Me: Though she’s not a licensed therapist, podcast host Sarah May is SO spot-on with her research and observations—she’s truly found her calling. Positioned as “self-help for people who hate self-help,” the Help Me Be Me podcast serves as an “emotional toolkit for creating positive change in yourself.” 10/10 recommend.

• Morgan Harper Nichols // @morganharpernichols: An artist and poet, Morgan Harper Nichols has amassed a dedicated following of over 1.5 million followers on Instagram. She creates “daily reminders through art, inspired by real stories,” and I kid you not when I say her work is like chicken soup for the soul. (I just purchased her book, All Along You Were Blooming, and can’t wait to dive in.) Oh, and she has a podcast! So much to love.