Meet our featured beauty with brains Angela Hill, a blogger based in Vancouver, Washington.
She is a stay at home working mom and works remotely for a high-end skincare company. She has been married for almost 13 years and has 2 kids – a teenager and pre-teen. Her 35th birthday is coming soon but she considers herself pretty much a kid at heart. She loves her pets (2 dogs, 2 cats) and is a Pit Bull Advocate and rescuer. She has struggled with mental illness for 13 years and is taking this year (well once everyone can leave their homes) to explore that more and hopefully find mental wellness. Her blog will be focused on self care and wellness because she knows first hand how important it is.
Here is an interview with her.
1. What are your goals in life? Have you achieved them?
That’s an excellent question. My goals have changed throughout the years but they’ve all maintained the same theme; mental wellness. I have been through quite a few really difficult times in my life due to mental illness and even 13 years after it began I find most of my life is greatly affected by my mental state. 2020 was going to be my year, the year I changed everything. Then COVID-19 decided to step in and laugh in my face! Forced to be indoors, away from my fears, I have decided to spend this time reaching out to others and helping them in a way I didn’t have offered to me when my problems began. So, to answer your question, my goals are to create awesome blog content centered around mental wellness and self-care, while working on myself in the meantime.
2. What is your advice to women who suffer from depression and are unable to lift themselves up?
Seek help; first and foremost. It seems daunting, it seems scary. We don’t want to admit to our mental illness, we don’t want to admit to being broken and weak. But when your illnesses are affecting you they will make you weak, and you WILL need help. You may need to reach out to a mental health professional for the first time, you may need to confide in a close friend or family member, but you need to tell *someone.* There are tons of resources out there as well, Facebook groups and blogs you can follow. After that, make a to-do list and just do one thing at a time!
3. What are some of the challenges you faced in life and how did you overcome them?
In 2007 I was diagnosed with Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia. I wasn’t able to drive 2.5 miles to get my son to daycare, and my job was only a mile past that. I have struggled with panic attacks and generalized anxiety ever since until I finally was hospitalized on 2011. With the right medication I was finally able to do some of the things I hadn’t done in years; like take a 1+ hour car ride. I have since gotten even better at conquering my fears but they still hold me back in a major way. I don’t think we should be ashamed of admitting we use prescriptions to be well, if I didn’t I might not be living today. But with the right medications, or meditations, or therapy, coaching, breathing techniques, close personal relationships, or anything else someone may find positive relief in, we can really begin to conquer some of the problems we face in day-to-day life living with mental illness.
Feel free to check out her blog
Empowered Brave Women Building Futures 