Inside MentalHappy: Building Safe, Human-Centered Support Communities with Tamar Blue – Episode 413

Safe communities scale care: when people feel protected, they finally feel seen. In this episode, Peter Fenger sits down with Tamar Blue, Founder and CEO of MentalHappy, a pioneering health tech platform that brings peer-led emotional support to people from all walks of life. Tamar began her career in staffing and co-founded a successful HR tech company before pivoting to health innovation, driven by a passion to make mental health care more accessible and community-based. Since founding MentalHappy in 2016, she has led the mission to empower both providers and individuals through expert-led support groups that combine technology with human connection. Based in San Francisco, Tamar continues to champion scalable solutions that reduce barriers, combat provider burnout, and promote healing. In this episode, we dive into how her early passion for peer support grew into MentalHappy, explore the challenges of building secure, human-centered communities, and discuss how technology and inclusive design are reimagining scalable, community-based mental health care.

ACT for Real Life: Helping Kids Navigate Big Feelings & Social Storms with Melissa Connor-Santos, MA, BCBA – Episode 412

Teaching social skills isn’t just about steps, it’s about helping kids understand why connection matters and how to cope when things don’t go as planned. In this episode, Sharlee Dixon sits down with Melissa Connor-Santos, MA, BCBA, Founder and CEO of Oceanview Behavior Solutions and a nationally recognized expert in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). With over 15 years of experience, Melissa works at the intersection of clinical excellence and compassionate care, consulting with schools, training professionals, and mentoring families. She’s also a full-time ABA faculty member at Felician University, a certified PFA/SBT Level 6 Supervisor, and a leading voice in school-based behavioral support. As a parent of a child with a behavioral disorder, Melissa brings a deeply personal perspective to her work, one grounded in empathy, ethics, and strengths-based practice. Together, Sharlee and Melissa explore how ACT can bridge the gaps in traditional social skills instruction for children with autism and behavioral differences, blending evidence-based practice, personal insight, and emerging research to reimagine how we support emotional regulation, self-narratives, and long-term well-being.

Deriving Mindfulness: The Open-Source Future of Mindfulness with Mo Edjlali – Episode 411

Comfort numbs us. Connection heals us. In this episode, Peter Fenger sits down with Mo Edjlali, founder and CEO of Mindful Leader, the world’s largest provider of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training. A former computer engineer with a career that began at NASA and in the tech world, Mo turned to mindfulness after a startup collapse forced him to confront life, loss, and what really matters. Since then, he has certified over 550 facilitators, launched the global Meditate Together community, and become both a leading voice for mindfulness and a critical voice about its modern pitfalls. Mo’s new book, “Open MBSR,” reimagines mindfulness for today, trauma-aware, inclusive, and community-driven. In this conversation, we dive into his journey and explore how modern mindfulness can sometimes retraumatize, commercialize, and exclude. More importantly, we uncover new approaches that reclaim mindfulness’s roots: healing, freedom, and agency for everyone.