Business Innovators Radio - The Inspired Impact Podcast with Judy Carlson-Interview with Tamara Fennell, Rotary International District 5450, 2024-2025 District Govern

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

Tamara (Tamie) Fennell has been working as a mental health advocate for two plus decades, in Virginia and in Colorado. As a past NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Fairfax, Virginia Affiliate Board Member, a NAMI Virginia State Program Trainer and NAMI Colorado Douglas / Arapahoe County Program Facilitator, Tamie has led educational programs structured to help caregivers and family members understand and support individuals living with serious mental illness.Tamie has also worked on presentations and educational in-service initiatives focused on raising awareness of mental health issues in educational settings. Her work with law enforcement officers on crisis intervention training programs has been especially fulfilling, as has speaking before state legislators to enact change.Since moving to Colorado in 2015, Tamie has worked in operations in the non-profit sector, in nonprofit fundraising and event coordination. Tamie currently is serving Rotary International District 5450 as 2024-2025 District Governor and partners in local and international service work with her local Rotary club.www.rotary.org**********************************************************Judy is the CEO & Founder of the Judy Carlson Financial Group. She helps her clients design, build, and implement fully integrated and coordinated financial plans from today through life expectancy and legacy.She is an Independent Fiduciary and Comprehensive Financial Planner who specializes in Wealth Decumulation Strategies. Judy is a CPA, Investment Advisor Representative, Life and Health Insurance Licensed, and Long-Term Care Certified.Judy’s mission is to educate and empower her clients with an all-inclusive financial plan that encourages and motivates them to pursue their lifetime financial goals and dreams.Learn More: https://judycarlson.com/Investment Adviser Representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management, LLC, an SEC Registered Adviser.The Inspired Impact Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-inspired-impact-podcast-with-judy-carlson-interview-with-tamara-fennell-rotary-international-district-5450-2024-2025-district-governor

Welcome to the Inspired Impact Podcast, where dedicated female professionals share how they inspire impact every day. Authentic stories, passionate commitment, lives transformed. I'm your host, Judy Carlson. Welcome to today's episode of the Inspired Impact Podcast. Today I have such a special guest who's a mental health aspect. advocate and has been doing that for years. But today we're going to find out her story and the rest of her story. So I am so excited to introduce you to Tamara Fennell. Thanks so much for having me. It's a pleasure being with you.

All right. Well, let's get started like we typically do. We all want to hear your journey, where you started, what inspired you to pursue the path you're on. How is it allowed you to make an impact in your field. I'm so excited to hear your story, Tamara. Oh, thank you. Yeah. You know, there was a time in my life when it was tough to, you know, find the right words, but I've grown into it and I'm happy to share my kind of life journey with others and hope that, you know, people understand that they're not by themselves and there's many, many, many people in similar shoes. So basically, I'm the oldest of three girls, and my mother suffered from very serious mental health issues. She was diagnosed with bipolar one and had a healthy dose of OCD on top of that.

And so we kind of growing up rode the roller coaster of, you know, her symptoms would flare up. And at that time, thankfully, society's changed quite a bit. And the stigma that we felt back then isn't as difficult to navigate it as it is now. But there was a lot back then. And we were really marginalized as a family, not just my mom. And then my dad was also very sick with multiple sclerosis. So we were really kind of just in survival mode a lot of the time. We did have support from extended family, but a lot of it was just my two sisters and my mom

and I just kind of making do. And, you know, my mom was a wonderful, wonderful person. I have come to understand that people who are living with mental health issues are often the most beautiful, brilliant, giving, caring people you will ever meet in your life. And I think in our society and oftentimes in the media, people living with mental health issues are portrayed exactly opposite of who they are. courageous individuals living with, you know, a not so great deck of cards they were dealt with. And it's to none of, you know, it's no fault of their own. It's no fault of their parents or, you know, their kids or circumstances around them.

It's a, you know, it can be a combination of a poor environment and some genetic predispositions. So, you know, they're kind of dealing with a full deck that was a, so great. I can tell you though, I speak for myself and my two sisters. Our mom is our number one hero in life. I have learned so many lessons just from watching her raise three girls and, you know, with my dad, with multiple sclerosis and see her grace and her. way of navigating the world despite her disability is just, I'm just so inspired by it. But, you know, that's the good side. There was, there was difficulty too, which growing up, no one really explained to us why mom was the way she was. They did tell us why dad has had

his physical difficulties, but mom was another story. And so it wasn't until I reached, adulthood when I started self-educating and I started reading books, a lot, a lot of books. Yeah, on mental illness and specifically on bipolar and trying to find out, you know, what was going on. And I remember reading one book in particular. And it was, the title was when madness comes home. And in the back of the book, it was a whole list of resources, you know, for further reading.

And at the very bottom of the list, it said NAMI, which is the National Alliance for Mental Illness. And it said it had local chapters and for more information, you know, call this number. So I did because I was really at the point of my life where I was really, really reaching out, looking for help to understand my mind. mom better. Sure. Yeah. And so I called this number and talked to this woman who just immediately,

I felt reassured. She had a similar story. You know, she was a caregiver of somebody in her family, a loved one who had mental illness. And they invited me to take a 12-week course that was specifically for individuals who were taking care of. somebody who had mental illness. And boy, did I learn a lot. Yeah. Talk about the light bulb goes on kind of moments. Right. And was your mom was still alive at this time? Yes. She was still alive at this point. Actually, the course at that time, it's called family to family and it's still offered by NAMI all over the country. At the time, it was a 12-week course free. It teaches you all about, you know, symptoms and medications and different behaviors and how to cope and how to communicate and how to keep yourself grounded.

It was just what I needed at the time. Unfortunately, my mom passed away at week 10 of the 12-week course, and I was shattered. So I withdrew from the course and then came back to it years later. or thinking I'd, you know, continue and finish those last two weeks. And they said, well, we think you would be a good candidate to teach it. Wow. And so I did. Wow.

And that was really the start of my journey in mental health advocacy work was somebody, you know, believing in me and understanding that I had a good deal of compassion at that point. And that really started things for me on the path of both personal healing and and helping people find their way to whatever resource it was that worked for them in the whole mental health arena. If that makes sense. Yeah. Wow. So you started teaching the class, what, 20 years ago? I did.

Yeah. I started teaching family to family. and it's co-taught by individuals who have lived experience. There's a training guide and training they put you through, but it's written by a psychiatrist, so it's factual data and everything behind it. But it's taught by family members who understand and have walked the walk and lived the similar kind of dysfunction

that the attendees have. And I think it creates a really unique opportunity for people to learn and grow because you're surrounded by people that understand. Right. That's really powerful. Right. So these other co-instructors, you pretty much bond with them as well. You do.

You absolutely do. And everybody's story is a little bit different. But for me, it helped me. process things and look at my own life experience. And, you know, there's other people that would say, oh, you had such a hard time. And conversely, I'd look at their experience and think, oh, my gosh, how did you manage through that? Or, you know, how are you managing? And I think everybody, you know, works through things the way they need to. And, yeah, Nami for me was really, really good. I taught it for many years.

And then I trained facilitators. I got involved in train the trainer kind of programs. And I served on the board and I was able to go in front of legislators and share my lived experience in an effort to kind of help them get a better idea of maybe changing some things to make it a player a fair. or playing field for individuals living through and trying to navigate the judicial system because that can be really tough too. But yeah, it was a really wonderful, wonderful, wonderful way to find help for me personally as a caregiver and also have my education kind of just springboard from there going through that program.

Yeah. And so how does that bring you to today? Yeah, right. So I think, you know, I should backtrack just a little. I did a lot of stuff around the mental health advocacy area. A few that really stand out for me are. I was asked to serve on a task force that combined. law enforcement, the judicial system, and organizations, non-profit organizations that we're looking to support individuals with behavioral health issues. And so we combine to work on things collectively to better our community. And this is like before these crisis programs started where a law enforcement agent would go out into the field to answer a emergency call from a family member in partnership with a social worker. You know, it would be law enforcement and a social worker or psychologist or, you know, it was more of a team approach.

Sure. So we're kind of looking to develop that at that time in the community I served in. And then the other thing was really wonderful and very powerful for me was working with law enforcement officers during their training at the academy because so many were at a disadvantage. They just didn't have the skills to be put in that kind of situation. And many didn't have the empathy either if they hadn't been exposed to it in their own personal lives. So that was really gratifying too. But when we moved to Colorado, as, empty nesters, I thought, oh my gosh, what am I got to do now? I got to find my niche. So I did

reach out to NAMI and taught family and family classes here in my local community, but very quickly got involved with Rotary International, but at the local level here. and got involved with mental health advocacy work through rotary as well. So it's all been volunteer, but it's work that has helped me personally and also has helped those in similar shoes, which for me is really what it's all about. I don't want to just, I really want to make things better for other people. That's just kind of in my core. Right.

So, yeah. The people that attend the family to family by Nami, are they typically people who've been caregiving someone with mental illness? Or is it even further back where someone has been identified as someone with mental illness? and that's a help for them in their mental health journey. Right. Great question. Yeah. So they provide lots of different kinds of programs for lots of different individuals.

The one that fit best for me was, you know, the family, the caregiver role. Okay. It's really geared for parents of or spouses of or children of or siblings of someone living with mental illness. But they do have people. peer-to-peer programs. They have support groups. They have all kinds of different educational programs and support programs that anybody,

you know, one in four families is touched with mental illness. It's a large number of people. That is a lot. Whether you realize it or not. So I think, you know, of course, stigma is a barrier to us talking about it. it's a barrier to people finding their voice and acceptance and all that kind of stuff. But the breadth of what they offer, and it is different in each region, each affiliate has different things that they offer. I mean, I just think about, you say, one and four families affected.

Yeah. If that's, you know, like I look in my neighborhood to the four. you know, houses that I kind of make my friendships with one and four, but then if one of those is, then they've got neighbors in the neighborhood who are affected, and then they go to work, and they've got colleagues who they talk to, and then they've got all of the other activities that encompass their life and the people that they talk to. So I think that something like what you're talking about for people to break down those barriers, I mean, what are a phenomenal resource. Yeah, it really, really is. And I think that's the power of it. It's letting people

know wherever they are, you know, that there are many other people going through the same thing. And it's okay. It's totally okay. Right. Wow. Can you share an experience or two that's more specific, not names or anything, when you knew for sure that what you're doing is making a difference in that person that family's life. Oh, yeah. It's been years, well, we've been here probably eight years. Yes, we've been here eight years, and I started teaching mental health educational programs and doing this kind of work probably two decades ago. And I still get calls from people that I've had it a class or, you know, all the time. I'll get a little note or an email or a text or a message, you know, here or there.

A shout out from somebody just letting me know, you know, what the current status is in their own lives or with their family member that they talked about so many years ago and how impactful, you know, just the learning process. was for them, which I think, you know, for me that reassured me that I was on the right path, you know, that I was doing the work to give back and make the world a better place for other people while processing and growing and healing myself. So it's like a win-win, you know. Right, right. And I do know, you know, anytime I'm out talking to somebody, especially in a group, there usually is one or two, if not more people who come up after the fact and want to share their story.

Or, you know, say, I'm so glad you spoke about that because my family, blah, blah, blah. You know, there's, it's just, it's providing an opening. And I think everybody has a light bulb go off at a different time. and you never know when something you might say is going to help that effect for somebody else, and that can ignite, you know, just a clearer vision of understanding and knowledge, which for me, the more I learn about something, the more empowered I feel. And I want that for everybody. I, you know, I really want them to feel like, okay, I've got the nuts and bolts now.

maybe I'll dive a little deeper, but at least I'm reassured that, you know, this isn't something anybody needs to be embarrassed about or ashamed about or feel bad about. It's just, it's part of being human, really. What about your two sisters and you and your conversations over the years regarding the impact that your mom's illness had on the three of you? And, and how that's transpired over the years. Yeah. Heather Tracy and I are very close. And we all have children.

And of course, we've all been kind of, you know, we're all fine. We're all good. We all have made it just okay through the world, not better, better than okay. we've done really well throughout our lives and through the world. But we have been keenly aware and kind of on the lookout for, you know, symptoms that we might have been able to see or catch in our own children because we know that there's, you know, there can be a genetic disposition. Certainly that's clearly evident in my family on my side.

When I look back at my family tree, it's almost like, oh, yes, yes. Oh, skipped that one. Oh, yes, yes. You know, you can really follow it down. The more you dig into it. And having that level of understanding, knowing that it's a biological thing and not something that people can, you know, pull their boots up by their bootstraps and just get on with it is a healthy thing.

So, yeah, we've all been very much shaped by, as anybody is, I think, very much shaped by our experiences growing up, in particular with my mom and her difficulties. Yeah, how often I'm learning how women especially experience painful journeys in their lives and go on to, have that, I mean, what is it about us? That inner desire that if there's even one person who we can help through the painful journey we've been through and help them eliminate a lot of the pain that we've dealt with, how fulfilled that makes us feel. Absolutely. I could not agree more. I wholeheartedly believe in that. And I do think, you know, it's like you throw a pebble in the lake and there's a ripple effect. I really believe in that. And so even if you're changing one person's life, there's a ripple effect. There is. It can start transition for many, many people from that one little pebble you drop.

Right. So what is your role? You mentioned rotary. What's your role there, Tamara, and how has that developed? Yeah. So I'm currently serving as our district governor, which really, it's a good position for me because in a nutshell, I get to inspire people, you know, reach a little bit further in their service work. And it's a, it's a servant leadership kind of position where you look to empower others to, you know, empower other people. Essentially, that ripple effect we were just talking about. But yeah, we have wonderful Rotarians in our area here and then all across the globe that are doing incredible, incredible work to help others. I worked on a passion project of my own, although it wasn't my idea. It was a co-member of mine who wanted to make a lasting impact

around children's mental health. And as you know, there's quite a crisis we have here, but really all over the world, and that was kind of exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. You know, it was happening, but I think the pandemic really shown a spotlight on it and exposed it more, and the media paid attention to it,

which is a good thing. There was some light there. The not-so-great thing is that we quickly, discovered, well, things that we had known all along working in the field, but more people discovered that we just don't have adequate services. There just is not enough treatment and care and resources for individuals who are living with mental illness. And knowing when I know that the sooner you get help the earlier in your life as a child, perhaps, the better your prognosis is for your family. And I often wonder, you know, had my mom received the treatment

that she deserved when she first was exhibiting symptoms of mental health issues, how different her life would have been, how different my life would have been, and the lives of my sisters, you know, that trajectory for her would have been vastly different if she would have been given the tools and the care and the treatment that as a human being, she deserved long, long, long before she finally was able to access it. Wow. That's amazing. So this project that you spearheaded with one of your co-members, you know, you know,

I mean, I'd love to hear a little bit about that as we wrap up here today. Yes. I think how you've now taken all of this life's experience and helping others, and now you're turning it into something else great in our community. Yeah. So essentially, it is a partnership with Children's Hospital here. And we did a lot of research. the committee that I worked on, to really try to find something that would have lasting impact

that wasn't just throwing some money or financing at something that was going to be great for a few months or years and then just kind of evaporate. We wanted something that would be, you know, would last in perpetuity. Sure. Yeah. And as we looked at things, we quickly, discovered that we could really hone in on increasing the work, working to increase the workforce here to provide more providers here in our area able to treat kids dealing with mental illness.

And so we created an endowed fellowship for pediatric mental health at Children's Hospital. It's a rotary endowment. It will last in perpetuity. and it draws the best of the best here to give physicians who have gone through medical school and through their residency a stipend to complete their one to two year training in pediatric mental health care, depending on if they're a psychologist or a psychiatrist is the difference between the one to two training period. So, you know, they're here treating kids seeing 1,500, they have about 1,500 patient visits a year that wouldn't be happening if they weren't here. And then, you know, once that fellow completes their training period, they will start their practice in pediatric mental health. And the next fellow will come in and begin their training. and one after that and the next and the next and the next and the next and talk about a ripple effect on the workforce. Oh my gosh.

That will be able to be seen who may not have been able to before. I mean, that's huge. It's huge for me personally and it's huge for the families who so desperately are reaching and are on waiting lists, waiting, just waiting for access to health for their kids. Oh, my gosh. Well, I highlighted lived experience. That was new terminology to me. I totally understand what it means now in terms of what you went through, lived experience and lasting impact.

I mean, how could those two phrases be put together better than through what you've been able to accomplish in your lifetime and you're not done yet. I know that. Hopefully I have some years to go. Yeah. Yeah. I really truly believe that when you find your passion in life, you can pull on those lived experiences or those passions and through them, you will find your purpose if you're wanting to work it. Yeah. It's a great thing. It's a beautiful It is a great thing and it can happen across absolutely any passion that anybody might ever have their entire lives and not really shared and manifested that in your life. And I'm just so grateful that we've had this time to talk about it, hear your story, learn more about you. Are there some ways that our listeners can get involved or things that you would recommend for them?

Yeah, I would say, you know, just, dig deep into your own heart and find out what what makes your heart beat and whether it's a place of past vulnerability or something you know outside of a lived experience kind of passion just grab a hold of it and and whether it's rotary or nomi or you know whatever it is find a way to make that passion an impactful project that can help others in similar shoes. And the result of that, I think you will find, can help with personal growth. As I mentioned, it's a win-win on both sides. You're giving back to others and what you're getting back is just as powerful.

Yeah. That's amazing. It is amazing. Wow. Well, I'm just really thrilled that our listeners are going to be able to hear your stories. So thank you so much for spending your time with us today. And, yeah, it's encouraging. Judy, thanks so much. It's been great.

And I really appreciate the opportunity to share this with you. Well, you're very welcome. You take care. Thanks so much for joining us for the Inspired Impact Podcast. To listen to past episodes, please visit the inspired impactpodcast.com.