Liz Beecroft is a practicing mental health therapist and licensed social worker residing in New York. She has grown a large following on social media through the crossing over of her therapy practice and passion for sneaker culture and basketball. Liz is also the founder of MENTL, a space that advocates and educates around matters of mental health and wellbeing.
Mental health is super important and awareness around it has become increasingly high during a pandemic. As more people start to understand how much mental health matters, what are 5 mental wellness or self care routines people can try to help them through their day to day?
Listen to your body and your mind. If you need to rest, rest.
Try and get outside. Get fresh air and exercise. You'll build up endorphins which will help with your mood.
Be mindful of what you’re putting in your body. Unhealthy food and drinks can leave lasting effects leading to depression.
Mindfulness is key. It doesn't always have to be meditation but something that forces you to focus in that moment - ex baking or cleaning.
Check in with your support system. Stay connected in the best ways you can with your friends and family.
You’ve done a number of collaborations with some well known brands where the partnership was centred around mental health awareness & giving back. What do you think are 5 important things brands can/should do to advocate for these causes all year round?
Keep in mind that mental health is 24/7-365. Don't just highlight it for the big mental health holidays to be relevant at that time.
Start from within. Brands needs to practice what they preach. Employees need to be trained on how to identify symptoms and know when to take breaks. Brands also need to give resources to their employees to help them when they need it.
Consult with professionals if you’re going to talk about mental health. There is right & wrong language that can be used and it's important for brands to be cognizant of that.
Understand your resources. Have some component of giving back. Thing about what this is actually doing for mental health outside of just saying it's for mental health.
Similar to the previous point but consider a giveback piece. Donate to a non-profit with the earnings.
What are your top 5 sneakers in your rotation right now and why?
Reebok Question Mid. I'm from Pennsylvania and Allen Iverson is my all-time favourite.
Reebok Answer 5. I remember buying that pair in a Mens 9 when I was younger. It was way too big but I didn't care. It was still super cool to me.
Jordan 17. In 5th grade I was begging my parents for this pair from the Eastbay magazines. They got them for me in the summer but by the time school started I had already grown out of them [laughs]. Funny enough I got gifted a pair last Christmas so it was a really cool full circle moment.
Adidas T-Mac 2 "All Star Pack". Love T-Mac and love these shoes.
Jordan 1. It's a classic and there are so many good colourways.
You’re no stranger to the court and we know basketball is a big part of your life. Who are your top 5 basketball players (dead or alive)?
Allen Iverson
Jason Kidd
Dikembe Mutombo - I met him on a Disney cruise in 7th grade [laughs].
Shawn Kemp
Michael Jordan - As an AI fan I didn't love Jordan growing up but he's gotta be in my top 5.
Mental health is sometimes seen as a touchy subject but you’ve made it a very accessible and inclusive topic for others by merging information with creative design and sneaker culture. Where do you find inspiration and what are 5 resources or tools that you look to to expand your knowledge?
I look at who I am as a person. Mental health doesn't always have to be pink and green pastels (not hating on pastels!). I want my information sharing to reflect what I'm thinking. I linked up with Christian Gonzalez for MENTL. He understands me and mental health a lot and is super open about it and such a good help for me to get my thoughts out.
The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) & colleagues in the space that have similar interests.
Alyssa Petersel is awesome! She founded a great site called MyWellbeing which helps match patients with the right therapists.
Non-profits like the JED Foundation are always inspiring and very great resources.
What are five brands that you think are doing great things for mental health and self care that you’d love to work with?
Chintatown Market - They're awesome and I'd like to work with them to add credibility to their mental health work.
Brain Dead. Such a great brand. They're awesome.
Disney - they don't talk about mental health but I love Disney and think that’d be really cool
New Balance
And for #5, I have 6 more people who are all dope haha
Jerry Lorenzo
Salehe Bembury
Jeff Staple
Billy Eilish
Lil Dicky
Post Malone (his album is about leaving LA because it was superficial). Lots of mental health references in there!