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Google PlayDaniella Pierson, who founded The Newsette, a daily newsletter for women, reached out to interview Selena Gomez and her mom, Mandy Teefey in 2020 about mental health. After the conversation, they all felt a calling to utilize their stories and build something together to help millions of people. “We’ve done a lot of interviews together, and [Pierson’s] questions were just so thoughtful and insightful,” Teefey tells Complex. “When we were done talking, Selena immediately said, ‘I don’t know why, but I feel so much closer to you.’” Pierson recalls the mom and daughter being so raw and real with each other during the conversation that it prompted her to share her OCD diagnosis with them, which only her inner circle knew about. That connection and safe space is what they hope to give to others with Wondermind.
Gomez, Teefey, and Pierson teamed up to launch Wondermind, a new venture they announced in November that aims to help people discuss mental health. The three women have all dealt with their own diagnoses and struggles with mental disorders that they didn’t know how to cope with at first. Now that they have a better understanding of themselves, they are launching a multimedia digital platform to help people deal with their mental health struggles. The trio’s platform will provide free resources, tools, and exercises to help people work on their mental fitness. The first drop is a newsletter that will be delivered to subscribers’ inboxes three times a week, free of charge.
During an interview with Complex, Teefey and Pierson shared that creating this community is their passion. The same goes for Gomez who previously says her goal with Wondermind is to create a Planned Parenthood for mental health that is available to anyone. “That really sparked this lightning, at least for myself, of how can we democratize and destigmatize mental health and mental fitness for all? Not just the lucky few that can pay for therapy,” Pierson says. “It’s very expensive. There’s a lot of barriers to entry for people to even get started in the mental health space.”
