Local wellness coach, Kayleigh Bradshaw, tells us about her business The Brighter Diaries, and how she promotes wellness in north Leeds.
Kayleigh set up her business a year ago with her sights set on helping others improve their mental health: “My business is called The Brighter Diaries, and the idea behind it is to help people rewrite their story. I created it because I have experienced anxiety and depression, so I got into mindfulness as a recovery plan. And I saw results. I’ve always had a passion for helping others and I transferred that to this project.”
Although this is Kayleigh’s first foray into the wellness industry, this isn’t the first job she’s had that allowed her to help people with their mental health: “I actually used to be a full-time barber, which is where the original name for this business came from. It used to be called The Barber Diaries. I started studying mental health alongside barbering, and then combined the two. I was a mobile barber offering haircuts and chats. I was trained by the charity Movember, who taught me how to speak to my customers about their mental health while cutting their hair, and to signpost them in the right direction for help and support.”
Eventually, Kayleigh realised that she enjoyed helping people so much that she wanted to do it in a more involved way: “I started a life coaching course, along with a mindset growth course. Essentially, I learned how to do mental health counselling. I’m not a registered counsellor, but all that really means is that I can’t diagnose people. I can still offer people support and signpost them to the right places if they need further help. Alongside doing the courses, I set up my own support group and that’s how The Brighter Diaries came about.”
Through The Brighter Diaries, Kayleigh offers support and community to those struggling with their mental health: “At the moment I’m based online and just off Street Lane, where I do support groups and wellbeing walks. The support groups take place on a Monday night. It’s a great way to start your week off right with ‘Monday night mindfulness’. In the support group I educate people about how to improve and maintain better mental health and wellbeing. As well as learning while attending the group, anyone who comes gets self-care activities to take home, so that they can keep focus in-between sessions. I charge a small fee for the sessions, just to cover my rental costs for the room.
“I’ve also started wellbeing walks which are completely free. We walk around Roundhay Park for about an hour, although people can come and go as they please. The walks are similar to the support group, except I don’t teach anything. I’m just there if anyone wants a chat or wants some company, or even if people just want to get out of the house. It’s just a confidential, non-judgmental group. Essentially, it’s a peer-support group.”
Alongside both of these services, Kayleigh also runs a free self help blog on her website: “I’m also a creative writer. At the moment, I’m working on writing my own book, which will be a self-help/romance book. Alongside doing that, I post self-help articles each week on my blog. I also post on my social media pages Monday to Friday, every single day, without fail. Those are motivational morning posts to get you going and start the day in the right way.”
To check out Kayleigh’s services visit Thebrighterdiarieswellbeinghub.com Or follow her on Facebook @thebrighterdiaries and on Instagram @ thebrighterdiarieswellbeinghub