Riding their mountain bikes through the rugged terrain of Northern Utah, Tom Telford and Preston Niederhauser’s conversations frequently turned to mental health. They noticed mental health struggles becoming more prevalent among people they knew, from the teens they coached on the high school mountain bike team to friends and family.
“On regular basis, we started to hear about mental health tragedies,” Telford said. “Suicide became a consistent dialogue for us.”
That got the wheels spinning. How could they share the simple, yet profound message: you matter? More specifically, how could they deliver this message to teens?
Their answer: change the conversation around mental health. In February 2023, they launched the BrainStoke podcast to tell the inspiring stories of ordinary people and how they cope positively with life’s stressors and challenges.
“Instead of people paying attention to their mental health and coming to get help when they are broken, we wanted a proactive approach,” Telford said.
Through the podcast and its social media channels, they aim to make the science of the brain appealing by adding a factor of “stoke,” which they define as doing things you’re passionate about.
Guests talk about the “stoke” of activities like racing mountain bikes or running a ski resort, alongside the struggles they’ve faced in their lives. One episode, for example, is about the healing power of starting a mountain bike team in the Hildale, Utah, area where children hadn’t had access to organized sports for many years. Another episode features a legally blind high school mountain bike athlete.
At the end of each episode, guests are asked what they strive to do in their habits and routine to get their daily “DOSE,” an acronym for the feel-good hormones dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins.
“What we’re trying to do in our conversations is to help listeners connect the dots,” Telford said. “Everybody faces struggle, and the struggle is the very thing that gets you to stoke.”
Telford, an entrepreneur who has built and sold several companies, became engulfed in the mental health space when his wife, Liza Telford, went back to school to become a licensed marriage and family therapist. That led to the couple purchasing part of Aspire Counseling Network and then launching Aspire Medical, later rebranded LÉVO. LÉVO is now a sponsor of the podcast.
Through BrainStoke, Telford and Niederhauser aim to reach adults, especially parents, so they can better support the mental health of their children and teens. One year and more than 30 episodes in, the podcast is doing just that. In 2023, BrainStoke landed among the top 25% of all podcasts.
For teens who may not listen to an hour-long podcast, the BrainStoke team serves up mental health tips through 20-second YouTube or Instagram reels pulled from the podcast. A recent clip garnered 2.5 million views. And in less than a year, the podcast’s Instagram presence has grown to more than 13,200 followers.
The goal, Niederhauser said, is that teens will absorb these messages and believe that they, too, can overcome challenges.
“We want them to understand that they matter, that they have worth and value, so they don’t want to give up,” he said.
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