Mental Health Marketing Conference And Building A Community Of Mental Health Professionals With Steve Turney

[00:00:00] John Cordray: Believe it or not mental health professionals. We go to conferences too. and believe it or not, there's actually people who are specialized in mental health marketing. And I'm really excited about this episode and I'm gonna be talking to someone who is the executive director of the mental health marketing conference.

[00:00:20] John Cordray: I really want you to pay attention to this because even if you're not a mental health profess. Maybe you're listening to this. And you're just curious. I want you to realize that what do therapists do when they're not seeing clients? And this is one of those things we want to hone our skills and we also wanna network.

[00:00:39] John Cordray: And a big part of going to conferences is networking with other mental health professionals. That's how we. That's why this episode is really important. So if you're not a mental health professional, keep listening and, and then you'll discover some of the things that we do on our own. But if you are a mental health professional, whether you are a CEO of a [00:01:00] mental health company or a marketing in mental health field, or a licensed therapist, I want you to really pay attention because this episode, I think you're gonna really want to listen.

[00:01:11] John Cordray: Well, that's what we're gonna talk about this episode is the mental health marketing conference and building community of mental health professionals with Steve Turner. Coming up. 

[00:01:22] John Cordray: Welcome back to The mental Health Today Show.

[00:01:23] John Cordray: Show my name is John Cordray and I am a licensed therapist and the host of this show. And I am very, very happy that you are here, that you're listening to this show. I have a very special guest that I am very excited to introduce to you and talk about. And like I said, at the very beginning, Those of us in the mental health profession, we need to be able to network and go to things like a conference to encourage one another, to learn new skills.

[00:01:51] John Cordray: There's a lot of transferable skills that may not be necessarily mental health skills, but they're transferable skills like marketing, for instance, [00:02:00] a lot of therapists who have a private practice, they have to learn to market themselves. I had to, when I had a private practice, I had to figure this stuff out and it was something that we're not taught in.

[00:02:11] John Cordray: So having a conference like the mental health marketing conference is a huge, huge plus for us. Well, I'm gonna get right to it. Steve is an executive director of the mental health marketing conference. It's a two day event that is happening this November that builds a community of mental health professionals and marketers.

[00:02:33] John Cordray: The conference educates about consumer marketing. So mental and behavioral health organizations can reach more people. Which is really what we want. Steve has worked across a range of verticals, including a complex healthcare industry and within a full service marketing agencies, SAS based startups. And he has worked at leading press release distribution firm in the country.

[00:02:57] John Cordray: Ah, that's awesome. Steve, welcome [00:03:00] to the show, 

[00:03:01] Steve Turney: John. Thanks for having me here. 

[00:03:03] John Cordray: Oh, absolutely. My pleasure. I'm very excited. So I've gone to a lot of conferences over the years. A lot of the conferences, if they're mental health conferences, they're, they're mainly just learning about various mental health techniques, but I don't think I've ever been to a mental health marketing conference.

[00:03:21] John Cordray: I've been to marketing conferences, but not something specifically for mental health marketing. And it really, really caught my attention. And I cannot wait to go. And I just love meeting people, but it's in my field. So tell me a little bit about mental health marketing conference and how did you get involved 

[00:03:40] Steve Turney: in it?

[00:03:41] Steve Turney: Yeah, so you're right. It's a real specific segment of the market, sort of an overlay of mental health and marketing and. It's not for everybody, but for the people who it's for, they just really love it. We do try to, you know, provide a [00:04:00] real unique experience, everything from the venue, you know, the people we attract to talk and present and be on panels.

[00:04:08] Steve Turney: But it's fascinating. My first conference that I went to and, and worked on for the mental health marketing conference was 2019. And like, you I've been to hundreds. And hundreds of conferences, they run together a little bit after a while. So we this one stand out. But on day one, I watched it take on a life of its own and it was like watching an airplane fly away without me.

[00:04:37] Steve Turney: And it was all because of the community that we've. Intentionally built over the last six years that we've been doing this conference and it didn't start with me. I give credit to Austin Harrison, who's the founder of the conference. And he. Had some serious relationships with [00:05:00] people and he sort of discovered along the way that he needed to learn more about mental health and I'll let him sort of tell his own story.

[00:05:08] Steve Turney: He'd be a great interview by the way, if you ever wanna bring him on too. But the way I got involved was. Just to tell you the short story. When I, when I turned 40, I, I went to a monastery and used it as just a way to sort of mark that milestone in my life in an important way, and be intentional about some writing and some thinking.

[00:05:29] Steve Turney: And while I was there, I, I just had a real transformative experience that left me with the message of help people in need. And it was. That slice of the pie chart in my life was not as full as I realized it maybe should or could be. So I came home from that week and started to just in kind of rudimentary ways, try to help people.

[00:05:59] Steve Turney: So [00:06:00] it looked like things like, you know, stopping on the road and helping somebody fill up their gas tank instead of driving by on my way to work. When we used to drive to. And then along the way, I realized that this is good work and that one person I really needed to help was myself. So under the guise of career guidance, I signed up with a licensed professional counselor in the Nashville market, and I learned so much about shame and masks and.

[00:06:34] Steve Turney: Owning my missteps and how to move forward. And it moved me along with the monastery experience toward what I call the creative path and away from what I had been on, which I call the competitive path. And that has a lot to do with scarcity versus abundance. But it also has to do with where creativity resonates from in feeling, which is sort of.[00:07:00] 

[00:07:00] Steve Turney: Really powerful emotion that, that is rooted in happiness, really. And so I was having coffee with Austin one day and he was talking about the heavy lift of this conference that he had founded and the words just fell outta my mouth. Like how can I help? And so. You know, I had been booking sponsors for a really strategic marketing firm in Nashville, and I had been booking speakers for the communication professional associations in town.

[00:07:32] Steve Turney: And so it made perfect sense to line up with how I could lean into the, the conference and help him. And that's how I got involved in late 20 18, 

[00:07:41] John Cordray: 20 18. Wow. That sounds like such a long time ago. 

[00:07:47] Steve Turney: You're right. It is a long time ago. I think it's coming up on maybe five years. So yeah, my birthday's in November and this conversation happened in December and it was just a perfect fit.

[00:07:59] Steve Turney: And then [00:08:00] we we teamed up and started working on the 2019 conference and we were pretty successful in growing it a little bit, which is what we wanted to do. We wanted to grow it a little bit and then 2020 rolled around and. We were really in a growth mode and then COVID happened. And so we pivoted to a fully virtual event.

[00:08:26] Steve Turney: And in 2019, I think we maybe attracted, you know, somewhere between two and 300 people. And in 2020 we attracted more than 700 people and it was all virtual. So that was. Blessing in disguise in terms of growing our audience and our opt-in database to talk some marketing speak, but to just build the community in a new way.

[00:08:51] Steve Turney: And then 2021, there was sort of a resurgence at the wrong time and we ended up postponing the conference. So we've rolled that over into [00:09:00] 2022. And that was of course a challenging sort. Valley as I would put it in the experience of running a conference and we've come out of that with some really great advice and friends from mentors and more momentum than we've ever had for the event.

[00:09:20] Steve Turney: So it's an exciting year for us and. We're charging toward November, doing everything we can to dot all the I, as they do in conference planning mode. And we're real excited about what we have coming up. Well, I'm excited 

[00:09:34] John Cordray: about attending and some of the speakers that you mentioned to me earlier, very excited about that are you to say some of the speakers that are gonna be.

[00:09:47] Steve Turney: Yes, well, first you are gonna be there and I love that you're going to be doing a continuing education course. Part of this is that we're gonna offer a good number of continuing education units and S [00:10:00] that therapists mental health professionals can knock off some of those hours if they need, even if it's a virtual ticket, you can do either online or in person.

[00:10:10] Steve Turney: But you're also gonna be doing some coaching around one minute marketing videos, which I think is super exciting, but yes, we can talk about some of the, the big names. I think that's where we invest. Most of the time early in planning, the conference is around the agenda and the topics. And we do cover a lot of topics this year, including mergers and acquisitions, which may.

[00:10:37] Steve Turney: Fall under the umbrella of marketing per se, but definitely under market strategy and how we're thinking about and experimenting with driving more mental health access. And we can see that is a big conversation today with, with the clinical volumes available and this pent up demand that we're uncovering as marketing [00:11:00] gets smarter.

[00:11:00] Steve Turney: And as we're able to. Reduce stigma and drive engagement around mental health and mental illness. So one thing we're focusing big on is what we might call in marketing, speak segments. You might think of it as communities or cultures or groups, various groups of people that even though we are seeing an increase of mental health, awareness and engagement, there are still stigmas.

[00:11:29] Steve Turney: There are still certain cultures. You know, you can look at LGBTQ plus you can look at BI. You can look at perhaps the Asian community as some examples. Musicians in Nashville, you know, musicians have a tremendous struggle, especially professional musicians with some mental health issues. And another segment that we're really focused on is youth and mental illness.

[00:11:53] Steve Turney: So we're excited to announce that we have Dr. Jessica DeVito from [00:12:00] YouTube, and she's going to present at our closing fireside chat. She is the global head of mental health. And I spoke with Dr. DeVito on Monday actually. And she just stunned me with her expertise, which I, I planned on, but she's just so eloquent and so thoughtful and so experienced in the topic of gen Z, especially is what we talked a lot about and content creation and how to reach youth and teens, where they are today through.

[00:12:35] Steve Turney: Pushing content to the right places to kind of meet them where they are. So she's gonna be talking with Eric ERs, who is one of the directors of the PBS documentary hiding in plain sight, which is also about child and youth mental illness. And he and his brother, Christopher Lauren ERs, where the directors on that, that's a Ken burns documentary, which you're probably very familiar if you're out in the [00:13:00] audience listening.

[00:13:01] Steve Turney: So they're gonna be having a conversation and. We may have one or two more surprises join that fireside chat. But those are some of the closing voices that you'll hear at the end of the second day. 

[00:13:13] John Cordray: Oh, whoa. All right. So I am stoked about that, Dr. DeVito. I mean, we're talking YouTube here and what I love about this is that YouTube is really seeing the need to reach the young population because of the mental health crisis.

[00:13:33] John Cordray: Yeah, 

[00:13:33] Steve Turney: they are. Yeah, go ahead. In 

[00:13:35] John Cordray: what better place than the mental health marketing conference to bring into big names and brands like YouTube and bring in the mental health professionals. And let's talk about how can we combine both of our strengths to reach this generation who needs it the most and that's the gen Z population.

[00:13:56] John Cordray: Yeah. 

[00:13:56] Steve Turney: Yeah, it is. And a couple [00:14:00] interesting points that she talked about as you were talking. Sort of rang the bell for me around one was safety. You know, what can we do online to make sure that these platforms are a, a safe place that youth can go because they're going there. And she had some real insights, which I'll definitely defer to her to speak to.

[00:14:22] Steve Turney: And two, it was about how can we continue to build. Communities. And those two ideas went hand in hand community and safety online. And I think they are thinking about it in some really forward thinking unique ways that is gonna lead us toward more progress in that area, which we know we need. And. I'm excited to hear more of her perspective on that.

[00:14:50] Steve Turney: And then just hear Eric and Jessica riff on youth and mental health is also gonna be somebody from embark behavioral health [00:15:00] and their foundation, which is really. Just aggressively going to address the issue of youth and teen and child mental health and mental illness. And that's gonna be a voice that we're going to, to mix into the conversation there too.

[00:15:15] Steve Turney: I don't know who exactly from their staff is gonna be a part of that, but they've got a tremendous roster of experts that they could pull from. So that's gonna be a, a third voice. So that's what we try to do is let's attract experts and. We have a long list of those and then just be a speaker friendly and attendee friendly conference.

[00:15:35] Steve Turney: So, you know, we're not necessarily the, the stodgy not to down talk on any conferences, but you're not gonna get that, that vibe from this event, we are still an up and coming and growing conference. And so I think you get sort of a, an indie. But you get to really directly access the sponsors and the speakers and the other attendees.

[00:15:59] Steve Turney: And [00:16:00] that is an interesting mix of clinical professionals, marketing agencies. There are technology companies that are interested in, in how can we market in new and different ways using consumer marketing. There's some private equity groups. There are big health systems that show up HCA healthcare is a sponsor, and we're excited about that through their Tristar division.

[00:16:23] Steve Turney: And, you know, we've got a real mix of, you know, we have the COO of mental health. America of the Mid-South is presenting Jackie Kavana along. David Bohan from Bohan in Nashville, if you're familiar with that advertising and marketing firm. So it's, it's a real mix and we love that aspect of it too. 

[00:16:45] John Cordray: Hmm, love it.

[00:16:46] John Cordray: You know, it reminds me of when I, when I first became a, a therapist back in 2007 and it's when I really started thinking about how can I bring my undergrad in radio and TV production. [00:17:00] How can I bring that and marriage that into mental health? Hmm. And it wasn't until years later that I learned about this new, new discovery of podcasting in 2015 is when I launched my 

[00:17:15] Steve Turney: podcast.

[00:17:16] Steve Turney: Wow. How many episodes have you done hundreds? 

[00:17:19] John Cordray: Definitely over a hundred. And, and there've been times I took a break as well because of just life, but, but I love it. Especially now I'm interviewing more and more professionals. I get to meet some incredible people like yourself and it's a great medium.

[00:17:36] John Cordray: And I just remember back in 2015, when I launched my podcast, I had no idea if anybody would listen. Yeah. You know, it's just some therapist rambling on about mental health, but the media of podcasting exploded and many people listened. And now we're talking about bringing in these brands coming in [00:18:00] because mental health let's just face it.

[00:18:02] John Cordray: We're in a crisis. And it is huge right now with the younger population, but also the older population. We have a national crisis, a shortage of mental health professionals. So we've got to use what we have available to us and that's media. And so to be able to merge the marketing and media with mental health, to me, it makes a total sense to do 

[00:18:29] Steve Turney: good for you too, to just to jump in and, and to be, you said 20, 15, you got started with this.

[00:18:34] Steve Turney: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that is really early on and it's, it's still true that there is not enough. Great content out there. You know, whether it's the shows on your favorite streaming providers or what have you, or the people you listen to on your social media feeds, there are some people that are doing an amazing job and they really stand out.

[00:18:57] Steve Turney: I think you really stand out in that way [00:19:00] because you are a conduit of great content and we don't have enough of that. And I. Audiences really eat it up. And I'm sure it sounds like you were maybe surprised that people were listening to you and I'm, I'm not surprised because I think, you know, this is the kind of content we need as much as we can get out there.

[00:19:20] Steve Turney: You're exactly 

[00:19:21] John Cordray: right. And I was surprised. I didn't know. I mean, back then, podcasting really wasn't a thing like it is now. So it's very, very fun. Very. So tell me, Steve, you mentioned November is the conference. Can you mention the date and the location where it's gonna be this year? 

[00:19:39] Steve Turney: Yes, absolutely. So it's November 15 and 16, which is a Tuesday and Wednesday.

[00:19:45] Steve Turney: So I encourage people to get there on Monday and leave on Thursday or stay the weekend, which is Nashville. You can't have more fun than Nashville, Tennessee in the fall, easy flight, [00:20:00] whether you're on west coast or east coast, we have people coming. Brooklyn, they bought tickets last week and we have speakers coming from California and Alaska and everywhere in between Florida.

[00:20:12] Steve Turney: And. They're coming nationally, which is another exciting trend in the analytics that we're seeing is this has moved from a regional conversation in the first couple, few years to a, a national conversation. And it's in east Nashville, which Vogue called it the coolest neighborhood in Nashville. And I agree it's an up and coming neighborhood and we're doing the.

[00:20:36] Steve Turney: Two day event at Riverside revival is what it's called, which is formerly a church that has been purchased by a gentleman named George Bodecker, who. I think is the founder of CROX the shoe company. Oh, that's cool. That is now all the rage. I don't own a pair, but I should, I'm just not cool enough now to, to buy them, but [00:21:00] he bought that venue and it it's eventually the vision is for it to be a premier music venue in Nashville, and that's gonna be really cool, but he also has somebody who works with him.

[00:21:12] Steve Turney: Deborah Martinez, who is an amazing interior designer. And you gotta see this place. I mean, they went at it with lights and sound equipment and video capabilities. It's a beautiful venue. They've got a giant mural on the outside. Just to kind of paint a picture of the place and it's gonna be quite a venue.

[00:21:33] Steve Turney: And then there's this wonderful courtyard out front where people are gonna hang out, get some fresh air, have some coffee and conversation and talk with our sponsors and things like that. Oh man, I can't 

[00:21:44] John Cordray: wait. Can't wait. I got my tickets. I'm coming from St. Louis. So it's gonna be like an hour flight for me.

[00:21:51] John Cordray: So that's gonna be cool. 

[00:21:53] Steve Turney: That's awesome. And then we do have an online version for anybody who would just opt or prefer for the online version. You [00:22:00] get access to all the same content. So we're gonna be streaming live every main stage presentation, and every presentation is main stage. And then the only thing you miss out on is, well, they're gonna miss on out on your one minute marketing video expertise, perhaps, although maybe we can facilitate that online, they will get access to the S through the, the platform.

[00:22:23] Steve Turney: You'll be able to network with the speakers and the attendees like normal. The one thing you won't be able to do is something we call Tryon therapy, which. A fascinating experience that actually launched out of a, an early mental health marketing conference. And it's sort of the idea of making sure we're, we're eating our own dog.

[00:22:44] Steve Turney: Food is one way to put it, but another way to put it is making sure that we are living this experience and providing an open door and access for somebody who attends the conference. Maybe. You know, an excellent marketer, but perhaps they've never, you [00:23:00] know, experienced therapy. And so in a private onboarding session with a clinical professional, they can experience what it would be like to begin the process of therapy.

[00:23:12] Steve Turney: And that's an exciting experience that is totally unique. I think out there in the world. I love it. 

[00:23:19] John Cordray: That is unique in the therapist of me. It's like, yes, this is gonna be a great conference. I love it. 

[00:23:26] Steve Turney: It's gonna be great. Yeah. That's the brainchild of Erica Kessie. And, and to your point about media too, there is a lack of clinicians.

[00:23:35] Steve Turney: I think there are interesting companies that are trying to solve for that, you know, as we drive awareness up, I think that we can also. Incentivize the market to fully solve for access by revealing the depth of the need that we have. I think that's kind of the moment in time that we're in right now is, oh my goodness, [00:24:00] we have more mental health issues than maybe we even knew.

[00:24:05] Steve Turney: And so once you have the demand in place, then supply can meet that and we are gonna have. Solve for supply and payment as well is another big challenge that we have. So we're focused on sort of the, the one leg out of the three-legged stool and that would be awareness and engagement, but you know, there's also.

[00:24:27] Steve Turney: People in the world who, you know, they may not have the social determinant of health or biological challenges or, or barriers in their way. You know, they may have financial means to therapy and they may just not have done it yet. And that was me. I was fortunate to be in that position a few years ago and it was life changing for me.

[00:24:49] Steve Turney: So if we reach a few people. Wherever they are, whatever life situation, and, and can increase access and awareness to mental health. We've [00:25:00] done great work. I think 

[00:25:02] John Cordray: I totally agree. And that was my mindset. When I first started my, my podcast, if I could make a difference in a few people's lives, then it's all worth it.

[00:25:11] John Cordray: Yeah. And that's how I look about this conference. And I think you said this earlier. Probably most people who are listening to this has been to a conference mm-hmm and maybe it's been kind of dry and boring and you don't really get to meet people and it's lecture, lecture, lecture, lecture, and then you go home.

[00:25:30] John Cordray: Yeah. But this is going to be much different and yes, we're gonna have a lot great speakers, but the focus is really mental health. Yes. It's marketing, but the main focus of why we're doing this the big, why is mental. And you mentioned access and media now has provided tremendous access to professionals.

[00:25:54] John Cordray: There are a lot of different therapists who are using media in amazing ways, [00:26:00] whether it's TikTok, YouTube, Facebook podcast, and they're out there and we want to help them. And we want, there are a lot more that are wanting to do it. Maybe they don't know how. 

[00:26:14] Steve Turney: Yeah, you're right. I mean, they're seeing an opportunity to, in some cases, hang out a shingle and open their office.

[00:26:22] Steve Turney: And, you know, I see these comments on LinkedIn where biggest and most active on LinkedIn, just because of the B2B nature of our conversation. And I see it all the time that people are still discovering the conference, but it's in the context of what their needs are, which is they may be a new therapist and they may not know a lot about web design or PR or, or even promoting their best and highest.

[00:26:50] Steve Turney: Sort of clinical or licensure use, for example, you know how to attract people that you can best help and then how to drive a powerful referral network [00:27:00] to people and professionals that can help otherwise. So there is that, and I mean, just today, actually in real time, a couple hours before this. I had a colleague reach out to me, a person by the name of Andrew and Andrew is a PR pro and he is working with a teletherapy or telehealth, you know, organization focused on behavioral health and mental health.

[00:27:27] Steve Turney: And. He wasn't doing that when he and I worked at an agency, a creative agency together, and he's moved into the field and quite a few of my colleagues from that one marketing agency have gone into behavioral health. Some of them are on the clinical side of, you know, helping out an organization. That's more clinical with traditional offices and, and some have gone into really creative, like virtual reality experiences.

[00:27:56] Steve Turney: And we're looking at it from every angle, but it's exciting to [00:28:00] see more professionals hopping into the behavioral space, the behavioral health space, and, you know, a lot of those people just from my own experience are wonderful marketers and, you know, public relations experts and the. They also need a course on the language of mental health and the language of addiction and some of that fundamental table stakes that it's gonna take to communicate really well out in the market.

[00:28:28] John Cordray: Absolutely. As you were just talking there, I was just thinking and wondering who is the target market for the conference? Like who can come, who can attend? Yeah, 

[00:28:39] Steve Turney: I mean, based on some of the presenters we have, I think almost anybody would benefit, but we really do zoom in on a couple audiences. One is the mental health professional and the clinician.

[00:28:52] Steve Turney: They might be a solopreneur. They might have a small office, maybe a couple clinicians or therapists, and they're [00:29:00] wearing a lot of hats. And one of those hats is marketing and that hat typically falls off sometimes. So even though we have an access challenge today, it doesn't mean. Things don't move in waves and that we're going to creatively solve for that.

[00:29:16] Steve Turney: And that there will come a time maybe in the near future, when that has changed the dynamic of the marketplace and the competitive space, some of that could be through, you know, franchised organizations coming into your own community or your network. I mean, there's a lot of different opportunities for us to solve for access.

[00:29:35] Steve Turney: And I think a lot of people are creatively thinking about that. Then we have. Regional executive directors or regional directors who may have three to 5, 7, 8 offices that they're overseeing. And their marketing challenge is they may or may not have a full-time marketing person yet. And they get a lot out of the conference and we do [00:30:00] provide some business strategy, business level conversations, like the M and a conversation and others.

[00:30:06] Steve Turney: And then we have a lot. Full time, marketers, VPs of marketing, who are at some of the larger organizations. I mentioned embark behavioral is gonna be there. Centerstone is a sponsor. We have other organizations in Nashville. We have quite a few, but from across the country that come and they oftentimes send their marketing team and their PR team.

[00:30:31] Steve Turney: And then we get, like I said, people from health systems and that's often. Interesting group because mental health and behavioral health has been so siloed from, you know, the biological health concerns that most health systems and hospitals are, are trying to be their best at. And, and this is sort of a, a secondary or tertiary kind of concern off to the side and I'm.

[00:30:57] Steve Turney: I'm a big believer that mind health and [00:31:00] body health are very interconnected. And so they're exploring how to bring mental health into the fold. And that might be a marketer or, or somebody on the strategy side, thinking about it more from an operational or strategy product mix, if you will. So, and then we have the national associations, like NAMI.

[00:31:21] Steve Turney: Attended and they've presented in the past and MHA will be there as I mentioned, and, and those organizations too. Wow. Wow. 

[00:31:31] John Cordray: Wow. Wow. Can't wait. So time is of the essence right now, and I know there is an early bird to get the, the best rate. Can you tell us a little bit when that is? 

[00:31:42] Steve Turney: Yes. So the first thing I would say, and thank you for teeing that up, that's an important point to hit on.

[00:31:48] Steve Turney: And one, I would forget otherwise, but don't be fooled by the low prices is what I would say. So compared to a typical conference with this kind of content and networking opportunities, [00:32:00] we do try to keep the price low. That's been something Austin set from the very beginning and it had a heart to it, which was, Hey, if there's a therapist out there, who's kind of struggling with social media or their website.

[00:32:13] Steve Turney: We don't wanna price anybody out of this. And so we do that. The digital only experience is $89 for all the content. Anybody who attends gets a digital access pass, that they can revisit the content for. Let's see until February 14, which I think is trying to do the math in my head three months after the conference might be two months, sorry.

[00:32:39] Steve Turney: And then we have in person tickets that are early bird discounted for a nonprofit it's $149 for a, for profit early bird ticket. It's $245, and those discounts are good through. September 30. And then if you are, you know, a last minute purchase or you [00:33:00] just wanna wait and see, then the prices do go up a little bit for the nonprofit standard rate, you know, day of, or, you know, anytime in October, it's 2 29 and then the, for profit standard rate after October one is two 80.

[00:33:15] John Cordray: Well, that's still very reasonable, but you don't wanna wait. You don't wanna wait. You wanna get in on the early 

[00:33:20] Steve Turney: bird? Yes. I think we're gonna drop some exciting things. That's that are, it's gonna create a little bit of FOMO. So hopefully that's the case, but tickets are selling and selling well. So if you're thinking about it don't yeah, I would encourage you not to wait the last minute.

[00:33:34] Steve Turney: The venue is beautiful, but you know, there is a limit on seating there, so right. Yeah. Don't don't wait till the last second. Yeah. Great 

[00:33:42] John Cordray: advice on that. Well, Steve, as we start to wrap up here, one of the things I like to ask, all of my guests is about self-care. Mm. And I talk about self-care all the time.

[00:33:58] John Cordray: And I, I love [00:34:00] hearing from different people what they do for selfcare. So can you tell us what, what are some things that you do for 

[00:34:06] Steve Turney: self-care? Wow, that's a fun question. I think. The first thing that comes to mind for myself as somebody who is sort of newly going down this creative path, what I call the creative path, and it's not necessarily creative design or, or graphics or anything.

[00:34:25] Steve Turney: It's about creating value and creating things that maybe solve problems for other people and doing that in a net positive way. And the thing that jumps to my mind first is that. Since January of this year, I've written a poem every day. And, Hmm. I, I don't know if they're great poems. I don't know if they're terrible poems.

[00:34:49] Steve Turney: I, I do go back and edit them, but I try to do it in the morning and I use it as a way sort of to. Flush out my [00:35:00] head and just clear my head. Maybe get those thoughts that are rolling around out there. And that's been a neat exercise. So I think I'm on I'm into the two hundreds for sure. Ah, with poetry. And I do feel like it's improving, which is neat to see.

[00:35:16] Steve Turney: I do try to exercise, not every day. I feel like you can be pretty efficient with that in most cases. And so I, I do try to stay up on that, but as a. As a father and a husband and working professional, I, I can empathize with anybody who lets their workouts slip mm-hmm and then, you know, family time for me, loneliness is a, is another sort of silent killer, unfortunately.

[00:35:44] Steve Turney: And, and making sure we're around our friends and our families and people who. You know, net net, it's a, it's a positive to be around people who are a, a good influence in our lives. So I, I try to be intentional about that. But that's, that's a neat question and I, I'm sure I'm [00:36:00] missing some things, but that's what comes to mind first.

[00:36:02] John Cordray: Now I, I love it. I love the fact that you are so diligent in writing poems. I think you should turn that into a book of poem. 

[00:36:10] Steve Turney: That's that's the idea. Yeah, it's the idea is that I'll write for 365 days and then starting next year, I will write one in the morning and then I'll go back to January one. Let's say from the previous year, and I will edit that one and kind of finalize it.

[00:36:29] Steve Turney: So after a couple years, I hope to have, if not 365, Maybe it's 100 or maybe it's 50. That jump out to me is worthy of sharing. But I do, I do have a long term goal of publishing some kind of book. So that's funny, you mentioned that, cuz that is, that is a dream. 

[00:36:48] John Cordray: I love it. Very, very cool. Well, people are listening to this.

[00:36:52] John Cordray: I would love for you to give the website to the mental health marketing conference so they can learn and see a little more [00:37:00] and, and even purchase the 

[00:37:00] Steve Turney: tickets there. Awesome. Yeah. Thank you. It's M as in mental, H as in health marketing.org, so M H marketing.org is the URL. And then again, We're really busy on LinkedIn, lots of neat ways to connect with people who are raising their hand to say they're going.

[00:37:21] Steve Turney: And I would just search mental health marketing conference on that platform. If you're on it and follow us there too. 

[00:37:28] John Cordray: Perfect. Well, I just really want to thank you for coming on and sharing with us, your heart, your passion, your vision for the mental health marketing conference. And just wanted to, to let everybody know that everything about the conference will be on the show notes.

[00:37:45] John Cordray: So you can get all of that right there. You don't have to memorize it in case you're driving or doing something that you don't wanna pull over for. And you're worried that you'll. But just go to the mental health today, show.com and you can see right in the show notes, all of [00:38:00] the information that you need to learn more about the conference.

[00:38:04] John Cordray: Steve. Thanks again. I really appreciate you. I'm really looking forward to this conference and I'm also looking forward to getting to know you better as well. 

[00:38:11] Steve Turney: Yeah. You know, we didn't know each other last year and that's how this happens is one by one. But thank you for having me on I've really enjoyed it.

[00:38:19] John Cordray: You're absolutely welcome my pleasure. Well, this is the end of the episode. I want to thank all of you for tuning in and listening to this. You, you might not be going to this conference, but I thought it would be really interesting for you to listen and hear. Just really, what do other therapists do to really try to help as many people as possible.

[00:38:42] John Cordray: And, and, and I'm sure, you know, it's marketing, we've gotta put ourself out there. We have to learn how to do that. And we're not taught how to do that in school. Conferences like this is tremendous. And then also building a community and networking with others is huge. Well, thank you so much, everyone [00:39:00] for listening, and I want to continue to encourage you to work on your mental health.

[00:39:04] John Cordray: And remember the mental health today show has been championing your mental health since 2015.