Kaitlyn Marsh: Social Love
Kaitlyn Marsh spent years working to become the leader she is now. Growing up in Texas, Kaitlyn’s first challenge is honestly the worst: Overcoming social awkwardness. She had a rough beginning in trying to make friends, going as far as to look up how to do so on wikiHow. After breaking out of her comfort zone, or as she calls it, “Embracing the awkward”, Kaitlyn found her power in building friendships, and this would impact her going forward. This embrace of awkwardness is how she navigated through complicated, and unfamiliar situations, which made her the perfect choice for the position of Marketing Intern with Digital 4 Good + #ICANHELP, where she contributes to building a positive and uplifting environment within the internet, along with Social Media and Fundraising Intern at Breaking Taboo, an organization dedicated to preventing suicide. Kaitlyn understands the value of community, and she wants others to understand too. That said, I had to include her for the month of love.
Upon joining #ICANHELP, the founder Kim Karr took Kaitlyn under her wing and the latter learned how hard the organization works in battling negative online experiences, especially cyber-bullying. The organization has seen some rough times, and there’s no better example than the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the isolation from quarantine, the reliance on social media, livestreaming, and other virtual platforms naturally increased the rate of cyber-bullying and loneliness amongst users. “It’s just something that requires constant, constant support, constant diligence, and just making sure that students are aware of what they say online.” Kaitlyn herself had to face the effects of the pandemic, forced away from the friends she worked so hard to gain. Still, her team amongst #ICANHELP, given that it was already remote, provided her with a community of people she could trust and enjoy being around.
We talked some more about mental health awareness and her work in Breaking Taboo. The organization’s goal not just the prevention of suicide but eliminating the stigma behind it. For example, there’s wording that Kaitlyn wants to change. “Died by suicide is the more preferred way to say committed suicide… commit implies that someone’s doing something wrong. By doing that, people are less likely to talk about suicide.” To say died by suicide makes people more open to talking about it. While this statement brought polarized reception, Kaitlyn stands by it as she wants to see more conversation with such an uncomfortable topic.
We both agreed that the effects of mental illness are not always helped by the media. When they get it right, they get it right (Ted Lasso, Manchester by the Sea), but when they get it wrong, they get it very wrong (Joker, Split). I told Kaitlyn about this show called The Idol, one of the worst reviewed shows of 2023. There was an infamous line in there, “Mental illness is sexy.” Her reaction is my favorite part of the episode. Hopefully, with more people talking about mental health, we’ll see more appropriate depictions in the future.
In my last question, I asked Kaitlyn how she’s evolved since she started her journey. “I feel a lot of it is learning to be more open about my own experiences,” She replied, “If you’re trying to get other people to open up to you, it’s a lot harder for them if they don’t know you if you don’t share anything about yourself.” She wants to understand others, but to do that, she knows that people must understand her as well. Good relationships have mutual feelings and actions. Kaitlyn has transformed into a person who leads by example, and in doing so, she brings those who feel isolated out of the dark. It’s actions like these that build community and lessen tragedies.
More power to you Kaitlyn! Episode 52 out now.