Mandi Dickey is a Board Certified Nurse Practitioner with experience in healthcare since 1999. She is a four-time Top Nurse Practitioner award winner, received the Faculty Excellence award in her previous role of nursing professor, has been on the review committee for several nursing textbooks, was the recipient of the Women of Armor Personal Growth award for 2023, was listed in Marquis Who’s Who in 2024, and was the recipient of the Elinor D. Hands Award from the MN Brain Injury Alliance in 2025. In 2022, Mandi began her own podcast called Brain Wellness – the Podcast, initially covering a multitude of topics related to brain health and wellness and transitioning toward mostly brain injury topics since 2024, and has been a guest on multiple other podcasts. She has also presented at numerous local, regional, and state conferences. Additionally, she is an invited speaker for both national and global conferences in 2026.In 2023, Mandi was in a car accident and experienced a traumatic brain injury. She has merged knowledge gained from personal experience with her healthcare education to provide a unique brand of concussion care in her current practice as a brain injury Nurse Practitioner at Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology. She is an Ambassador for the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center, an elected Board Member for the MN Brain Injury Alliance, and Certified Brain Injury Specialist through the Brain Injury Association of America.

Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/ Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp

Dr. Amy Coopersmith, OTD, OTR/L, MA Ed, FAOTA is an internationally recognized occupational therapist, educator, researcher, speaker, and children's author who has dedicated more than 30 years to helping youth become confident, capable, and self-determined. Dr. Coopersmith's groundbreaking research and published scholarly work focus on self-determination—the ability to make choices, solve problems, set goals, and believe in yourself. She is the founder of Self Determined Kids, creator of the Captain Me educational program and the Self-Determination Strategies Toolkit, and author of the award-winning children's book I'm Stuck. Through her engaging presentations, practical resources, and passion for empowering youth, parents, educators, and therapists, Dr. Coopersmith is changing the way we think about helping individuals move from dependence to independence.

Find Amy at: https://www.selfdeterminedkids.com/

Email: amycoopersmithotd@gmail.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dramycoopersmith/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/selfdeterminedkids/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrAmyCoopersmith

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@captainmekids

Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/

Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp

Kristin McKenzie is an AVM and stroke survivor, former scare actor and video director working every day to recover from a life altering incident and bring awareness to aneurysm & stroke symptoms to save others from a condition that almost ended her life in 2024.

Find Kristin at:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kristinstrong24

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckenzii/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristinwillis?mibextid=wwXIfr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krwillis/

Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/

Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp

Dr. Saara Haapanen is a performance psychologist, keynote speaker, executive performance coach, and founder of Performance is Haapanen. With a PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology, a background as an international-level athlete, and more than 26 years of coaching experience, she helps high-achieving humans improve motivation, energy, focus, and follow-through without burning themselves out. Her work blends performance science, wellness, motivation, ADHD-informed strategies, and real-life behavior change. She has worked with executives, physicians, entrepreneurs, educators, athletes, and organizations across the U.S., Canada, and Finland, including Denver Public Schools, Jefferson County Public Schools, UCHealth, Correctional Health Partners, the American Heart Association, and the Salvation Army. Dr. Saara served two terms on the Colorado Governor’s Council for Active and Healthy Lifestyles and has been featured in Forbes Health, Shape, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest, and other national media. Her mission is to help people work with their brains and bodies, not against them, so life and work feel less chaotic and more energizing.

Find Dr. Saara at: https://drsaara.com/

Or https://performanceishaapanen.com/

Or https://www.moveatworkchallenge.com/

Free resource: https://www.moveatworkchallenge.com/NDbundle

Email: saara@performanceishaapanen.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dr_saara_haapanen

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saara.haapanen/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsaarahaapanen/

Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/

Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp

Wendy Lurrie is a former Chief Marketing Officer, growth and strategy executive, and the creator of Rupture: The World of BestGuessistan, a platform exploring what happens when systems fail—especially the human ones we rely on most. After a traumatic brain injury disrupted her ability to function in the ways she once could, Wendy began documenting the invisible, structural changes that follow rupture: shifts in cognition, perception, identity, and control. Her work draws from both lived experience and decades spent leading organizations, building brands, and navigating complex systems under pressure. She focuses on the gap between what looks normal from the outside and what no longer works underneath—particularly the failure of language, systems, and culture to accurately describe life after disruption. She is also the author of PANIC with Credentials: How Systems Survive by Making Failure Personal, which launched as the #1 new release in Organizational Design on Amazon.

Find Wendy at: https://www.bestguessistan.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582849029381

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bestguessistan/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendylurrie

Substack: https://bestguessistan.substack.com/

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Dry_Midnight_6742/

Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/

Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp

Lee Carlson is an author, journalist, and Zen practitioner whose acclaimed memoir Passage to Nirvana chronicles his recovery from traumatic brain injury using writing, sailing, and Zen. A former magazine editor and documentary producer, his work has appeared in Outside, the Los Angeles Times, and multiple Time Inc. publications. A longtime student of Peter Matthiessen, Carlson’s current book explores their relationship and Matthiessen’s legacy. He currently lives in Western New York.

Find Lee at: https://leecarlson.life/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeeCarlsonAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leecarlsonauthor/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeeCarlsonAuthor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/LeeCarlsonNirvana/

X: https://x.com/LCarlson_author

Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/

Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp

Mandi Dickey is a Board Certified Nurse Practitioner with experience in healthcare since 1999. She is a four-time Top Nurse Practitioner award winner, received the Faculty Excellence award in her previous role of nursing professor, has been on the review committee for several nursing textbooks, was the recipient of the Women of Armor Personal Growth award for 2023, was listed in Marquis Who’s Who in 2024, and was the recipient of the Elinor D. Hands Award from the MN Brain Injury Alliance in 2025. In 2022, Mandi began her own podcast called Brain Wellness – the Podcast, initially covering a multitude of topics related to brain health and wellness and transitioning toward mostly brain injury topics since 2024, and has been a guest on multiple other podcasts. She has also presented at numerous local, regional, and state conferences. Additionally, she is an invited speaker for both national and global conferences in 2026.In 2023, Mandi was in a car accident and experienced a traumatic brain injury. She has merged knowledge gained from personal experience with her healthcare education to provide a unique brand of concussion care in her current practice as a brain injury Nurse Practitioner at Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology. She is an Ambassador for the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center, an elected Board Member for the MN Brain Injury Alliance, and Certified Brain Injury Specialist through the Brain Injury Association of America.Find more about Brain Wellness at: https://brainwellnesssolutions.com/ Support the show with Buy me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/brainwellnessnp