Sharing my honest story isn’t as scary as I thought it would be: I had the biggest fear the second I announced I was bipolar on the internet, I would lose my job (again), be blocked, and lose all of my friends and followers. That had happened in the past before TikTok and Instagram. Why wouldn’t it be the same? Yet, it wasn’t. Instead, my dm started filling up with messages thanking me for being their voice when they weren’t brave enough to share their own story. I actually gained more followers! And when I went up against a large corporation to stand up for mental health rights, people bought my books in bundles to show support for the war I was willing to fight! All because I was honest, transparent, and not afraid to share my disabilities with the world.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stormi Lewis.
Stormi Lewis, the mind behind the gripping paranormal thriller The Sophie Lee Saga, is a multi-published author who brings haunting stories to life. Alongside two powerful non-fiction books and chilling short stories, her work explores found family, resilience, and loved one’s beyond this world. When she isn’t advocating for mental health and migraine awareness, Stormi embraces all things cozy and fall, crafting tales that refuse to remain unwritten. Step into her worlds, where family transcends blood, and love lingers beyond the veil.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have been writing stories for as long as I could read and write. When my nose wasn’t in a book, my brain was creating worlds for my friends to enjoy. Only by the time I was a senior in high school, I had been so discouraged for writing beyond my years that I gave up on this dream to continue on with my love of dance. In 2019, when the world was in lockdown, I was desperately looking for a way to not drown in my depression and anxiety about the unknown. One of my friends told me I needed to write again. After throwing around some ideas, she suggested I take a stab at fiction again, starting with a story I had begun back in middle school. By the time I finished the first book and hit published, there was no going back.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
I’ve had Chasing Stormi LLC since 2015. It started as a blog to help hold myself accountable as I worked on breaking my people pleasing addiction while going through a very toxic divorce. I had gotten on Groupon to get a couple of noncommittal things to try, one being a yoga class. That yoga class led to the instructor loving what I was trying to accomplish so much that she invited me to go to Belize with a group of people on a yoga retreat. (Mind you, that was my first yoga class…) Since the whole point was to step outside of my comfort zone and try new things, after three days I said “yes” and paid the fee to go. I planned nothing. I knew no one. And when I arrived, I was apparently on a couple’s retreat with 19 other strangers who had been informed about my blog and had read all the previous posts. So, for a week and a half, every time I turned around, someone told me, “You have to do this for the blog!” I faced my fear of heights and bear crawled and butt scooted down the tallest Mayan temple. I faced my fear of water and snorkeled around half an island. I even ate a termite in the middle of the jungle. These 19 strangers become a second family, and they told me how I sounded just like them, only I was actually doing the things that made me uncomfortable. Within reason, of course. That’s when I knew I had something bigger than me. It was the first time I decided to write a book, and in the back was everything my brain allowed me to share about my abusive and toxic marriage. Things people didn’t expect, because it wasn’t anything I talked about. In 2017, I published my first book without really knowing anything. Now, I understand covers, formatting, and other important things, so I took it down to republish it. Plus, I was still scared of the cost of the stigma on mental health. I was vague about my “labels” of bipolar disorder with ADHD and chronic anxiety. Four years later, someone reminded that I could never truly love myself until I loved ALL of me, and that’s when I started talking about my mental illnesses. Now I have hemiplegic migraines, too, but they’re chapters that needed to be added to my first book, which is why I’m republishing. My own story wasn’t done being told.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Is it better to make a fool of yourself in front of complete strangers? Or with a friend beside you? That is the question…. I have a very athletic friend. Something I am no longer. However, when I got a coupon for the Go Ape Adventures, she was the first one I thought to go with me. Never mind that she basically skipped through the ropes course while I took much longer. We still ended up way ahead of the group. (Have I mentioned I’m afraid of heights?) There were three ziplines throughout the course. Every time, my friend exited like a gazelle. Me? It spun at the last minute, forcing me to dig my heels into the wood chips and eventually fall backwards onto my back. She giggled, held out her hand to help pull me up, and brushed the woodchips off my butt while I unhooked myself and mumbled to the next stop. The second one, I opened my eyes to her studying me and asking, “What are you doing wrong?” “I don’t know!” I yelled back. She continued to cheer me on, and by the third zipline, I was determined to land correctly. Fate said, “Nice try!” On my butt for a third time is where I landed. I laughed/cried out my frustration as my friend once again picked me off the ground and dusted my butt off as well as she could from all the woodchips. That’s when I realized that having your own business does not differ from life. You will end up on your butt more times than you can count, unable to get all the woodchips off your clothes or out of your hair. However, it’s who you choose to be with you along on that journey that will matter more than anything. You could do it by yourself and take comfort in knowing that no one you know will see you fail. Still, no one’s there to see you struggle and celebrate with you when you reach the end, either. Or maybe you will choose the wrong people who will just hold your failures over your head for several years to come, which no one needs to help them keep. But if you’re lucky enough, you will find people who (even though they do certain things better than you) will still cheer you on, sing and laugh with you to ease your frustration and anxiety, pick you up off the ground when you fall flat on your back, and help dust you off so you can keep going.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
Mental illness and migraines, both, have a huge stigma on them. We’re not allowed to talk about them, because if people don’t experience them, then they don’t get it. Mostly because both are considered “invisible disabilities”. Migraines are “all in someone’s head”. Did you know there’s actually seven common types of migraines? I suffer from hemiplegic migraines, which are atypical. By sharing my experiences with bipolar disorder, I give people a voice who are too scared to use their own for fear of being punished at work. I know, because they send me messages telling me so. By sharing my experiences with my hemiplegic migraines, I’m able to educate people that migraines are the 2nd leading disability in America. You can’t take two Excedrin and just keep pushing through work. My goal is to continue to advocate on both until I am no longer able, because talking about it and educating others takes away the fear of the unknown. The more comfortable people become with the things they don’t understand, the less power the stigma holds.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
I cannot tell you how many people thank me for sharing both my mental illness and the migraine journey. People thank me for speaking up when they are still too scared to talk about being schizophrenic, bipolar, or another label. They haven’t reached the same point in their life that I have. I refuse to fear the consequences of the labels I was given at birth. I didn’t ask for any of this. None of us did. However, you mostly only hear about half-truths, celebrities or people that can’t stay on medication when there’s actually a very large amount of functioning people who have a mental illness(es) and/or deal with some sort of version of migraines. (Chronic or not) That is their story to tell, and I hope that one day they feel comfortable enough to share it. However, society, at this given moment, only teaches them to suffer in silence. I feel blessed that they feel safe enough to share their stories with me, but they feel that way because I share mine openly and honestly. I will never tell another person’s story. It’s not mine to tell. That’s what ghostwriters and autobiographers are for. I can only keep sharing my own and hope to make the world a little better before I leave it.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Actively listen: There’s no point in people talking if no one’s going to listen to them. People need to know they are going to be heard when they speak on such a personal level, instead of being dismissed so easily. Days off from work without consequences: Everyone should be allowed to take a mental health day from time to time without fearing they will lose their job. Same for migraines. Both are listed as a disability under the ADA law. It’s not our fault for being disabled. Just because people can’t see our pain or struggle as easily compared to someone who is Deaf, blind, or wheelchair bound. We should have the same right for reasonable accommodations without consequences. We need to break the stigma: This includes educating people who don’t suffer themselves, working towards changing society’s viewpoint and expectation of those who have an “invisible disability”, and have more hands-on experience helping those who suffer. No one will truly understand without suffering themselves. However, several people I meet who state, “I don’t suffer, but I know someone who does,” still give them a better understanding than those who ignore most of the public who continue to suffer in silence. We need to open lines of communications, and we need to show people that ride that middle line who aren’t a celebrity, or someone who is worst-case scenario. There’s little information out there, and what’s portrayed on tv and in movies isn’t accurate more often than not. School and public shootings are the focus instead of anyone’s success. This helps absolutely no one. As a society we need to #dobetter.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
My business/marketing degree training will tell you it’s the action of leading a group of people or an organization. That same training will also tell you it’s so much more than that. The books today will tell you that you have to be an active listener, have a purpose/drive, build relationships with those around you instead of going the dictatorship route. These are all things I agree with. Others will tell you that, “Those who can’t follow lead.” Clearly looking at the world today, everyone has their own ideas of what leadership means, and not all of them are good. I always wanted to be the leader who people trusted, because they knew my word meant something. Despite my flaws and errors, I would be the person to always attempt to learn and grow from my mistakes, because there would be plenty of mistakes. If you were struggling and couldn’t put food on your table, I would be the person to bring you groceries and try to help pick you up if I was able. The person who would actively listen to you, and if it’s within my power, I would get it done or make it for you. A person who cares about the overall picture and not just myself. A person who would always be transparent on good days and bad, so you would know you’re never alone in your struggles. Someone who makes you feel seen and heard. That is the leadership I want to provide and stand behind. That is why I have supported people like Taylor Swift and P!nk from the beginning of their journeys. Leadership is supporting others and never tearing them down. (Unless it’s to silence the bullying.)
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1 . Sharing my honest story isn’t as scary as I thought it would be: I had the biggest fear the second I announced I was bipolar on the internet, I would lose my job (again), be blocked, and lose all of my friends and followers. That had happened in the past before TikTok and Instagram. Why wouldn’t it be the same? Yet, it wasn’t. Instead, my dm started filling up with messages thanking me for being their voice when they weren’t brave enough to share their own story. I actually gained more followers! And when I went up against a large corporation to stand up for mental health rights, people bought my books in bundles to show support for the war I was willing to fight! All because I was honest, transparent, and not afraid to share my disabilities with the world.
2 . If you don’t slow down and take care of yourself, the universe will do it for you: In 2019, I started having severe headaches. It was the first time I was introduced to having migraines. It didn’t take long before they became chronic, but something else happened. I had stroke-like symptoms. Quickly ruling out a stroke, I was eventually diagnosed with chronic hemiplegic migraines. This is an atypical migraine that produces stroke-like symptoms, only mine last for days or even weeks, and I suffer a migraine 365 days a year around an 8/10 pain level on a good day. It’s not something that will go away. There’s no quick fix or cure. My cognitive and muscular system is forever on the fritz, and the symptoms are even forever changing. Currently, I’m losing vocabulary. I speak in word-salad more often than not. My memory is leaving me. I can no longer write a book in a month, edit in a month, and launch. I have to make major life adjustments just to function and do day-to-day necessities. Alexa and Siri are my best friends. I have apps that remind me to do basic things like eat and take my meds, and mark that they’re complete so I don’t overdoes. It’s so easy to take advantage of the time we have within a day/night until your ability to function within that time frame is taken away. Your ability to drive safely is no longer an option. Your ability to make choices with confidence is gone in the blink of an eye. If I had known this was the future, I, of course, would have planned better. Still, here we are, but I’m adjusting.
3 . When you stop trying to be like everyone else, you’ll find your people and soar: Everyone likes to give you advice. Especially when you’re starting out. Whether in business or on a new social media platform. Only when I kept trying to follow the herd, I attracted no one. The reality of it all is this: what works for one person probably won’t work for you, because it’s not you. Although millions of people make money off of telling you things like, “Don’t reinvent the wheel”, it won’t matter if you’re not being yourself. I read a book by Jennifer Allwood, Fear is Not the Boss of You, where she actually gives you permission to unplug and find yourself. It was the first time I had heard this from someone giving business advice and I fell in love immediately. So, I withdrew from the noise, cocooned myself in all the things I loved including old tv shows like Thundercats, and went back to a time when I was confident and didn’t care what other people thought because I was meant to save the world. I was a seven-year-old superhero again who wanted to write and show the world just what I was made of! I stopped paying attention to what other people were doing and focused on what I was always meant to do. Tell stories that made a difference. That’s when my following really grew, and my writing improved without the restrictions of the fear of failing. Even though I take longer, and I have to have a lot more grace with myself, I know this version is still better than the last. And as long as I stop to pause and block out of the noise from time to time to make sure that I’m still staying true to myself, I know I will always offer something as unique as I am! I have never been a cookie-cutter type girl. I’m miserable when I try! I would much rather be known for causing chaos and being unique than for being something I’m not.
4 . It’s okay to take time off: Running yourself into the ground and making yourself sick does no good for anyone. You can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself first. It’s a common thought that if you’re not ahead, then you’re behind. However, on whose time are we talking about? I get more ideas and think more clearly after I take time to rest. Still, (especially in the beginning of a business) we feel like we have to work constantly to make ends meet and eventually exceed, and if we don’t, then we’re failing. I’m not saying work a day and take the rest of the week off!. That will not help you get anywhere either. Running a business means you have to have strong time management skills. If you don’t have that, hire someone to help keep you on task. (Especially if you’re ADHD like me!) Either way, make sure some of that time includes some rest and self-care. The right amount of hours to function. The right food and vitamins to help keep you healthy. Schedule some TLC time for yourself when you’re scheduling all of those important client meetings.
5 . It’s never too late to pivot: Unless you’re helping Ross carry his couch up a flight of stairs, it’s never too late to pivot. Some things are going to stick like noodles to a wall. Others will slide at sonic speed and make a crash landing. If something doesn’t work…pivot. Take your products seriously, not social media. Don’t go on the internet and complain that nothing is working for you. Nothing is more annoying. Seriously. No one wants to see it, least of all new people considering following you and supporting your journey. I rarely put a lot of effort into my videos, because I only have so many spoons and I save them for functioning to the end of the day. I also make videos to entertain myself and make myself laugh. Sometimes people love them. Sometimes they think I’m ridiculous. The world will continue to rotate. I promise. It’s more about showing up. Being your authentic and transparent self. The second I stopped letting society dictate that I didn’t matter unless I had 10K followers, I became so much happier and a lot less stressed. I get that you get more benefits the more followers you have. However, I enjoy engaging with my actually followers instead of having empty numbers. I love that they send me videos that make them think of me! It cracks me up and makes my day! I don’t need 10K followers to feel like I’m someone and I matter. I know I do from the engagement I get on my videos and in my dms. If a platform suppresses my video views, it is what it is. It’s not my value as a creator. It’s a computer algorithm. So, I throw up another video and see if it goes further. If it works, great. If not, then I pivot and try again. The more you pivot, the more you get good at it!
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
One of the most important things I would love to see before I leave this earth is the breaking of stigma on mental illness and migraines. I would love to see less news stories about someone who needed help and couldn’t get it and shot their way out of life instead. I would love to see more stories of people like me who function and do great things that people can relate to and learn from. I would like migraines to be taken more seriously so we can get the care we need to treat them properly. I would love people to take off of work to take care of themselves without the fear of losing their jobs because they have a disability. I would love people not to fear or dismiss people like me just because they don’t experience our pain or struggles. First, we have to get into a safer world where people don’t have to fear of their basic rights being taken from them. People have enough to fear at the moment, and their plates are overflowing. However, I hope that this will be stopped, rights are restored, and we can get back to focusing on moving forward instead of backwards.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Breathe.” I have a designated friend I call when my chronic anxiety takes over, and I lose myself to my emotions. It’s a bipolar thing, and even with medication, my emotions will still get away from me. I will hear “Breathe, child” on the other end of the phone, and if I try to protest, I simply get the phrase again. As an order instead of a request, of course. It’s such a simple thing that our body does all on its own, but we take for granted. We let our minds and emotions try to take over, instead of simply letting our bodies do what they were designed to do. And once we put ourselves back into balance, we can think much more calmly and see the picture and tasks before us. Don’t let life or anything else try to take away the one thing you need most in order to achieve whatever you are trying to accomplish. Just “breathe”.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I got a few degrees in marketing to help small businesses grow, but when it comes to myself, I always felt like I was drowning. I know all the things that I’m “supposed to do”, but I have never been a follower. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t make myself do them. I was even beginning to lose faith in myself as an author. Not for writing, but simply for being able to get my books out in a way that was “me”. Taylor Swift has always had amazing music. However, it has been her creativity, Easter eggs, and marketing skills that inspire me to keep trying. I have never fit in anywhere or with anything I’ve done. She’s the first person to make me feel seen, and I would really love to pick her brain for a couple of hours! Plus, I hear she makes amazing cookies, and I am never one to turn down desserts!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I’m predominately on TikTok these days under @chasingstormi. You’ll also find me on Instagram and Facebook under @chasingstormi. The link in my bio will take you to all of my books and other outlets of access. My blog posts are on https://medium.com/@chasingstormillc.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Stormi Lewis of Chasing Stormi Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.