IN CRISIS OR NEED SUPPORT? Call Here 24/7 anytime! 1-844-437-3247 here247.ca

Thinking about suicide? 9-8-8 is here to help. Call or text 9-8-8 toll-free, anytime. English and French.

You are currently on the:

CMHA National

Visit our provincial websites

Faces of CMHA WW: Iman Grewal, Entrepreneurship Facilitator

SHARE THIS CONTENT

 

What is involved in your role?

In my role as an Entrepreneurship Facilitator at the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington, I am blessed to work with aspiring entrepreneurs helping them develop business strategies and business plans while connecting them to supportive entrepreneurship resources so they can bring their dreams to fruition. The focus of this initiative is to support entrepreneurs with the most important part of their journey, their mental health. Through this incredible role, I offer entrepreneurs support and education from a peer support and lived experience perspective to help prevent burnout and other mental health challenges that can be brought on by neglecting oneself care due to lack of resources and support for aspiring entrepreneurs. I am also part of the amazing Self Help Peer Support team where I offer wellness support groups on topics related to Self Love, Self Discovery, and Self Healing and most recently, I am happy to share through a partnership with SOCH Mental Health, a South Asian grassroots organization in the GTA, I am able to offer a South Asian Wellness Support group now part of my role at CMHA WW where we offer support to South Asian folks for their mental health from a cultural perspective.

Why did you become involved in the mental health field?

My path was always aligned with mental health due to growing up in a home where I witnessed my loved ones struggle with mental illness and addictions. This challenging time led to isolation within the South Asian community due to the lack of understanding and stigma related to mental health and mental illness. I was led down the path of self healing in my early teens after facing challenges with my own mental health at the peak of my own entrepreneurial journey. During this time I started the journey of mental health advocacy and used the power of storytelling to help others feel less alone by openly discussing my experiences with childhood trauma and burnout which resulted in multiple hospitalizations and workplace stigma, in hopes to eliminate the stigma related to mental health and express the importance of self care. After I began to experience the life changing benefits of understanding my own mental health through therapy and community support organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association, I decided to dedicate over 20 years of education and training to mental health and alternative healing methods. Today I am blessed to work daily towards my purpose through both my own wellness healing platform (www.imangrewal.com) where I offer expertise as a wellness expert in ancient Vedic healing methods as a certified Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation practitioner, all deeply rooted in my motherland, India while working full time as a Entrepreneurship Facilitator and Self Help Peer Support Facilitator for the Canadian Mental Health Association. I also serve as a Board Member for the leading South Asian mental health organization, SOCH Mental Health.

Have you always worked in mental health?

Prior to dedicating my life to wellness, I enjoyed a decade long career as a professional dancer and produced and managed some of the City of Toronto’s largest contemporary arts and film festivals, like the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and Nuit Blanche.

How do you support people in your role?

In my role as an Entrepreneurship Facilitator, I provide one to one coaching and mentoring services to aspiring entrepreneurs who have experienced the mental health/addictions system to start their own businesses or become self-employed; business plan design and development, market research and more.

In my role as a Self-Help Peer Support Facilitator, I offer support groups on wellness related topics ranging from self healing, self love and self discovery while discussing various methods to unpack and realize our own self-limiting beliefs. Through this service, we also provide one to one support.

What are you proud of during your time in your role?

I feel very emotional when I think of how to answer this question. I have the privilege of working with the most incredible team and Manager at Self Help CMHA WW who I get to learn and grow with everyday working towards the common goal of supporting ourselves and our community on the most important thing there is to all of us, our health, our mental health. I am proud to part of the most innovative, change makers in the space of mental health where we are effecting REAL change by transforming the lives of folks by simply letting them be seen, heard and loved for who they are regardless of their diagnoses. I am proud of the many entrepreneurs who I have watched launch successful businesses while dealing with extreme mental health challenges, they are my heroes, my warriors and I look forward to proudly walking alongside more beautiful humans through this work I am blessed to do each day.

Without mental health, there is no health.

If you are in crisis or wish to discuss whether CMHA has the right service for you, call Here 24/7: 1-844-437-3247 (HERE 247).

Follow the ‘Faces of CMHA’ series for a glimpse into the lives of the people who spend each day at the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington working to inspire and support people to achieve the quality of life they desire. Join our team, click here to view current employment opportunities at CMHA WW.

Skip to content