Postponed: This Is My Brave debut All-Star Benefit Performance

Entering our 7th year of mental health storytelling, we thought it was time to reflect back on the impact our organization has had on our participants. Join us on March 29th as we celebrate our very first All-Star Benefit Performance featuring some of our most memorable, inspiring, and heartwarming acts from the past six years.
You’ll hear directly from our storytellers how their lives have changed since performing as a part of This Is My Brave, and where they are today. Through personal essay, spoken word poetry, interpretive dance and original music, these stories will move you to your core.
For VIP ticket holders, following the show join us for a reception where you can meet with our storytellers and sponsors.
All Star Cast

Heather Coleman
Heather M. Coleman shared her story during the inaugural This Is My Brave show in Washington, D.C. in May, 2014. She is a full-time working mother of two (with a 13 year-old son and an 11 year-old daughter). She has been married to her wonderfully supportive husband, Keith, for 16 years and they currently reside in Maryland. She spent the first 22 years of her life growing up near Montpelier, Vermont and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Castleton University in 1998. She moved to Silver Spring, MD in January, 1999 and then, in 2004, she earned her MBA from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Heather has worked in government consulting and digital marketing for nearly 20 years and when she has any free time, she enjoys social media, photography, traveling, crafting, and writing. Through her involvement with This Is My Brave, she has been able to share her own experience with postpartum psychosis, that nearly cost her her life, after the birth of her daughter in 2008. Thankfully, due to the kindness of complete strangers, she survived that traumatic experience and received the care she needed. A couple of years into her recovery, Heather decided to use her voice and share her story in hopes of helping other new mothers and their families. More importantly, she wants everyone to know that mental illness can affect any one, at any time, and by sharing our stories we can all help erase the stigma associated with it and improve the standard of mental health care for ALL!

Danielle Fiorello
Danielle Fiorello is 38 years old and is currently living the best life she can in Ocean Grove, NJ, with her Pug Dog Tilly Lorraine, the best companion anyone could ask for! Danielle grew up performing in choir at the church her family attended. She went on to sing and perform in many different areas of entertainment throughout her middle school and high school years, even being accepted and given scholarship and grant money to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. Everything came to an abrupt hault at 21 years old due to severe addiction and improperly diagnosed and untreated mental illness due to many childhood traumas. Danielle is a multiple suicide attempt survivor diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Underlying Depression, and Anxiety Disorder. She also deals with Suicidal Ideation. Danielle has worked hard to be in recovery from all of these "labels" and since finding her gratitude for being alive, she has accepted the call to go out and share her story, her experience, her strength, and most of all Hope, so that maybe others might not have to go through as hard a time as she did. Danielle took part in the 2015 New York City show for This Is My Brave, and went on to share her story at Columbia University's Social Work class. She has come to find her passion lies with the youth of this world and she is currently writing a presentation along with her friend and fellow musician Bob Linton, who lost his brother to a heroin overdose. They will take this presentation into highschools to speak with kids about addiction, mental health, and suicide prevention. She also has begun speaking and performing her song, Look In The Mirror, into Children's Psychiatric Hospitals in her area. Danielle wants you all to know that she cares very deeply about this movement and also believes with her whole heart and soul that ANYONE struggling CAN find peace.

Olivia Ballard
Olivia Ballard is an independent singer/songwriter currently based out of Northwest Arkansas. She attended the Young Americans College of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, CA and has performed in Carnegie Hall. Along with making music, Olivia is a visual artist and writer. She’s passionate, ambitious, and an empath. You can find more of her work through her website or Spotify+AppleMusic.

Jasmin Rhia
Jasmin Rhia is a violinist, record producer, songwriter, and DJ from Atlanta, GA. She uses the power of music to encourage self-worth and mental health awareness amongst the community. Although OCD and ADHD are present in her life, she refuses to let them define her. You can download Jasmin's latest single "Know Your Worth" by visiting her blog: idratherberichnotfamous.com

Audrey Grubb
Audrey participated in the May 2018 Boston show with her brother Evan, and she volunteered with the Inaugural TIMB College Edition in the fall of 2019. Audrey grew up in Vermont with her family of 6, moved to Boston for college, and has lived there ever since. She is currently in her 3rdyear of grad school, and she will be graduating in May with her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling. In her free time, she enjoys running, biking, hiking, skiing, and anything outdoors. Audrey is in recovery from anorexia and has also struggled with anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. She hopes to one day use her experiences to empower young people to discover their strength and find their own voice. She wanted to join TIMB to share a piece of her story in hopes that others may feel less afraid to talk about their own experiences with mental illness. Audrey is beyond excited to perform with her brother again in the All-Star Show, and she is so thankful to be a part of this cast!

Logan Hefner
Logan Hefner is a recent graduate from Appalachian State University, with a BS in Music Industry Studies and a concentration in Marketing and Promotion. He is currently living in Nashville TN, where he hopes to achieve a career in music. In 2018, Logan performed his original song “Warrior” in the Charlotte, NC, This Is My Brave. His story aligned with fellow This Is My Brave cast member Troy Haywood, which sparked their dance/music combo.

Julia Robinson Shimizu
Julia is a non-profit communications professional in Los Angeles She has been a freelance journalist, advertising copywriter, playwright, poet, performer and storyteller. Her work has been published in Los Angeles Magazine and Los Angeles Times , Alta Dena Poetry Review and in print and online literary journals. She has published two books, one a collection of essays based on interviews with formerly homeless men and women in Los Angeles’ Skid Row and another, an anthology of essays written by people living with mental illness. As a mother and an advocate for those impacted by mental illness, she has written and performed a One Woman show to benefit NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness and This is My Brave and has been awarded funding by the Mental Health Services Act of California. She lives with the love of her life and their cat in Los Angeles.

RJ Wright
RJ Wright, is a writer from Seattle, Washington, by way of Cambridge, England. He has a BS in Psychology with a minor in Military Science from The Prairie View A&M University. He is now pursuing a Masters in Human Science, serving as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve and is currently living in Houston TX. He hopes to inspire a new generation of writers and poets as well as promote mental health in the African American community through his art. RJ has been a performing nationally since 2016. RJ’s work is a depiction of his life experience from growing up a military brat to his own military career. He talks about family and finding himself while helping other find peace as he takes on the challenge of a career in mental health. He has been a member of nationally ranked slam poetry teams that have competed across the United States. Most recently, he was a member of the Write About Now slam team the placed 9th in the nation at the National Poetry Slam. He is the 2016 Houston Performance Poet of the Year and the 2017 Bayou City Slam Champion.

Amanda Gold
Amanda Gold is so excited to share the stage with fellow This Is My Brave alumni. She performed in the 2016 Denver show, and the positive impact it had on her life continues to this day. She shares her experience, strength, and hope in her community, working to end homelessness, support people as they recover from addiction and mental health challenges, and end stigma. Amanda is a student at Naropa, studying ways to use art to build community, heal trauma, and ignite people’s potential. You can find her making art, telling bad puns, reading voraciously, barefoot in a park somewhere, or riding her bike super-fast, no hands. (She loves high-fives on the fly.) Follow her and say hi at www.amandagold.net and you can see her art on Instagram: @amandagoldmakesart

Amy Tee
Amy Tee is a stand-up comedian who is a speaker and mentor for NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness). When she is not spending time with her amazing wife and 3 adorable pugs, she can be found working at her family’s breakfast restaurant. She hopes the audience will laugh, be inspired and leave with hope.

Marlon Deleon
Marlon D. Deleon (This Is My Brave 2016 Chicagoland) is a Christ-follower, husband, father, and insurance sales professional living in South Bend, Indiana. Originally from California, his foray into the performing arts initially began in orchestra (violin), but he eventually earned his B.A. in Theatre Arts (Directing) from California State University, Long Beach. His educational journey included a unique intermission between high school and college, which consisted of an enlistment in the US Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Electrician’s Mate. His first full-length directorial project, Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train was one of ten invited productions at the 2009 Region VIII Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF). Since then, he has directed and acted on the west coast (Watts Village Theatre Company/LBTAC, Shotgun Players) and in the Midwest (South Bend Civic Theatre, The Acting Ensemble), and he's excited to make his way out east! He loves all things storytelling, whether it's happening on stage, in a blog, through video and pictures, or even in the form of a novel. He began writing his first book in 2013 for which he was a winner as part of NaNoWriMo. He gives special thanks to his wife Andrea, who saved his life, and their children, Carina and Nico, for brightening it.

Troy Haywood
Troy Haywood is a 31-year-old choreographer, dancer, and yoga teacher. Sometimes he likes to call himself a director, but he uses that term very loosely. He's also a son, a brother, and uncle, a boyfriend, a reader, a traveler, a dog dad, a coffee drinker, a Survivor super-fan, an EDM lover, a gay man, an extroverted introvert, a recovering alcoholic, and a manic-depressive. This Is My Brave not only inspired him to remove the mask he had been wearing for years and years, but also to be proud of who he is, where he came from, and what he has to share with the world. He is so incredibly grateful and humbled to be part of the This Is My Brave All Star Cast and is so excited to share the stage again with Logan!
Kreeger Theatre at The Mead Center for American Theater
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