Open VISIONS Forum: Melissa Bernstein, Author and Co-Founder of Melissa & Doug toy company, "LifeLines" - Monday, April 26 at 7:30 PM

Date: 04-26-2021

Time: 07:30 PM

Location: www.thequicklive.com

Free virtual event; Register to attend by following this link. https://quickcenterforthearts.secure.force.com/ticket/#/instances/a0F0H00000jYtofUAC

Presented in Affiliation With the Women's Leadership Council

Join Melissa Bernstein, co-founder of the wildly successful toy company Melissa & Doug, for a discussion about her journey of triumph over anxiety, depression, and despair — a story she hopes will help others find their path to meaning and inner peace. Now, more than ever, Melissa’s message is needed by others, and her promise to all who journey with her is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Who would ever guess that this happily married mother of six — and creator of more than 5,000 toys with sales in excess of a billion dollars — begins many days the same way far too many others do, wondering if she’ll make it to tomorrow? Melissa shows us that when darkness descends and it seems there’s no escape, there actually is a way out, there actually is hope, and there actually is a path that can lead to meaning and purpose.

Raised by educators, Melissa Bernstein and her husband Doug began their toy-making business from their garage in 1988. They’ve been on a mission ever since to provide open-ended, inventive, non-technology playthings for young children. Throughout Melissa’s remarkable career, she kept secret her lifelong battle with severe depression and anxiety. She reveals her struggles in LifeLines, her first book, which she wrote to help others who are also suffering.

About Melissa Bernstein

Melissa’s new book heralds the launch of LifeLines.com, an online ecosystem she and Doug are underwriting to support those seeking support, guidance, and community on their mental health journeys. Melissa lives in Connecticut with Doug and their six children.

About LifeLines

LifeLines takes readers on Melissa’s path through depression, revealing how her own “lifelines” transformed despair into a beacon of hope. Filled with prose, gorgeous photography, and many of Melissa’s verses that express her struggles and breakthroughs, LifeLines is committed to helping others who are “stuck” develop a plan for themselves to survive and thrive. 

A book of struggle and salvation, connection and community, LifeLines is a framework for people seeking to understand their emotional lives and to develop their own path to self-discovery and inner transformation.

For more information, contact Quick Center Box Office / 203-254-4010 / quickboxoffice@fairfield.edu