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Ariana Grande Expands Foundation With Mental Health Initiative

Womens Journal Staff 2 on July 30, 2026

Ariana Grande expanded the work of her Brighter Days Ahead Foundation by introducing a mental health initiative for tour crew members in partnership with Backline. The program provides eligible touring professionals with access to mental health resources and wellness support, extending the foundation’s charitable efforts into the live music industry.

Key Takeaways

  • Ariana Grande expanded her foundation’s work with a new mental health initiative.
  • The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation is partnering with Backline on the program.
  • Eligible tour crew members will receive access to mental health resources and support services.
  • The initiative includes wellness care packages and connections to Backline’s support network.
  • The announcement builds on the foundation’s ongoing charitable mission.


The Ariana Grande foundation mental health initiative has expanded the charitable work of the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation through a partnership with Backline, bringing mental health resources to members of the singer’s tour crew. The initiative provides eligible touring professionals with access to support services, care management, and wellness resources, broadening the foundation’s efforts to serve individuals working behind the scenes of live entertainment.

The initiative is being delivered through the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation, the charitable organization established by Grande, together with Backline, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting music industry professionals with mental health care. The collaboration extends the foundation’s work by focusing on the well-being of touring personnel whose roles are essential to concert productions.

The announcement places attention on workers who contribute to live performances beyond the artists on stage. Crew members, musicians, dancers, technicians, and other touring professionals are among those expected to benefit from the resources made available through the program. The initiative also reflects a growing emphasis on workplace wellbeing for leaders through organizational support and dedicated wellness resources.

Ariana Grande Foundation Expands Mental Health Initiative

The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation introduced the initiative as part of its ongoing commitment to mental health support. By partnering with Backline, the foundation is providing eligible tour personnel with access to services designed specifically for professionals working in the music industry.

The initiative represents another charitable project led through Grande’s foundation rather than a tour-related business operation. The program is structured around expanding access to mental health care and wellness support for those involved in the daily operations of a touring production.

Grande established the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation to support charitable causes that include mental health, LGBTQ+ communities, civil rights, and emergency relief. The tour crew initiative adds a new program to those efforts by directing resources toward professionals whose work often takes place outside public view.

The announcement demonstrates how the foundation is using partnerships with nonprofit organizations to deliver specialized services to communities connected to the entertainment industry, similar to other women’s mental wellness initiatives focused on expanding access to emotional health resources.

Brighter Days Ahead Foundation Partners With Backline

Backline serves as the foundation’s partner in delivering the mental health initiative. The nonprofit specializes in helping music industry professionals connect with mental health providers, wellness resources, and care management services.

Rather than creating an independent care network, the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation is working through Backline’s existing support system. This approach allows eligible participants to access established services tailored to the needs of touring professionals.

Backline works with individuals across the live music sector, including performers, crew members, production staff, technicians, and others involved in concert operations. Its services focus on improving access to mental health care while helping individuals identify appropriate providers and available support options.

The partnership combines the foundation’s philanthropic mission with Backline’s experience in supporting professionals whose work requires extensive travel and demanding production schedules.

Tour Crew Members Receive Access to Support Services

Care Management Services

Eligible tour personnel will receive access to Backline’s care management services. These services help individuals identify licensed mental health providers and connect with available wellness resources that meet their specific needs.

Care managers assist participants in navigating treatment options and locating providers appropriate for their circumstances. The service is intended to simplify access to professional support for individuals working throughout the tour.

Wellness Care Packages

The initiative also includes wellness care packages distributed to members of the touring team. Approximately 200 packages were prepared for crew members, dancers, musicians, and additional personnel participating in the tour.

The care packages complement the mental health resources available through the initiative by providing practical wellness items for professionals traveling as part of the production. The approach aligns with broader discussions around wellness and women’s empowerment that recognize the value of accessible health resources.

B-LINE Mental Health Resources

Participants also have access to information about B-LINE, Backline’s mental health support line for music industry professionals. The service connects individuals with guidance on available mental health resources and pathways to appropriate care.

B-LINE operates as part of Backline’s broader network of support services available to professionals working in music and live entertainment.

Together, the care management services, wellness care packages, and B-LINE resources provide multiple forms of assistance available through the initiative.

Wellness Resources Extend Across the Touring Team

The initiative has been designed to support a broad range of professionals responsible for delivering live performances. Eligible participants include crew members, musicians, dancers, technicians, and other personnel whose work contributes to tour operations.

Touring professionals often manage extended travel schedules, venue changes, production responsibilities, and performance preparation across multiple locations. The initiative expands available support by making mental health resources accessible within that working environment.

Providing access to care through an organized partnership allows support services to become part of the touring experience rather than relying solely on individuals to seek resources independently.

The inclusion of wellness care packages alongside professional support services reflects a broader approach that combines practical resources with access to mental health care through Backline’s established network.

Foundation Advances Ongoing Philanthropic Mission

Foundation Priorities

The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation identifies mental health among its core charitable priorities. In addition to mental health initiatives, the foundation supports projects benefiting LGBTQ+ communities, civil rights organizations, and emergency relief efforts.

The tour crew initiative expands those activities by directing resources toward individuals working within the live music industry. Through the partnership with Backline, the foundation is extending support to professionals whose contributions are central to touring productions.

The initiative reflects the foundation’s focus on collaborating with nonprofit organizations that provide direct services to communities aligned with its charitable mission.

Community Partnerships

The partnership with Backline demonstrates the foundation’s approach of working with organizations that already possess expertise in delivering specialized support services.

By combining philanthropic funding with an established nonprofit network, the initiative allows eligible participants to access mental health resources without requiring the creation of a separate service infrastructure.

The announcement also reinforces the role of charitable foundations in supporting workplace well-being through partnerships that address the needs of specific professional communities.

For the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation, the collaboration represents another charitable initiative aimed at expanding access to mental health support while continuing its broader mission across multiple areas of community assistance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Ariana Grande foundation mental health initiative?

The initiative is a program launched through the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation that provides eligible tour crew members with access to mental health resources and support services in partnership with Backline.

What is the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation?

The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation is Ariana Grande’s charitable organization. It supports initiatives related to mental health, LGBTQ+ communities, civil rights, and emergency relief.

Which organization is partnering with Ariana Grande’s foundation?

The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation is partnering with Backline, a nonprofit organization that connects music industry professionals with mental health care and wellness resources.

Who is eligible for the tour crew mental health support?

Eligible participants include members of Ariana Grande’s touring team, including crew members, dancers, musicians, technicians, and other touring professionals.

What resources are included in the initiative?

The initiative includes access to Backline’s care management services, wellness care packages, and B-LINE mental health support resources for music industry professionals.

Montana Author Transforms a Lifelong Passion for Storytelling into an Award-Winning Independent Publishing Career

Women's Journal Staff on July 30, 2026

By: Farzana Bashir

From Rancher and Dental Assistant to Celebrated Novelist-Publisher, Diane Merrill Wigginton Proves the Richest Chapters of Life Can Start Later Than Expected.

Some careers follow a straight line, but Diane Merrill Wigginton’s did not, and that is exactly what makes her story worth telling.

Diane’s love of storytelling took root in childhood as she grew up between Riverside and the Mira Mesa community of San Diego, spending her summers on her grandparents’ ranch in Idaho. Before she could focus on writing, Diane married David, worked as a dental assistant, and raised six children in a blended family. Their family included children from previous relationships as well as children they had together. The family lived on a rural ranch in Herald, California. Writing remained a dream, postponed but never abandoned.

It wasn’t until her 50s that Diane finally gave herself permission to pursue it. That single decision reshaped the rest of her life.

Building More Than a Bibliography

What sets Diane apart is not just that she writes, but what she has built around her writing. Through her own company, Jeweled Dagger Publishing, she has grown from debut novelist to author-publisher, overseeing her own catalog across genres as varied as historical romance, young adult fiction, psychological thrillers, and children’s literature.

Diane’s catalog spans seven titles across five genres. Her Jeweled Dagger Series, which includes Angelina’s Secret, Isabella’s Heart, and Olivia’s Promise, blends historical romance, suspense, psychic abilities, and family legacy. Angelina’s Secret launched her career and earned the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Digital Award and the Most Inspiring Author Award.

Her young adult historical novel, Lara’s Story, follows an Irish girl rebuilding her life in Philadelphia and won 1st Place Historical Fiction and the 2019 TCK Readers’ Choice Grand Prize. A Compromising Position, a contemporary romantic-suspense novel, became Diane’s most decorated book, earning ten literary awards.

She later expanded into children’s literature with The Secret of One-Eyed Cogburn: The Dreaded Pirate Captain, also published in Spanish, which received first-place honors from Literary Titan and The BookFest in 2024. Her newest release, The Magician Killer, is a psychological thriller about an FBI profiler investigating disappearances in Alaska connected to her past.

Across her career, Diane has earned numerous literary awards, including recognition from the Benjamin Franklin Awards, Readers’ Favorite, BookFest, the Independent Author Network, and the Global Book Awards, where she was named Visionary Author and Publisher of the Year.

A New Milestone

This year marks another milestone in that ongoing story. Diane has joined twenty other entrepreneurs, speakers, and thought leaders as a contributing author to Cracking the Rich Code, Volume 20, a collaborative book featuring a foreword by Kevin Harrington of Shark Tank and an endorsement from Tony Robbins.

Her chapter doesn’t read like a typical success story. It’s a personal account of what it actually took to bet on a postponed dream in midlife, the discipline, the vulnerability, and the decision to treat writing as a present commitment rather than a someday plan. For Diane, the lesson isn’t that success arrived easily; it’s that it arrived because she finally started, not because the timing was ever perfect.

It’s a message she’s said resonates well beyond publishing for entrepreneurs waiting for the right conditions, professionals weighing a pivot, or parents who’ve set their own ambitions aside. Her journey makes the case that no chapter of life is wasted; experience becomes the advantage, not the obstacle.

A Life That Reflects the Message

After retiring from her day job in 2017, Diane and David moved to Kalispell, Montana, near Glacier National Park, where she now writes full-time, hikes through the surrounding wilderness, and enjoys life as a grandmother of twelve. For Diane, prosperity has never been solely about productivity or accolades. It is the fulfillment of building something from a dream that almost never had the chance to exist.

Connect With Diane

Diane Merrill Wigginton shares updates on her books, speaking engagements, and literary projects through the following channels.

Website: dianemerrillwigginton.com

Facebook: Diane Merrill Wigginton on Facebook

Get Your Copy Of Cracking The Rich Code, Volume 20

Hardcover: IngramSpark Hardcover

Paperback: IngramSpark Paperback

Vat Black Turns Real-Life Experiences Into Fiction With Mystery, Emotion, and Meaning

Women's Journal Staff on July 30, 2026

By: Jonathyn Lopez

Some stories begin with an idea, while others begin with a moment that refuses to be forgotten. For Vat Black, writing became a way to transform experiences, imagination, and life’s unexpected twists into stories that connect with readers. As an author, artist, explorer, and content creator, she has built a creative journey around one powerful belief: everyone has a story.

Vat Black, passionate about mystery, storytelling, and character development, debuted in fiction with the first book in the series, “Hide a Body Moms.” This murder mystery explores the themes of friendship and loyalty, centered around five women who must hide a body to protect their friends.

The second book, Every Three Years, a dark romance, follows the main character and explores themes of heartbreak, betrayal, healing, and the complex emotions that shape human relationships.

Before stepping into fiction, Vat spent time creating children’s books and building a foundation as a writer and illustrator. After completing a series of six children’s books, an unexpected question sparked a new creative direction. Someone asked if she had considered writing fiction. The answer was simple: “anything is possible”

That decision opened the door to an entirely new style of storytelling.

With encouragement from friends and inspiration from real-life experiences, Vat created a fictional world where familiar emotions, relationships, and personalities could become part of a larger story. The result was a mystery filled with twists, unexpected turns, and characters who keep readers questioning what they know. Mystery has always fascinated because uncovering secrets comes at a price. That same curiosity exists in everyday life, where people experience moments that challenge their perspective and reveal hidden truths.

The heart of Vat’s creative philosophy comes from the idea that even difficulties can become possibilities. A story that begins in darkness can eventually bring light, understanding, and connection. Through writing, she hopes to encourage others to share their own stories, embrace creativity, and think beyond traditional boundaries.

Hide a Body Moms explores different forms of love, including the painful experiences that teach people what genuine love truly looks like. It examines the difference between relationships that bring pain and relationships that heal, showing how every experience can leave behind a lesson. Vat’s storytelling style blends emotion, suspense, and personal inspiration. The goal is not only to entertain readers but to leave them thinking about their own experiences and the stories they carry within themselves.

Looking ahead, Vat hopes to continue growing as an author, connecting with more readers, selling thousands of books, and participating in book signings. The vision is to continue creating stories that inspire curiosity while reminding people that their ideas are worth pursuing.

For those who follow Vat Black, there is much more than writing. She represents creativity, adventure, exploration, and the courage to continue creating. The journey reflects someone who believes that ideas become reality when people choose to take action.

Three years ago, Vat was focused primarily on children’s books. Today, the creative path has expanded into fiction and storytelling with deeper themes and emotional connections. Every Three Years represents that evolution, proving that growth often comes from stepping into something new. And she’s working on the final book in the series…Find a Body Moms.

Vat Black’s ideal audience includes anyone who loves mystery, meaningful relationships, and stories with unexpected turns. The message to readers is simple: embrace your creativity, tell your story, and never underestimate what can happen when you finally begin.

With a love for mystery and a passion for discovering what lies beneath the surface, Vat Black continues creating stories that challenge expectations and keep readers guessing. Every Three Years is more than a book; it is a reminder that every person has a story waiting to be written.

To learn more about Vat Black and follow the journey, visit www.vatblack.com or connect through Vat Black Author on Facebook.

Squeeze Massage and MAËLYS Partner to Launch Exclusive Hand Treatment

Women's Journal Staff on July 30, 2026

Norwalk, CT – July 28, 2026 – Squeeze Massage, the modern massage experience redefining self-care, today announced a new partnership with MAËLYS, the body-care brand known for its targeted, thoughtfully formulated skincare products. Together, the two brands are introducing an exclusive MAËLYS Hand Treatment, available as a Premium Enhancement at Squeeze Massage locations across the country.

The new two-step hand treatment combines the restorative benefits of massage with formulas from MAËLYS’ Barrier Repair bodycare line to nourish, hydrate, and revitalize hardworking hands. Guests can elevate their massage experience with a luxurious hand treatment designed to leave skin feeling softer, smoother, and deeply moisturized.

Photo Courtesy: Squeeze Massage

“We are always looking for meaningful ways to allow guests to personalize their massage experiences,” said Jessica Yarmey, President at Squeeze Massage. “Partnering with MAËLYS allows us to introduce a premium enhancement that delivers a truly personalized wellness experience.”

The partnership marks the first national collaboration between Squeeze Massage and MAËLYS, bringing together two brands committed to helping people look and feel their best through approachable, high-quality self-care experiences.

“At MAËLYS, we believe body care should be more than another step in your routine; it should be a moment that helps you reconnect with yourself,” said Rom Ginzburg, CEO, MAËLYS. “Partnering with Squeeze allows us to bring that philosophy to life by integrating results-driven body care into an experience that’s already centered around self-care.”

Photo Courtesy: Squeeze Massage

The MAËLYS Hand Treatment can be added to any 80-minute massage session and features a relaxing two-step application of MAËLYS SO-SILKY Foaming Body Scrub and SO-RICH Barrier Body Butter paired with massage techniques designed to soothe tired hands while delivering lasting hydration and skin-conditioning benefits.

The launch will be supported through digital marketing, social media, email campaigns, in-shop merchandising, influencer collaborations, and exclusive promotional offers.

The MAËLYS Hand Treatment is available now at Squeeze Massage locations across the country.

About Squeeze Massage

Squeeze Massage delivers a “way better” massage experience through its thoughtfully designed spaces, intuitive app, and guest-centered approach. With 12 locations across the country, the feel-good franchise was born out of a love for massage and a mission to bridge the gap between luxury spas and budget-friendly chains. From booking to checkout, every detail of the Squeeze experience is designed to revolutionize and simplify self-care. Squeeze is changing how we think about massage and redefining the recovery experience for the modern consumer. Learn more at www.squeezemassage.com.

About MAËLYS

MAËLYS creates innovative solutions for real body concerns faced by women at every stage of life. The brand develops targeted products designed to address some of the most common skin concerns, with one goal in mind: helping women feel confident and empowered in their bodies.

MAËLYS believes body care should be enjoyable, not overlooked. Whether hydrating, softening, or nourishing, the brand is designed to elevate everyday routines and help women feel as good as they look.

MAËLYS products are available direct-to-consumer at maelyscosmetics.com, at Ulta Beauty stores nationwide, and on Amazon and TikTok Shop.

When Pushing Through Stops Moving You Forward

Women's Journal Staff on July 30, 2026

Author and workshop facilitator Connie S. Dean explores how life transitions can interrupt autopilot, awaken awareness, and help women move forward with greater clarity.

Many women are very good at pushing through.

They manage responsibilities, care for others, solve problems, adjust to change, and keep life moving. They shift from one role to the next so often that the motion becomes almost automatic.

Until one day, pushing through no longer feels like progress.

The responsibilities are still there. The outside world still sees someone capable and dependable. But internally, something begins to feel different. A quiet question starts to rise beneath all that motion.

Is the way I’ve been moving through life still working for me?

That question is the starting point for author and workshop facilitator Connie S. Dean, and it’s the heartbeat of her book, Finding Yourself Again: A Woman’s Guide to Self-Awareness, Clarity, and Emotional Well-Being Through Life Changes.

This is not a book about fixing yourself. It is about slowing down long enough to understand what life is trying to show you, so you can move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and intention.

Dean’s work speaks to women navigating significant life events, caregiving, burnout, heartbreak, illness, grief, identity shifts, and the quieter changes that do not announce themselves so much as accumulate.

“This isn’t about reinvention,” Dean says. “It’s not about becoming someone new. It’s about noticing when life is asking for awareness, honesty, and a more intentional way forward.”

A Grounded Voice For Women In Life’s Transitions

Connie S. Dean is an author and workshop facilitator whose work helps women navigate life transitions through self-awareness, reflection, emotional clarity, and intentional next steps.

A certified Project Management Professional with 19 years of experience, Dean brings a rare blend of structure and empathy to her work. Her background leading creative, cross-functional, and multicultural teams, along with her experience as a bilingual English-Spanish communicator, shapes how she writes, speaks, and facilitates reflection.

Her broader body of work, including books on practical life skills and self-love, reflects the same throughline: helping readers build self-trust, confidence, and clarity in everyday life.

That combination gives her work a grounded quality. Dean is not offering vague inspiration or quick-fix advice. She creates space for women to pause, make sense of what they are carrying, and move forward in a way that feels honest and sustainable.

That same approach now extends into Dean’s workshops and retreat sessions, where she creates reflective spaces for women to pause, reconnect with themselves, and explore what their current season of life may be asking of them. Her facilitation style is thoughtful and structured, allowing women to reflect honestly without feeling rushed, pressured, or told who they should become.

Photo Courtesy: Sean Dean

What Life Change Reveals

Major life transitions often reveal what constant motion has allowed people to avoid.

Often, the signal is not dramatic. It shows up in ordinary moments: the hesitation before saying yes, the exhaustion after doing what used to feel easy, or the quiet thought a woman keeps brushing aside.

A relationship changes. A loved one is lost. A diagnosis arrives. Children grow older. A career shifts. Caregiving becomes consuming. Burnout settles in slowly. Sometimes the change is visible to everyone. Other times, it is deeply internal.

Dean has watched women stay fully functional for years while feeling increasingly disconnected from their own needs, desires, voice, or sense of direction. They may not feel lost in an obvious way. They may still be productive, loving, responsible, and strong. But something inside them knows a shift has happened.

For Dean, that moment matters. It is often the beginning of awareness.

“What feels unsettled may be pointing toward something important,” she says. “What feels unclear may be asking for reflection. What feels like a pause may actually be the first honest moment of change.”

When Autopilot Stops Working

Most women get fluent at switching gears without thinking: from work to family, from calm to crisis, one role straight into the next. It becomes instinct.

But instinct can only carry a person so far. The old patterns no longer provide the same comfort. The usual answers no longer land the same way. The instinct to keep pushing may still be there, but the inner cost becomes harder to ignore.

Dean’s work is rooted in the belief that awareness is not passive. It is the foundation for meaningful change.

For a woman standing in the middle of transition, awareness may begin with honest questions:

What have I been carrying that no longer belongs to me?

Where have I confused being needed with being whole?

What part of me is asking for attention now?

These questions do not demand immediate answers. They create space. They help a woman notice what has been buried beneath responsibility, survival, grief, busyness, or expectation.

When Life Experience Becomes A Guide For Others

Finding Yourself Again grew from Dean’s own experience during a season of transition. As new questions surfaced, she began examining identity, grief, emotional patterns, self-trust, and the quiet ways women can lose connection with themselves while continuing to show up for others.

Through journaling and honest reflection, Dean began to understand the emotional shifts that often accompany major life changes, and the language and context that helped validate what many women quietly feel but may struggle to explain.

Over time, those reflections became the foundation for a book designed to help women notice what is happening within them, understand it with compassion, and take their next honest step.

Dean’s work has also been shaped by the women she’s walked alongside through their own seasons of change. Those conversations reinforced something she’d come to understand deeply: women don’t always need to be told what to do. Often, they need space to feel heard, supported, and gently guided back to their own clarity.

What Readers Will Find In Finding Yourself Again

Photo Courtesy: Connie Dean

The book blends personal reflection, thoughtful insight, practical exercises, grounding tools, and reflection prompts designed to help women move through change without abandoning themselves in the process.

The tone is warm and conversational, but the purpose is clear. Dean helps readers name what they’re experiencing and begin rebuilding trust with themselves.

That focus on self-trust is central to the book. Many women in transition don’t need more pressure, more perfection, or more instructions on how to appear resilient. They need permission to pause, tell the truth about what has changed, and reconnect with the parts of themselves they may have set aside.

Early Readers Are Responding

“Finding Yourself Again is beautiful, tender, honest, and full of lived wisdom,” said Stacy, an early reader. “Some passages stopped me in my tracks because they named things I had felt but never quite had words for.”

Another reader, Hisna, described the book as one that doesn’t rush toward answers. “It creates space to notice, to reflect, and to come back to yourself in your own time,” she said. “Connie’s tone feels honest and gentle, like she’s walking beside the reader, not telling them what to do.”

That response reflects the heart of Dean’s work. Her writing doesn’t lecture from a distance. It walks beside the reader with warmth, clarity, and lived understanding.

Life Change Can Become A Turning Point

Feeling unsettled doesn’t always mean something’s wrong. Sometimes it means something is finally ready to be noticed.

A woman might be grieving an old version of her life while she’s still figuring out the new one. She might be realizing that the roles she’s carried for years no longer tell the whole story. She might be waking up to a need or a truth she hasn’t yet let herself name.

For Dean, these moments can become turning points. They invite women to pause, listen inward, and ask what moving forward needs to look like now.

That is the deeper promise of Finding Yourself Again. It doesn’t ask women to abandon who they are. It helps them return to themselves with more honesty, compassion, and clarity.

For women who sense that pushing through is no longer enough, Dean’s work offers a thoughtful place to begin.

You are not starting over. You are finding yourself again.

Connect With Connie S. Dean

Readers can learn more about Connie S. Dean’s books, workshops, and retreat offerings at ConnieSDean.com.

Finding Yourself Again is available now on Amazon

Readers can also follow Connie S. Dean on Instagram at @connies.dean, where she shares reflections on self-awareness, emotional well-being, intentional living, and moving through life change with greater clarity.

Connect with Connie for workshop inquiries, women’s group events, retreat sessions, media requests, or speaking opportunities at connie@csdpub.com.