Lincoln small business supporting mental health

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - As National Suicide Prevention Month continues throughout the month of September, one Lincoln business is helping those struggling with mental health.

In 2016, Nia Patterson started making stickers, and since then her business, Self Love Tool Chest, has transformed into a way to encourage acceptance and help people who struggle with mental health.

The Self Love Tool Chest offers pins and stickers, but it’s not your normal pins and stickers. These have meaning and messages that promote positivity and self love. Patterson says she has struggled with mental health herself, and her product helps others by letting them know they’re not alone.

“My goal is to reach people and validate them and have them not feel alone,” Patterson said. “I just want to create little pins or stickers that when people see them on their laptop, backpack or water bottle, they get a reminder that they aren’t alone and that it’s okay.”

When Patterson started, she was just cutting and creating stickers on her machine at home, but the business has grown so rapidly, Patterson has contracts with manufacturers to help make her stickers and pins.

Patterson is also very active on social media and says social media platforms have given her the opportunity to reach more people and help others. Self Love Tool Chest now has roughly 10,000 followers on Instagram.

“I wanted to show up on social media in the most authentic and vulnerable way I could,” Patterson said. “I wanted people to see she’s having a bad day, I can have a bad day or she’s struggling it’s okay if I struggle. I show up on social media so people know that it’s okay for them to show up in the world.”

Patterson tells 10/11 she hopes that eventually her pins and stickers can be found in stores locally and across the country.

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