On the Intersection of Identity + Mental Health

Good morning from my sunny Brooklyn apartment! With coffee in hand and the city humming softly below, I’m soaking in a rare moment of quiet. In a place as fast-paced as New York, these pauses feel like a gift.

Before the day rushes in, I want to reflect on what mental health means to me—and to my co-founder, Ingrid—in this chaotic, beautiful world. I’m also super curious to hear: what does mental health mean to you? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

For me, it means:

• Slowing down and trusting the process

• Listening inward and facing the hard stuff

• Building a toolkit to stay present

• Asking for help when needed

• Nurturing deep, genuine relationships

Ingrid is one of those people for me. We’ve been friends, partners, and now co-founders of The New Savant—and chosen family. Watching her grow as a creative has been powerful. Through scent, she tells stories that challenge the norms of a fragrance world shaped by whiteness—centering notes and narratives from her lived experience.

In our latest scent, Mixed Feelings, you can smell that evolution.

I recently sat down with Ingrid to talk about identity, mental health, and how fragrance weaves it all together. Here’s our interview—edited for clarity.

Erica: How has your cultural identity shaped your understanding of mental health?

Ingrid: Mental health was not deeply discussed on either side of my family, but especially not my mom’s side, my Asian side. There was so much focus on excellence and being a “good” daughter that there really wasn’t room for anything else. As an adult, it made me want to pursue not only a deeper relationship with myself, but with my mom, too. We are now closer than we’ve ever been, I just wish it could’ve happened sooner.

Erica: Were there unspoken rules in your upbringing about what emotions were acceptable to show?

Ingrid: Any extremes in emotion were really looked down upon, whether positive or negative. So if I achieved something I’d been working toward, my mom would not say she was proud, celebrate, or even acknowledge me. If I felt angry or upset about something in public, I was told to be quiet or calm down. Coming from a Buddhist background, where emotional restraint is a core practice, I can see how all of this stemmed from good intentions. As an adult, I’ve had to learn when practicing restraint feels nourishing vs. harmful or stifling.

Erica: What does it mean to reclaim emotional space—not just as a person, but as a creator, a founder, and an Asian woman?

Ingrid: American culture has been filled with and built around the feelings of white people, so to own a growing business as a queer, Asian woman and share my story through the language of scent feels powerful. It feels bigger than just myself or my business, because I know there were so many people who came before me that made this life possible. I hope that by taking up this space in a public way, it opens up the possibilities for others to do the same.