Dayna Altman is a baker, speaker, author, and mental health advocate, stirring up conversations to support healing, vulnerability, and recovery. She spoke on a podcast, Keep Calm and Mental Health On, on the way she uses food, storytelling, and her platform, Bake It Till You Make It, to create change in the mental health space.
Altman stated that she hasn’t had the most positive memories with food growing up. “[Her] younger self would have had no idea that this is where [her] eating disorder recovery has brought her.”
She also stated that in the past she was struggling with a depressive episode, anxiety, OCD, and a car accident. She didn’t know how to spend her time until she turned to baking from boxes of cake mix. “[She] early on saw the power and comfort that came with baking and talking about [her] depression side-by-side with people in the kitchen.”
She felt more connected to the people she was talking with and realized how much easier and more accessible it was to talk about mental health in that way. This inspired her to start Bake It Till You Make It, which started out as a cookbook featuring recipes and stories of mental health challenges and recovery.
“When the book came out in 2019, [she] saw the demand for more conversations.” That inspired presentations and events that led to the organization, Bake It Till You Make It.
Altman also stated that sharing stories through her cookbook is vulnerable. But she has always been a writer.
“Sharing a vulnerable piece of [her] story continues to be a challenge, but the idea of using writing as a mechanism to do that was something that felt right.”
Right now, she has five cookbooks with over 40 people in each book sharing their stories. She has written a biography and two poetry books. She feels like the more she shares her story, the easier it gets to see the power of being authentic and being connected with people.
Altman also had the chance to speak at the White House in 2022. She was one of about eight people to speak individually. “It was such a beautiful moment, not only for [her] present self, but for the past and future versions as well. It was a super powerful moment that has carried [her] into 2025.”
Additionally, Altman noted that her clinical experience as a DBT educator came after graduating from college. She states that “DBT is something that [she] continues to think about and that some of her favorite speaking opportunities happen at the intersection of advocacy and clinical work.”
Over her entrepreneurial career and being an advocate, one lesson that she’s learned from creating meaningful change in mental health spaces is that she doesn’t need to have all the answers.
To anyone who’s struggling with perfectionism, she quotes her first therapist with a motivational saying, “leap and the net will appear.” She realizes that she needs to trust in herself when creating these spaces and “embody the idea of not being alone.”
She noted that it can make you feel so vulnerable to ask for help, but it is a part of being human. She feels like vulnerability and authenticity are almost contagious: “asking for help can have such huge ripple effects.”
Another quote from one of her therapists that has stuck with her is, “If you want to make a difference in the world, you have to be different than the world.” She said this inspires her to make a difference in the mental health space.
While Altman is a successful mental health advocate, she does believe that it is important to honor her self-care. She states that she balances her identity by realizing that her mental health is a “living experience” and a life-long journey, and makes sure that she is constantly “showing up in a way that’s authentic to [her].”
A dream project she hopes to tackle next is going through the traditional publishing process for a memoir, “For All My Tiers” and hopes to see it in a multi-media format. She said any way to create lasting change is something that she looks forward to.
Currently Bake It Till You Make It “is a promise to [her] and how [she] will continue to focus and fight for [her] purpose. [She] believes in what [she] is doing, to block out the other noise and keep focusing on the impact [she] has.”
This piece is part of Project Awaaz (founded by Aditi Ediga), a teen-led series on mental health and culture.
