By Caroline McDonough
For The Diamondback
Senior management major Ella Macduff and her mother, Teri Macduff, spent an eight hour road trip from their home in Massachusetts to the University of Maryland in 2023 opening up about their personal struggles.
That conversation led them to discover their shared passion for breaking the silence around mental health.
Within two days, they had chosen a name and filed for a limited liability company. Their mental wellness brand Chasing Red Flags, which promotes “authenticity over perfection,” officially launched in January 2024.
“That conversation led us to say, ‘Let’s take our personal struggles and put a face on it and stop pretending everything’s fine,’ and start a business where being real outshines being perfect,” Teri said.
Chasing Red Flags includes a podcast where they discuss life, love and the messiness of being human, while reminding listeners that they’re not alone, according to their website.
Ella said the name of their brand encompasses the idea that red flags are a powerful tool for recognizing your own flaws. Recognizing personal red flags helps build healthier, more authentic relationships, she said.
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It also includes their therapist-approved guided journal, “Let’s Get Real,” which includes more than 200 prompts, a dozen different themes and affirmations with tips for stress and anxiety.
Ella and Teri said they created the journal because they felt there wasn’t a tool on the market that could address all those topics.
“What [my mom and] I have been realizing … since we started the business is that loneliness is at an all time high,” Ella said. “A lot of people are just looking for ways to connect with each other and learn more about themselves.”
The beginning of the journal contains a contract where readers write a promise to get real with themselves. The journal guides users through topics such as self-confidence, relationship boundaries and self-compassion, according to their website.
Readers are able to work at their own pace, creating a space to ease anxiety and deepen self-reflection through the journal’s undated format. She said the goal is to make authenticity more valuable than putting on a facade of perfection.
“We’re really just trying to work on normalizing conversations around mental health and creating spaces where people just truly feel seen and heard,” Ella said.
Olivia Boyd said the journal allows her to reset her nervous system. Boyd grew up in Needham, Massachusetts, where Teri and Ella are also from, and met the two through her sister.
“There’s something about taking a minute to myself to kind of ask a thoughtful question of myself that really helps me slow down, stay regulated and pause,” Boyd said.
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Boyd said this journal is different from others because it includes specific prompts and questions that push her to think deeper about her self-reflection.
The journal’s undated format allows her to go at her own pace and choose the days she wants to reflect on deeper questions, Boyd said.
“This journal is great for anyone who wants to deepen their connection with themselves and learn about themselves,” Boyd said.
Ella realized the more she talked about her own mental health and learned about herself, the better she started to feel. She said she hopes the journal helps other people feel the same.
“Being authentic and real and promoting awareness is kind of my goal,” Ella said. “I just want to help anybody and everybody know that they have a community with us and Chasing Red Flags.”
