Daily Inspiration: Meet Divine Philemond

Today we’d like to introduce you to Divine Philemond.

Hi Divine, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I never intended on starting a podcast. I went to school for film and tv and focused on screenwriting. I spent the years after college writing novels and entering screenwriting competitions with a little bit of success. I suffered burnout and was in a bad place for a while. In late 2019, I started working seriously on my mental health and tie that in with the fact that I decided to start dating again, in Atlanta of all places…. I went on one very specific date with a well-to-do Russian guy and it was such a chaotic journey over such a short period of time that I could not shut up about it. I told my friends, I told my therapist and it still was not enough. I had to literally sit down and record it for the Internet to hear, so I did and I published it.

After that first initial episode I realized that there were a lot of things I wanted to talk about that went past this one experience. I wanted to talk about the things that weighed heavy on my mind that I couldn’t muster up the courage to talk to even my therapist about. It was easy to do it alone in my room. No one was listening to my podcast, so I didn’t really care that it was on the internet. By the time I got comfortable with the thought that “hey, a few thousand people listen to your emotional word vomit.” I had built enough confidence and was comfortable enough to not feel shame about my very real feelings and experiences.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s really hard to be vulnerable on the Internet. There are always going to be people who say things like “oh, that couldn’t be me” or on your worst day they take your most unkind, intrusive thought and leave it in your comments. But I have wonderful people around me who remind me that being vulnerable is a strength that not everyone has.

At the end of the day I’m just happy to see that there are so many people all over the world who relate to the things I’m saying. Who feel seen and understood because I’ve been so transparent about my struggles with anxiety, self-worth and existing in general. Mental health has been on a decline and it’s because there is so much shame wrapped around our experience. I’ve had so many people reach out to me telling me I’ve put their feelings into words they never thought they could and that means the world to me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
So, I host and produce and edit POV You’re My Therapist. “The podcast where I vent you listen and you do not get paid.” I talk about everything: love, friendship, sex, therapy, mental health— literally everything under the sun. I try to be as educational as possible while keeping it timely, real and comedic. I also have a pretty fun TikTok where I post clips from the podcast and lifestyle videos.

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
It’s funny because I was so desperate to move out of Atlanta a few months ago but I’m beginning to realize that what really makes a city are the people in it and the relationships that you cultivate in the spaces you move through. So, making new relationships and friendships here have really allowed me to see the city through a new lens and I’m super grateful for that. My least favorite thing is the traffic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/Povyouremytherapist
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinephilo/
• Facebook: https://www.tiktok.com/@dphile?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/vinephilo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rDKt8Q5O1g&t=565s
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pov-youre-my-therapist/id1588316674