I’m Mackenzie, I am the 20 year old Founder and CEO of Stay Another Day™Ltd.  The business was started because those three words mean so much to me.  

I played softball my whole life, but my career was cut short in April of 2022, when I took a line drive to my face during a game while playing third base. The ongoing head / concussion issues from the accident forced me to completely  step away from playing softball in the fall of 2022. 

Although I’m sad my athletic career is over, I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. The end of my softball playing career has pushed me to focus on the much bigger purpose in my life… helping break the stigma that's been created around mental health.

In high school, I created Mackenzie Paige, a line of handmade hair accessories.  My grandma taught me how to sew in 4th grade and ever since it has always been therapeutic and relaxing to me. When Covid hit, I needed something to keep myself busy and my mind distracted. I sewed over 2,000 facemasks during the pandemic and this really helped MP take off! Mackenzie Paige eventually went on to release a mental health awareness line early in 2022.  That line grew into its own brand and company, Stay Another Day Ltd.

I struggled with my mental health all throughout high school, but did such a good job distracting myself and putting on a front that I was okay, no one would’ve noticed.  I never knew how much mental health could affect someone and the people around them until I struggled with it myself. My dad, Chris, and sister Kylee, have been a great help in my mental wellness journey. They are also owners of Stay Another Day LTD and have been a great help in making all my visions become a reality - I am so grateful for them! They are two of the reasons I am still here today. We are all so passionate about helping break this stigma around mental health. 

The low point of my mental health journey was while I was playing college softball.  My mental health started to get worse and worse. I fell into a terrible low I didn’t think I would make it out of. I kept all of my feelings in and I wasn’t sure how to express them. I wasn’t taking care of myself at all, I was losing weight, making bad choices for my overall health, and excluding myself from most social interactions because I didn’t want people to know about the terrible low I was in. From crying during practices, to not being able to make it through a whole class period without having a mental breakdown, people slowly started to notice how bad I truly was doing. Things got so bad that I almost took my own life multiple times. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I went to the hospital seeking help, and was admitted. That stay put me on the right path of getting better. 

Now that I’m out of that terrible low I want to help others see that brighter days really are coming. It’s okay to be sad, once you acknowledge how you’re feeling, and speak up about it, it makes it so much easier to get better. “Stay Another Day” is what I use to tell myself over and over, just taking it one day at a time. This message helped me a lot when I was in the low, and I’m extremely grateful I am here today to be able to share my mental health journey with you. 

For the longest time, I thought conversations about mental health were uncomfortable, and I didn’t know how to get the help I needed. My heart breaks for the younger version of myself that was afraid to open up about how she was feeling, because too many people suffer in silence and it makes the battle that much harder. I knew I had to do something to help make these conversations easier, and help break the stigma that has been created around mental health, so the brand was born.

Life goes on I promise, so please Stay Another Day ;)