Peace Be Still
Book by Medina K. Jett, MBA
The Summary
Peace Be Still: Navigating My Son’s Bipolar Disorder highlights Medina’s perspective on mental health through the lens of a mother whose 20-year-old son was diagnosed with bipolar schizoaffective while a junior at a top university. Having navigated her son’s mental health diagnosis for the past 5 years, Medina’s goal is to raise awareness about the national mental health epidemic and its impact on young adults, to share her challenges and lessons learned attempting to get help for her son; to educate parents about the importance of tending to their child’s emotional health; and to show how we all can play a role in improving the lives of those who are suffering.
Medina gives us an opportunity to experience up close and very personal her journey dealing with her son’s mental health condition. She takes the reader along on her journey from handling her son’s initial bipolar diagnosis through her struggle to get help from our flawed mental health system to and her personal struggles coping with her son’s mania and her new normal and even an exploration of her possible missteps as a parent.
Peace Be Still is powerful, inspirational and informative. Through her writing, Medina is breaking down the stigma around mental health and starting a much-needed national conversation. Peace Be Still is a must read for every parent, everyone who knows someone challenged with a mental health condition, every mental health worker, and every human being who wants to be a part of the solution to the mental health crisis.
Medina Jett
The Author
Medina Jett, JD, MBA is a mother first and foremost. Formerly married, she is a mom to three young adults, Taylor, Dre, and Sydni.
In addition to her role as a dedicated mom, Medina is a career-driven professional, and a community leader. She has achieved success in multiple professional arenas. She was a senior executive at three Fortune 500 companies before the age of 40. She then founded an award-winning international business in the asset management industry which she scaled and eventually sold 13 years later.
Medina is now pursuing her passion for real estate and the creation of a family business with her newest entrepreneurial venture, TDS Builders, a real estate development company that she co-founded with her youngest daughter, Sydni.
Medina is a long-time social justice advocate. She has been the recipient of many awards and recognition for her advocacy most notably the Anti-Defamation League’s Torch of Liberty award for her advocacy in social justice and racial equality issues; the Urban League of Southern Connecticut’s Diversity Award; the Tri-State Diversity Council’s Influential Women award; and the Hartford Business Journal’s Top Women in Business award, to name a few.
Medina became an advocate for destigmatizing mental illness and raising awareness on this national epidemic after her son, Andre (Dre) Jett, was diagnosed with bi-polar schizoaffective in October 2018. Represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau, Medina speaks on many topics related to leadership, women’s empowerment, financial literacy, diversity, equity and inclusion, and she has now added mental health to her repertoire. Peace Be Still: The Mother of an Adult Child with a Mental Health Condition Shares Her Story, marks Medina’s debut as an author.
Medina earned a BA from Wesleyan University, a JD from Georgetown Law School, and an MBA in finance from the University of Connecticut School of Business. She also is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program at Babson College. Medina is a proud 39-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Phi Phi Omega Chapter. A life-long resident of Connecticut, Medina now calls Atlanta home.