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After 10 years of working in marketing and analytics in the Boston area, Leanne Estridge left her job in early 2020 when her infant son had difficulty with daycare. 

As the family-inspired pause lengthened into a pandemic-driven societal realignment, Leanne and her husband decided the timing was right to make some major life changes. The couple decided to move back to Vermont, where Leanne had gone to college, in early 2021; her husband was growing a natural foods business; and Leanne, who for many years had been dreaming of grad school to pursue a longtime interest in mental health counseling, thought this might be the opportunity.

“I was passionate about my marketing work, but when my son needed more of me, I stepped back. And when I stepped back with him, I thought, this might be my chance to go back to school.” 

Listening to your heart

Leanne, who graduated from Champlain College in 2011, had long felt the call to serve others and considered majoring in criminal justice and social work before settling on public relations. “I fell in love with Vermont’s communities through my experience at Champlain, and it launched me into a fun and interesting career,” says Leanne. “But eventually I had to listen to my heart and go find work that aligns with who I really am; the person I want to be for my kids.”

One of Leanne’s consulting projects—working with a higher education consulting firm that was advising a group of Vermont colleges contemplating a merger—provided a direction. 

“Once we settled in Vermont, I contacted Vermont State University. I’d become familiar with VTSU, and while I looked at schools all over the country, I really liked the design of the VTSU program,” says Leanne. A grant providing funding assistance came along just as she was about to enroll, and that sealed the deal.

While the grant that Leanne tapped originally is no longer available, she is now receiving a Vermont Mental Health Forgivable Loan. That program, administered by �й������� and funded by the Vermont legislature, forgives one year of student loan debt for every year the student works in Vermont’s mental health field post-graduation.

A manageable future

She’s now about halfway to earning her , expecting to graduate in summer 2026. She’s part of a cohort of students all studying together, with focuses on children and families or adults. The group meets one weekend a month on the VTSU campus in Williston, with students completing independent assignments online in between meetings. “It’s a slower program, which is a good fit for me,” says Leanne, who now has two young children at home (their daughter was born in late 2021).

For Leanne and her husband, the assistance she received through grants and the Vermont Mental Health Forgivable Loan made her decision to go back to school more financially feasible and the prospect of balancing her workloads manageable. 

I was working full-time, raising toddlers, attending classes, and about to add on a practicum. Managing the logistics of everything started to feel overwhelming and we had to sit down and really think things through. What can we guarantee? Is staying in school and pursuing this dream possible for our family? Having the Vermont Mental Health Forgivable Loan took away a lot of those question marks. It’s allowed me to take this step to do more meaningful work for the community.

Leanne has started clinical work through an internship this year and will continue in two clinical settings that intrigue her and speak to her values: community-based mental health agencies and a primary care practice offering integrated mental health services.

Marketing mental health

As she continues transitioning into work as a counselor, the work will look quite a bit different from where Leanne started her career, and the irony of that full-circle change isn’t lost on her. “There is a much-needed shift in mindset about how digital and social media are impacting kids’ mental health—and rightly so—it’s definitely an interesting contrast with my earlier marketing work,” Leanne says with a laugh. But she also thinks her communications experience will serve her well in her counseling career.  

I think it will translate into advocacy for clients, agencies, and mental health in general. We need to continue to reduce the stigma and integrate mental health work more into our everyday conversations, so our systems can change and serve people in the most effective ways possible. People deserve access to mental health services. I think about how different things might have looked for me and many of my family and friends if we’d all had that type of support when we were young. If we can support kids early, how much can we change our community at large in the years to come? Those skills will help them be more successful and become the person they want to be. The earlier we can model that for kids, the better.