Break Room Therapy

02/07/2026

✨ Local Black Leaders Spotlight: Honoring Black History in Our Community ✨

This month we honor the history, resilience, and leadership of Black changemakers — from the nation to right here in West Michigan.

Today we’re spotlighting a passionate voice making a difference right here in Grand Rapids:

Marshall Kilgore
Marshall serves as the 3rd Ward City Commissioner, where he brings deep roots in community service, human rights advocacy, and environmental justice to his work. He’s a proud fourth-generation Grand Rapidian committed to uplifting underserved neighborhoods and building bridges across issues like equitable housing, climate fairness, and civic engagement.

Every week this month we’ll highlight someone whose courage, vision, and leadership have helped shape this community — in ways big and small — and remind ourselves that Black history is living history.

🖤Please use these posts to also recognize those you feel should be included by commenting the ones close to your heart also

02/05/2026

📣 Calling All Nonprofit Organizations 📣
I’m reaching out to our local nonprofit community because I’d love to know: do you have a need for printer toner or ink support?
There are some really solid programs and options available right now that can either help nonprofits save money or turn used toner into funding, and I’d love to connect these resources with organizations who could benefit.
Here are a few worth knowing about:
♻️ Recycling Toner for Cash or Supplies
Funding Factory – A free program that turns used toner and ink cartridges into funds for schools and nonprofits.
Planet Green Recycle – A nationwide, no-cost program that allows organizations to earn cash by recycling cartridges.
Local recycling programs – Many libraries, food banks, and community groups collect used cartridges and exchange them for office-supply store credit.
💙 Discounted Purchasing & Donation Programs
Michigan Computer Supplies – Provides a $5 donation to a designated nonprofit for every compatible cartridge purchased.
Connected Office Technologies – Supplies printers and toner to nonprofits at reduced costs.
Toner Buzz – Offers tax-exempt purchasing for qualifying organizations.
Third-party marketplaces – Purchasing compatible (generic) cartridges through platforms like eBay or Amazon can significantly reduce costs compared to brand-name options.
✅ Best Practice Tip If you’re not already enrolled, registering with programs like Funding Factory allows you to start collecting cartridges from your community and turning something disposable into real support for your mission.
If you’re part of a nonprofit — or know one that could use toner support, recycling options, or donation opportunities — please comment below or message me. I’m happy to help make connections or share more details.
Let’s make sure resources don’t go to waste when they could be helping the people who need them most. 💙

02/05/2026

Feb 12th thru 15th
We will be doing our annual dinner table set up for your smashing ambiance!

Plan ahead and book your session.

P.S. Valentine's weekend has historically been a sold-out weekend every year.
So don’t wait! Plan ahead

02/04/2026

Imagine a round plate trying to fit into a rectangular box.
It doesn’t fit — not because the plate is wrong, and not because the box is wrong. They’re just different.

But the plate wants to belong.
So it chips away pieces of itself. A habit here. A belief there. Maybe a part of how it looks, how it speaks, how it shows up.

Eventually, the plate does fit into the box.
But the pieces that broke off?
They’re left outside.
And the plate inside the box is smaller now — missing parts of what once made it whole.

Nothing was ever wrong with the plate.
It didn’t need to break to be worthy of belonging.

Maybe the answer was never to change the plate…
but to find a box that could hold it exactly as it was.
Fitting in should never cost you pieces of yourself.

02/03/2026

February is Black History Month.
And it’s not just about looking back—it’s about honoring lives, voices, and impact that continue to shape our world right now.

We honor the strength, brilliance, resilience, and contributions of Black individuals who pushed forward even when the cost was high—often at great personal risk—so future generations could exist with more dignity, opportunity, and voice.

We hold space for leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., who reminded us that justice requires courage and persistence.
For Rosa Parks, whose quiet refusal changed the course of history.
For Maya Angelou, whose words gave language to pain, pride, and perseverance.

And we honor the countless Black educators, artists, healers, activists, business owners, parents, and community builders—past and present—whose names may not be in textbooks but whose impact is deeply felt.

At Break Room Therapy, we believe everyone deserves to exist fully, safely, and authentically. Black history is not separate from American history—it is American history. This month, and always, we stand in recognition, respect, and solidarity.

🖤

02/02/2026

If the groundhog sees his shadow, we break plates.
If he doesn’t see his shadow, we still break plates.
If winter feels endless… definitely break plates.
Seems fair 🤷‍♀️🦫🔨

02/01/2026

𝐀 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 🤍

I did not build Break Room Therapy to be a political space.
That was never the intent — and it still isn’t.
This space was created so 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 (13+) — regardless of gender, race, size, ability, background, or identity — could walk through our doors and feel safe. Safe to decompress. Safe to let go. Safe to celebrate. Safe to exist. Whether you’re here for your mental health, a birthday, a work outing, or just to have some fun — you belong here.

But I also believe something deeply, and I always have:
𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭.

Growing up, I was taught to stay silent about pain — not because silence was healing, but because it made others more comfortable and allowed harm to continue. I learned the hard way that keeping quiet doesn’t protect people — it isolates them.

Because of that, I no longer believe that using your voice is wrong. I believe it helps people feel seen. Less alone. Less invisible.
I wish we lived in a time where it never felt necessary to speak on heavy issues. I wish human rights weren’t dismissed as “politics.” But what we are witnessing — especially over the last year — is not about party lines. It’s about 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬.

I am a cis white woman. My own life is not under direct attack.
But my friends’ lives are.
My family’s lives are.
My neighbors’ lives are.
And that matters.

We never set out to offend or alienate anyone, and that has never been our goal. But we also won’t stay silent just to keep others comfortable — especially when we see, time and time again, guests walk through our doors and tell us that our voice helped them find theirs.

Life can feel incredibly lonely — especially for those whose existence is constantly questioned or threatened. If using our platform helps even one person feel less alone, then that voice matters.

We are simple people, living simple lives, doing our best to show up with integrity. And yes — morals, values, and where we choose to spend our money matter to us.

This space will always be about 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲
That part will never change.
🤍

01/31/2026

Today is Saturday.
And this is the part that matters too.
If yesterday was a day to pause, protest, strike, or step back — we see you.

Today is a day to reinvest.
In people.
In community.
In the small businesses that are still here because their neighbors keep choosing them.

If you’re able, today is a great day to:
• Support a local business - there are so many great local small businesses in the area, heck tag them here even so others learn about them!
• Use a gift card you’ve been holding onto
• Pay with cash when you can
• Show up a little louder for the places that can’t afford to disappear- small business feel the crunch first and most

We stayed open yesterday not because we don’t care but because caring also looks like keeping our doors open, paying our staff, and continuing to hold space for people who need somewhere safe to let go.

There is room for protest and care.
For resistance and survival.
For anger and community.

If Break Room Therapy is part of how you support small, local, human-run spaces — today matters more than you know. Even if that means you plan ahead and book for a date in the future.

Thank you for seeing us.
Thank you for showing up.
And thank you for continuing to choose people over systems.
🖤

01/31/2026

The world feels loud right now.
We don’t have all the answers — but we believe in safe places to breathe, release, and feel human again. And that's just one of many reasons we are here for you.

01/30/2026

A reminder for anyone snowed in today — you can book a session anytime, even from the couch.
Future-you will be glad you did
breakroomtherapy.com

01/29/2026

01/29/2026

Community note from Break Room Therapy 🧡

We see the calls for a strike.
We understand the why behind it.
And we are very clear about where we stand: F ICE.

At the same time, we want to be honest about our reality as a small business.

We’re only open 4 days a week as it is. Yes we open up on the off days but that doesn't happen all the time.
We pay and treat our staff well.
We help our community with most requests sent to us, which are a lot.
We carry our own bills.
And for a business like ours, being closed for one day doesn’t hit like “one day” — it hits like a week.

Closing completely on Friday would put real strain on the people who rely on this space: our staff, and the folks who come here to let go, decompress, and breathe.

So, we will be open on Friday.

That said — if you choose to strike, we respect the hell out of that.
And if you’re looking for ways to do both:

• Consider still supporting SMALL & local businesses
• Use cash when you can
• Use those gift cards you’ve been saving
• And if Friday is a no-spend day for you, please show up extra hard on Saturday!

This isn’t about apathy.
It’s about survival, community care, and doing the best we can in a system that keeps asking regular people to absorb the damage.

To the businesses closing Friday — we see you.
To the people weighing conscience, capacity, and sanity — we see you too.

This all sucks.
We’re still here.
And we’re still very much on the side of humanity.

🖤