Sarah Dalley
Through Bonding Over Books, a conversation card game for book clubs and bookworms, founder and creator Sarah Dalley wants people to connect on a personal level for better mental health.
The Cranbrook Kingswood grad lives in Birmingham and majored in communications at the University of Michigan before moving to New York. “I was really interested in working for a startup because I had the entrepreneurial bug,” said Dalley. “I wanted to gain experience and put myself in a position to learn very quickly and wear a lot of hats.”
After working for a small startup in the medical field, Dalley headed to Spring Health, a mental health benefit company and high-growth startup where she currently works.
During the pandemic, Dalley went back and forth between New York and Michigan, where she met her fiancé. Her decision to return would take her further down the entrepreneurial path.
“In New York, I was so used to constant interaction. It was a huge shift to come back,” she said. “When I moved back to Michigan, I really felt the loneliness of the epidemic. I feel strongly about mental health that has become a huge issue we are currently dealing with in the U.S. and globally.”
That would change when Dalley joined a book club through an acquaintance on Facebook. “It helps me create more healthy habits when I put down the phone and pick up a book and meet more people,” she said.
“I think book clubs are very popular today because people are seeking community and a hobby and a shared interest. People are lonely and they are all craving that connection.”
The popular pastime inspired her card game when she noticed one person asked questions found online about the book and a few people dominated the conversation during the discussion. “When I hosted, I wanted to do things differently to make sure everyone is involved, so I wrote questions on paper and put them in a bowl to pass around,” she said. “To this day, everybody talks about how that was our best book club.”
One question asked at what age do you think reading this book would have benefited you the most.
“There was a new woman who was kind of shy and she shared that she wished she had read the book (The Midnight Library) when she was younger. I realized we can get to know people on such a deep level by what we’re reading,” said Dalley.
“We can pull those layers back when we prompt people a little bit differently, so they are talking about the book, but really sharing about themselves.”
These meetings come with other perks. “I was an avid reader, but now I am more so upon joining the book club when I came back. It really has become one of my top hobbies,” said Dalley, who counts The Midnight Library among her favorites. “Not only did I love the book, it was a great experience for us and we all reflect back on it.”
Titles with mental health themes can encourage important conversations. “You usually don’t talk about death with your friends,” said Dalley, who also started another book club with some women who tested her product.
Dalley, who has partnered with organizations like Reading Rhythms and Shine & Rise for her card game that could also work well for educators, hopes to expand upon the current questions. “Each are more so about the person, using books as a vehicle to do that,” she said.
As Dalley explained, she became a mental health advocate for good reason. “Since my senior year of high school, I have lost five friends to suicide,” she said. “If we can get people to open up and share and have that conversation, books really offer the ability to do that, and of course fight the stigma.
“Sharing makes the world a better place.”
Story: Jeanine Matlow
Photo: Laurie Tennent
