diff --git a/models/user.js b/models/user.js
index c3c81010a..7d083f70d 100644
--- a/models/user.js
+++ b/models/user.js
@@ -2,9 +2,17 @@ const mongoose = require('../mongoose');
 const uuid = require('uuid');
 const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
 const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
+const debug = require('debug')('talk:user_model');
 
 const SALT_ROUNDS = 10;
 
+if (!process.env.TALK_SESSION_SECRET) {
+  debug('\n////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////\n' +
+        '///   TALK_SESSION_SECRET must be defined to encode      ///\n' +
+        '///   JSON Web Tokens and other auth functionality       ///\n' +
+        '////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////');
+}
+
 const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
   id: {
     type: String,
diff --git a/routes/api/user/index.js b/routes/api/user/index.js
index 808ad6940..c9b497659 100644
--- a/routes/api/user/index.js
+++ b/routes/api/user/index.js
@@ -99,8 +99,6 @@ router.post('/update-password', (req, res, next) => {
 router.post('/request-password-reset', (req, res, next) => {
   const {email} = req.body;
 
-  console.log('/request-password-reset', req.body);
-
   if (!email) {
     return next();
   }
@@ -109,12 +107,12 @@ router.post('/request-password-reset', (req, res, next) => {
     .createJWT(email)
     .then(token => {
       const options = {
-        subject: 'password reset requested',
+        subject: 'Password Reset Requested - Talk',
         from: 'coralcore@mozillafoundation.org',
-        to: 'riley.davis@gmail.com',
+        to: email,
         html: `<p>We received a request to reset your password. If you did not request this change, you can ignore this email.
                 If you did, <a href="http://localhost:3000/admin/password-reset/${token}">please click here to reset password</a>.</p>
-                ${process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? '' : `<h1>${token}</h1>`}`
+                ${process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? '' : `<p style="color: red">${token}</p>`}`
       };
       return mailer.sendSimple(options);
     })
@@ -122,7 +120,9 @@ router.post('/request-password-reset', (req, res, next) => {
       res.json({success: true});
     })
     .catch(error => {
-      res.status(500).json({error});
+      const errorMsg = typeof error === 'string' ? error : error.message;
+
+      res.status(500).json({error: errorMsg});
     });
 });
 
diff --git a/services/mailer.js b/services/mailer.js
index eb900d782..89115d619 100644
--- a/services/mailer.js
+++ b/services/mailer.js
@@ -1,11 +1,19 @@
 const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
 const sgTransport = require('nodemailer-sendgrid-transport');
+const debug = require('debug')('talk:mail');
 const options = {
   auth: {
     api_key: process.env.TALK_SENDGRID_APIKEY
   }
 };
 
+if (!process.env.TALK_SENDGRID_APIKEY) {
+  debug('\n///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////\n' +
+        '///   TALK_SENDGRID_APIKEY should be defined if you would   ///\n' +
+        '///   like to send password reset emails from Talk          ///\n' +
+        '///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////');
+}
+
 const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport(sgTransport(options));
 
 const mailer = {