Meet Lei Raiza Zervoulakos | Trauma Speaks Founder, & Associate Clinician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lei Raiza Zervoulakos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lei Raiza, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I would say that one of the most important factors behind my success and the success of Trauma Speaks as a non-profit organization is my support system. It sounds cliche, but to be honest, they are constantly there for me to help me overcome any challenges, be a sounding board for ideas, get feedback and suggestion to help me succeed. Their support helps light a fire in me when I’m struggling and doubting myself.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Trauma Speaks is a mental health non-profit organization whose mission is to raise awareness about mental health and its related issues. Our goal is to highlight the importance of mental health just as how we perceive physical health as important. We are advocates for breaking the stigma attached to mental health as mental health is not just about PTSD, schizophrenia, personality disorders, depression, but also stress, grief, phase of life problems and many more. What makes Trauma Speaks different is that we encourage others to speak up and share their mental health experiences to create more open discussions regarding the topic. In addition, our main target is students (K-12 and college) as we believe it is important to educate our youth about mental health as early as possible as this can serve as both a prevention and intervention to the development of mental health issues. If they are able to learn how to listen to their body’s needs (physical, emotional, and mental), and know healthy coping skills they can use as well as resources available, this can help reduce the amount of youth experiencing depression, anxiety, substance use, and potentially suicide. Though Trauma Speaks targets the youth and is working within local community schools, we also provide educational and wellness workshops to the general population.

One of the things I am most proud of is that in the year Trauma Speaks was officially established as a non-profit organization, we have reached a lot of individuals whether in-person or virtually. Since we are considered a start-up, we have been operating through peer and family donations, and small fundraising campaign; nonetheless, we have provided 4 virtual workshops and facilitated 2 workshops at a local high school. We successfully launched our annual mental health twice where we were able to provide a series of workshops with guest speakers who can share their knowledge in their area of expertise. We also have reached more than 20 countries in our podcast and have had more than 5 individuals share their experiences to the community through our blog. I am looking forward to what else Trauma Speaks can accomplish as we further grow and develop, particularly adding clinical services (telehealth and in-person, etc.) once we have licensed professionals onboard, youth mental health programs, wellness trainings, mentorship programs and more to come!

Getting to where we are now took a lot of risk and faith on my end as the founder of the organization as I didn’t know what would happen once I filed official paperwork and went down this path. I have always been afraid of failing and this was one of the biggest things that was unknown for me. How I was able to overcome this major challenge was through the support I received from loved ones. They believed in me and encouraged me that my idea has potential and that no matter the outcome, I will be able to help others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
San Diego has a lot of things to offer that even I have not had the opportunity to try them or see all of them. For amazing sceneries, I would recommend watching the sunset at the sunset cliffs. There’s also a pathway down the cliff which is worth it but make sure to wear comfortable non-slip footwear. I also recommend going to Coronado! In terms of restaurants, highly recommend having dinner at C-level. They are known for their amazing view! North Italia is also another restaurant that’s worth trying especially their white truffle garlic bread! For some casual dining spots, Narumi Sushi is pretty good. For boba, CHAKAA and The Korean Rose. Julian is also an hour’s drive from San Diego which is a nice small city to visit and try some mouthwatering apple pies.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Honestly, I wouldn’t be where I am right now, nor the Trauma Speaks organization if it wasn’t for the amazing people that believe in me and support my dreams and goals. Being able to provide educational content to the community would not be possible without our volunteers. I would like to give a special shoutout to Bliss Paik, who is one of our longest volunteers. She has been with us since before Trauma Speaks became an official nonprofit organization. Thank you for joining us and sticking with us throughout the years.

We would also not be able to expand our services if it were not for our generous donors and grantors. Our organization relies on the goodness of others, and we would not be able to continue if it weren’t for you.

Lastly, thank you to Amber Escobar and Ramona Kraeutler for dreaming with me and helping me manage and operate the organization. Thank you for your dedication and for donating whatever free time you have to Trauma Speaks so that it can further flourish and help the community. Also, thank you to Joshua Yun, who is our treasurer and my biggest and number 1 supporter. Thank you for helping us manage our finances and bookkeeping as well as sharing your knowledge in project management to help improve Trauma Speaks.

Website: traumaspeaks.org

Instagram: @traumaspeaks

Twitter: @traumaspeaks

Facebook: facebook.com/traumaspeaksinc