We were lucky to catch up with Teri Jade Cabrera recently and have shared our conversation below.

Teri Jade, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to defuse the stigma of mental health in minority communties, one mind at a time. I founded The Mind Field to create a safe place for BIPOC to discuss mental health and to faciliate a healing a space for our generation and future generations.I firmly believe that we can defuse the stigma of mental health by having open, judgment free conversations about mental health topics that impact our communities.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

A little about me, I am a Texas Native and I have been living Dallas for seven years. I decided to create The Mind Field during my Master’s program. I began to reflect on my life and I wish mental health was taken more seriosuly in my family and my culture. When I began to experience depression and shared with my family, I was dismissed and told that I could “pray away” these feelings or that everything would be “all right” soon enough. One day, I had a late night conversation with my friends and we all had similar stories. BOOM! The Mind Field was born. I felt it necessary to want to tackle mental health in BIPOC communties. We need healing conversations so that we all my grow and become our most authentic selves. I am most proud that I chose to continue to pursue my mission, the pandemic fully slowed down my plans. I am proud to say that The Mind Field will return to having events starting this upcoming July.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

COVID was the major pivot for me. I was working in immigration and was not fulfilled and the opportunity to become a teacher arised (FYI, I am an English teacher during the day.) I changed careers in the pandemic and I somehow thought I could manage being a first year teacher in a pandemic and running a small nonprofit. Since face-to-face interactions were limited, I put The Mind Field on ice and just tried to manage being a teacher. I honestly felt so defeated as I was not tackling my mission. However, I kept planning and thinking of new ways to engage an audience and still build a brand. I chose to do what was best for me and it was to keep The Mind Field on ice until face-to-face interactions were no longer limited. I believe that we gain so much from in-person interactions and I did not want to pivot to virtual events.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I had to unlearn was that everything does not have to be perfect for something to happen and to not have expectations. I used to feel so defeated when only five people would show up to my events when I expected fifty. I have learned to be happy with whoever chooses to attend my events because that is five people that I have started a conversation with that they will extend to their friends and family members. Change starts at the grassroot level.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themindfield.org
• Instagram: @themindfieldorg

Image Credits
Caleb Corbett