Laurie Hernandez shares how NIKE is expanding the footprint of wellness in the Latino community

Everyone’s favorite swoosh, Nike, was a major presence at the L’Attitude business-based national conference in San Diego. Following a chat between Nike CEO John Donahoe and L’Attitude Co-Founder Sol Trujillo, Nike held a series of impactful conversations around sport, wellness, culture, and more, proving how the company engages, inspires, and serves the Latino community.

HOLA! Had the opportunity to attend their breakout session Expanding the Footprint of Wellness: Building a Culture of Belonging & Inclusivity which included former Olympian, Laurie Hernandez.

Hernandez is a Puerto Rican mental health advocate, and we had the honor to talk to her about the work she has personally seen Nike do for black and brown communities.

“I’m watching them do this work, and it’s active, it’s through social media, it’s through advertisements, it’s through panels like this or different speaking engagements. So watching, I know there’s a reason why it’s called mental health activism. It’s active, it’s done consistently for a reason. And there was a part of me that thought or wondered- maybe Nike would die down at some point. Maybe they would get tired of this topic,” she told us.

“So I was really happy to know that within the last couple of years and being involved with Nike, and the mental health community-this is still ongoing. And it sounds like they continue to keep this conversation open to highlight minorities and to highlight the black and brown community and all people of color to make sure that we’re paying attention to those that maybe we wouldn’t have looked at before,” the athlete continued.

Someone there to help

One of the things Hernandez was very open about was how she struggled for a brief period after starting school at NYU Tisch. While she struggled with imposter syndrome and post-COVID brain fog, she made the brave decision to reach out to a crisis text line to ask for help.

“I had reached out to a chatline, and I was like, ‘I have imposter syndrome, and I don’t know what I’m doing. Am I actually supposed to be here? Like, maybe it was an accident, I don’t know. There could have been someone else.’ And they’re like, ‘No, you just have to take a deep breath,” she explained.

Just like Hernandez had someone to reach out to, Nike supports Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit that provides free 24/7 crisis counseling via text messaging. If you find yourself struggling, just text the word “strong” to 741741 to be paired with trained volunteer crisis counselors.

Dr. Shairi Turner, Chief Health Officer of Crisis Text Line, was also present at the panel. “Nearly 33% of Latinos with mental health issues are receiving treatment, and over half of Latino youth 18-25 with serious mental illness are not receiving treatment,” she told the crowd.

“Some of the barriers at play are access to care, language disconnect (5.5% of mental health practitioners acknowledge being able to speak Spanish), stigma, and a general discomfort about discussing mental health concerns. Crisis Text Line is a resource that is improving access to mental health care in the community,” Dr. Turner added.

Audio that heals

Dr. Shaira Turner is also a part of the incredible No Off-Season podcast with Natalia Dayan. The podcast features conversations with Nike athletes with the overall goal of showing those facing mental health challenges that they are not alone. Hernandez was a guest on episode 2 of the podcast, and we highly recommend you listen to her incredible story.

If you enjoy the No Off-Season podcast, you should also check out Athlete Mindset, a free audio series from Nike featuring expert guidance and athlete stories to help strengthen your mind.

What is an athlete’s mindset?

While we talked to Hernandez, we asked what an “athlete mindset” means to her.

“I worked with a therapist while I was training for my second Olympics and I remember saying, ‘I am giving 200% every single day. I am exhausted. I have nothing left to give. I don’t know how I’m gonna sustain myself for 2020, (this was before the delay). And I remember her saying, ‘the goal is not to die trying. It’s to sustain yourself and to keep yourself afloat until the end. How far can you go? How long can you survive?”

“And that route, that perspective really changed my mind on burnout culture and rest. And a lot of times athlete mindset, it’s associated with burnout and with giving your all a hundred percent all the time. When in reality to me athlete mindset looks like you are so in tune with yourself and with your physical body that you know when you need to rest, you need to take breaks, you have to eat, you have to do these things.”

What’s next for Laurie

Now that Hernandez is in drama school, we asked if she’s thought about writing a screenplay one day.

“I’ve written a lot. During the pandemic, I finished like a 55-page pilot. I wrote out how I wanted this like first season show to look, and then I look back on that two years later and realized it was probably one of the worst things I’ve ever written in my life. And then I wrote, you know, this idea for a short film, and then I started writing like a fantasy novel and all this stuff. So right now, I’m doing a little bit of hot potato with genres and even with writing styles, like is it gonna be a screenplay, is it gonna be a book? I don’t know if anything’s gonna come out anytime soon, but I do know I love doing it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up minoring in creative writing or something at NYU cuz I could see my life going that route for sure.”