By Tre Gabriel
Flawless Intern
Entering college at the ripe old age of 17, I had no problem admitting that I didn’t know stuff.
I didn’t know what to major in, didn’t know where my classes would be, didn’t know my way around intimidating New York City. But none of these things worried me too much, because I knew I would figure them out sooner or later. The only unanswered question that gave me any real anxiety was something I’ve been asked since I could talk: What do you want to be when you grow up?
After nearly two decades of worrying about it, I still didn’t really know, and I was worried that I never would. It wasn’t until late into my senior year at Columbia University that it dawned on me: despite being a political science major, I wanted to pursue psychology and mental health. Feeling a bit behind, I quickly sought out any sort of work in the field. Days later, a casual dinner with a football super mom from my hometown in Florida turned into a job opportunity, when Janine Francolini invited me to work at Flawless. I quickly became more involved in the mental health world than I could have ever imagined.
Dr. Stuart Ablon speaking at the Think:Kids Tier 1 Collaborative Problem Solving training
One of the first opportunities I had at Flawless was to get certified in Mental Health First Aid. From an educational perspective, I have had the opportunity to learn about neuroscience and neurodevelopment from Dr. Bruce Perry, emotional intelligence at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence from Dr. Marc Brackett, and family mental health from Dan Bernstein, America’s top expert in conflict resolution. From Dr. Stuart Ablon, I learned strategies for collaborative problem-solving and skills training for working with children with behavioral challenges. While I missed out on incorporating psychology into my academic coursework, I truly feel that I have caught up to my peers through my internship with Flawless.
From a professional development standpoint, I’ve been trained on the ins-and-outs of how to market an organization and produce relative content through digital media. I’ve learned to double and triple check my work and learned strategies for shaking off inevitable mistakes in order to move on and capture the next opportunity. 
While covering the annual Kennedy Forum for Flawless, I heard Congressman Patrick Kennedy commend four politicians who have gone public about their disabilities. He then joked by saying it’s funny that, in the history of the United States, there have only been four politicians with disabilities. The message here is that there is still a lot of discrimination that prevent our country’s leaders from publicly acknowledging their mental health challenges. The same goes for many individuals who are not in leadership roles. Patrick Kennedy went on to say that everyone in America should get a “check-up from the neck up.” Mental health checks should be just as frequent as physical checks. This made an impression on me, because I don’t think I’ve ever had a legitimate check-up on my emotional and mental state. I left the Kennedy Forum realizing that I needed to apply a more expansive definition of “health” to my own self-care.
And let’s not forget, I meet some pretty cool people on an average day at work. From NBA champion Metta World Peace (formerly known as Ron Artest) at the 2019 Saks Institute Spring Symposium, NBA champion Kevin Love, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, to Goldie Hawn, all at the Child Mind Institute Changemaker Awards, as well as NCAA All-American gymnast Kately Ohashi and former NFL player (for my beloved Miami Dolphins!) Dwight Hollier at the Mental Health America Conference, and so many more.
It’s always exciting at the Flawless Foundation, and I feel lucky to be involved in such important work so early in my career. I am very proud to be part of this team and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. Remember, #YouAreFlawless!
