Nia Symone is the CEO and founder of Purpose To Be Heard, a digital storytelling platform that gives former and current athletes a platform to tell their stories while finding solutions to problems in the sports community.
Symone has been in the shoes of an athlete and understands the journey, and telling these stories was just the beginning of her finding her purpose and shedding light on others across the world.
Tell us about Purpose To Be Heard.
We are a startup digital sports storytelling platform. What I want to do is tell the authentic and real stories of athletes from the highs and lows because there are athletes who could have [gone] on to play in the NBA or WNBA or MLB, but life happens. They get directed a different direction, but you still want to have that community, you still want to connect with like-minded people, and you still want to see stories that can like help you understand that you’re not alone. We just launched in December of 2021, and just to see the growth to where we are now, I’m really excited to put this out. I’ve been ducked off, putting my head down and really just staying focused, and staying creative. I’m just excited because my vision has literally come to life and it’s been beautiful.
Why is it important for people to hear the stories of these athletes?
It’s dangerous to bottle up your emotions, and I don’t think people understand how dangerous that is. For athletes, your whole life somebody’s telling you that you have to be mentally tough, to not cry, to not have emotions, and to stop being weak. You can’t show the other competitor or whoever your opponent that you’re weak or they’re going to take advantage, which I get. When it’s time for us to tap in and turn up on a court or on the field, we got to lock into it, but we got to know how to turn it off. But what if that’s something that we’ve never learned? Because our whole lives, it’s been go, go, go. No mistakes. Nobody’s constantly reminding you that you’re human, so in a way, we get built up to being in these robotic mindsets.
What I want to do is pretty much change the narrative of the way society views athletes. There are some blessings that comes with being an athlete, but understand that it’s not easy, because when you walk off that court or the field, you still have to face reality. I’m tired of seeing athletes being afraid to speak out and share their truth because of these nasty trolls or bots, or these gas lighters we have in the industry that are constantly saying, “you’re an athlete, shut up and dribble, shut up and throw a football, shut up and throw the baseball and softball.” But what about my mental health?
