Meet Teddy Sourlis | CEO & Founder of Men’s X Mental, Inc.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Teddy Sourlis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Teddy, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The steadfast goal behind our Men’s X Mental movement has always been to break down the barriers and stigmas behind the MENtal health of male athletes around the country. Having lost multiple friends and teammates to suicide, I have realized that this issue within our society has become more prevalent than ever. In some of my darkest moments, I have experienced pain, grief, depression, and anxiety of all levels, making my personal mission to ensure that nobody goes home after a game, or practice, feeling alone like I once did. The most common stigma male athletes endure on a daily basis is to always “tough it out,” or “be a man,” but these wrongful preconceived notions that a man is unable to show pain, or weakness, is part of the reason why 3 out of 4 suicides within the United States are carried out by men. Men have always been less likely to speak up and seek help, but through Men’s X Mental, we resolutely aim to make these conversations more comfortable, transparent, and vulnerable by allowing our athletes to surround themselves with other athletes who are able to recognize that it is okay to not be okay.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Men’s X Mental, Inc. is a non-profit organization striving to break down the barriers and stigmas around the MENtal health of male athletes around the country. It has been one of the greatest challenges in my life to be able to grow MXM to where we are today, amounting nearly 20k followers on Instagram, and reaching over 5 million people within our inaugural year. Our organization has been faced with a multitude of challenges, but in order to overcome them all, we continue to stay true to our purpose and overall mission at hand. Over the past year, there have been times where our audience, or growth, has plateaued, but we all recognize that similar to our mental health survivors – we have good and bad days, or even weeks. Becoming successful in a manner that we believe attainable is comparable to a marathon, not a sprint. At MXM, we are persistent in living by the words that we all preach: keep going.

One of the personal challenges I have overcome within the past year is truly creating my own path and forming a new identity for myself within this industry. As a 22 year old recent college graduate at the onset of MXM coming into fruition, many people did not take me seriously, or believe I was fully suitable to be the CEO of a country-wide organization. Using that as motivation, I have proved to myself that I am capable of being whoever I wanted to be – as long as I sincerely believed in myself. It has been an extremely difficult and uncomfortable process to transition my thoughts from that of a suicide victim into that of a successful entrepreneur. Prior to the embarkment of MXM, I bombarded my brain with thoughts of suicide, self-doubt, self-hatred, body dysmorphia, and anxiety that crippled me from accomplishing even the smallest of tasks. On the other side of my struggles, I have learned to love myself for everything that I am and all that I may bring to the table. This form of self-love has been years in the making, but finding a true purpose to help and care for others has given me an excuse to love and accept myself more than ever before. I have learned that no matter what you do, there will always be haters, naysayers, or people trying to tear down whatever it is that you have built and become proud of. In dealing with these obstacles, I acknowledge the fact that if you are dealing with haters… you are doing something RIGHT in this world because those same people who are hating are those who secretly wish they could have what you have, or be what you have become.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If this is in reference to only LA… (I am from the east coast and haven’t been out to LA in 10 years) …but I would definitely take my best friends to a Los Angeles Dodgers game or a Los Angeles Lakers game. I have been an enormous Dodgers and Lakers fan since I was a child, but the electricity within The Staples (Crypto) Center is unrivaled throughout all of professional sports.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to whole-heartedly thank each and every athlete who has joined our MXM movement and shared their story on our exclusive platform. Our movement has included over 200 professional athletes, collegiate athletes, and youth athletes, but none of this could have been possible without you all. It gives me such honor and pride to witness such incredibly elite athletes come together for 1Cause, surrounded by our mantra: 1Love. This MXM movement gives me a purpose in this world, but to be able to work with high-class and high-character athletes on a day-to-day basis is truly the benchmark for our organization’s success.

Website: www.mensxmental.org

Instagram: @mensxmental

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mensxmental/

Twitter: @mensxmental

Facebook: @mensxmental