Public Relations Guru, Community Leader and Author, Terrie Williams
Terrie is a social worker by training who became a successful public relations pro by her own design, inscribed her prominence as an author of the successful business and inspirational story, and has now emerged as an advocate for youth and those who battle depression.
The multi-chaptered story of Terrie Williams is one of phenomenal success and encouragement. She launched The Terrie Williams Agency in 1988-a company that would become one of the country's most successful public relations and communications firms-and through the years has handled the biggest names in entertainment, sports, business, and politics from Miles Davis, Eddie Murphy and Johnnie L. Cochran to Essence Communications Partners, HBO and Time Warner.
Terrie is the author of three successful books: the business bestseller The Personal Touch: What You Really Need to Succeed in Today's Fast-Paced Business World; the inspirational A Plentiful Harvest: Creating Balance and Harmony through the Seven Living Virtues; and Stay Strong: Simple Life Lessons for Teens, the basis for the 2001 launch of The Stay Strong Foundation, a national non-profit designed to educate and encourage American youth.
Terrie's current work, a book entitled Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting, will be published by Scribner in January 2008 and will tell the untold story of depression among African-Americans as well as Terrie's tale of her own chronic and crippling depression-a revealing narrative she shared in the June 2005 issue of ESSENCE magazine.
Terrie Williams is a pioneer in more ways than one. She left a career as a social worker and transformed herself into a powerful Public Relations Agent. Now, she has written a groundbreaking book about a subject that she is fiercely passionate about, and her commitment to people healing the broken places is --
both courageous and inspiring.
DR: Tell me about your new book.
TW: Black Pain is really my way of issuing a wake up call to the African American community in particular.
Obviously pain and depression is not unique to African Americans but there are a whole other set of circumstances that have a really profound impact. We are a community in crisis and at almost every turn you can see evidence of our unresolved pain.
What I know is that suppression and oppression lead to depression. We inherent the pain of our parents and our forefathers, pain that just does not get talked about and resolved. There are childhood wounds and scars that we never get a chance to speak about and then there are the every day slights that we experience as adults. Because we are all moving at such rapid paces with so many demands on our time, we never take the time to process all of this. All of this, not treated leads to self destruction.
So many people are walking down the street as pressure cookers with no way to let off steam. If there is no one to talk to, we just hold things in and then that becomes illness and disease. Or we let it out in unconstructive ways -- we hurt and kill, self medicate, gamble, do drugs, shop when we don't have money -- all of this are ways to ease the pain, creating new issues all together.
Many people think there is something wrong but because no one is sure of the signs and because no one speaks about it, we don't really deal with it. I just wanted, in very everyday accessible language, to say
"This is what it looks like, and feels like and sounds like."
When we know better we do better.
"Black Pain offers us an arsenal of understanding, answers, and hope to win the battle."
:: Terry McMillan, NY Times Bestselling Author"Black Pain boldly confronts the reality of our pain head on."
:: Sean Combs"This book shines a bright light on the darkness of despair." :: Alvin F. Poussaint, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Terrie M. Williams, licensed clinical social worker, founder of The Terrie Williams Agency and The Stay Strong Foundation, opens a powerful dialogue on Black America’s secret mental and emotional health crisis. Admiringly called the “Black Power movement of the 21st century,” BLACK PAIN shares Terrie’s personal battle with depression along with candid stories from celebrities, mental health professionals and everyday people to bring wholeness and hope. Written with love and compassion, BLACK PAIN shows what our struggle looks, sounds and feels like as never before, and offers direction to a path of healing.
> >Click here to buy BLACK PAIN today. < <
For more information about BLACK PAIN or
Terrie M. Williams, visit http://blackpain.org or email tmwms@terriewilliams.com.
DR: How have you personally benefited from writing this book?
TW: I understand what I am here to do. At fifty three it is finally been made clear to me what I am supposed to do.
Every single experience in my life has brought me full circle to this point. Most of my pain was so buried. I remember thinking most of my life that I never had problems like other people. But I was in such excruciating pain for so many years and not even knowing that I was. The mask cracked and I realized that I really did go through some things and that I am someone who suffers from depression.
I started out as a social worker. The work was incredibly draining because I absorbed so much of other people's pain. I was eventually led to the field of Public Relations; a field where I knew no one. I took a class so that I could learn how to market and promote a message and I became very accomplished in the field of PR. I developed a whole network of media relationships and because of the caliber of talent that I represent, I have this cadre of names and contacts who can help me get this message out. Everything came full circle.
When you go through pain and suffering, it teaches you that it is God to whom you turn. You learn to rely on your inner strength and when you come out on the other side you have to share your experience with other people.
We each have to share our story with someone else because that is where there is power to transform another's life. Too many people are walking around with their game face on, passing for normal so everybody thinks they are the only one going through something.
DR: What new thing have you learned about yourself in writing this book?
TW: I have learned to take better care of myself.
I am more in tune to my triggers now; the things that will cause a downward spiral. If I don't get enough rest, I can guarantee that, at the slightest provocation I will have a meltdown. I pay much closer attention to sleeping enough, eating well, managing my time and honoring myself overall, so that I don't spiral downward.
Because what I talk about is deep and emotional, people want to share. I am committed to maintaining a welcoming and encouraging exchange but I know that if I am going to stay healthy I have to create a distance, too.
DR: What is your hope for this book?
TW: I hope that when someone reads this book, they will never see themselves, or anyone else in the same way.
My hope is that we will begin to understand ourselves and be empowered to become the best that we can be.
Ultimately this book is about growth and how to be your best self and getting past the issues that hold us back.
DR: Is it fair to suggest that it is also about appreciating another's humanity?
TW: It really is.
It is about understanding that everyone is going through something. When you interact with someone at work or with someone in your family or with a friend, and you experience tension or flair ups, nine times out of ten it has nothing to do with that moment. If we understood more about who we are as human beings, if we were more up front about our frailties, my suspicion is that we would have more compassion for one another.
DR: What is next for you?
TW: This is not a one shot deal. I want to continue to fight the good fight by encouraging people to heal.
Ultimately I will be doing a sixty city tour over the next three years to really reach people in everyday language and in voices that we all know, who will speak about what their challenges have been and how they have gotten through.
DR: A hundred years from now what do you want to be remembered for?
TW: She did the best that she could to make a difference in the lives of others. That is why I believe I am here, to hold others up and to make the world a better place.
Thanks Terrie!
Stories That Heal
Welcome to Stories That Heal, a website for people living with mental health problems—and their friends and family. You'll find real-life stories and resources to help in the recovery process. It's time for us to stand up and support our loved ones who struggle with mental health problems. Together, the healing will begin.
