ITTH E16 - Process Meets Purpose: Nonprofit Growth with Vision with Teressa Ruspi

 This episode of In The Treehouse with Coach Conner brings you the inspiring journey of Teressa Ruspi, a former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader turned mental health advocate and founder of LRJ Foundation and TR Healthy Bites. 

Teressa shares her deeply personal motivation behind launching a nonprofit after losing her brother to suicide and discusses the power of early mental health education, workplace wellness, and how gut health shapes our mindset. 

Whether you're a parent, business owner, or just someone navigating tough seasons, this episode will ground and uplift you. 

• Building Resilience Through Personal Loss

Teressa founded the LRJ Foundation after the tragic loss of her brother to suicide. 

What began as unimaginable grief transformed into a mission to teach mental wellness in schools, impacting over 78,000 students in 14 years.

• Mental Health Belongs in Schools

Her approach focuses on early prevention and mental wellness education, working with teachers, students, and even municipalities. 

She explains how community-wide engagement from educators to local government can foster a climate of emotional strength and empathy.

• You Don't Have to “Fix” It to Help

Supporting someone struggling with mental health doesn't require being an expert. 

Teressa offers simple but powerful advice: “Sometimes, just a text saying, ‘I’m here if you need me,’ means everything.”

• Gut Health = Mind Health

Through TR Healthy Bites, Teressa connects nutrition to mental clarity. 

She emphasizes how food choices impact emotional well-being, explaining that “healing the gut can help heal the mind.”

• Real Self-Care Is in the Daily Choices

Whether it’s offering healthier snacks at the office or encouraging short outdoor breaks, Teressa insists self-care starts with how we treat our bodies and ourselves each day.

 This Treehouse conversation with Teressa Ruspi reminds us that healing often starts with honesty, and strength is often found in the smallest consistent choices. 

From transforming grief into purpose to teaching children and adults how to tend to their minds like they would their bodies, Teressa is helping to shift the conversation around mental health and self-care. 

Whether it’s through a protein-packed muffin or a moment of kindness, we all have something we can offer. If this episode resonates with you, take one small step today reach out to someone, read that article, or just pause. You’re not alone.