My name is Zion Ervin and I am a 20-year-old creative, photographer, videographer, mental health advocate, and Support Service Coordinator for Back 2 Work. I am from Southern California, the Inland Empire to be exact. Working with Back 2 Work has truly opened my eyes to the many walks of life and has allowed me to connect with individuals from all backgrounds. 

My current success story is one not of financial gain, but mental strength. I grew up in a loving family, one can say for the majority of my life I’ve had a silver spoon. Not to say things were perfect, but I haven’t had to struggle for much coming up. With that came shame, not shame for my upbringing, but a shame I attached to my mental health struggles. For years I felt as though I had no reason to struggle the way I did, and wouldn’t voice what was wrong. At a point and time, I felt highly embarrassed and gaslit myself into feeling as though voicing my struggles would make me ungrateful. It is only within the last few years that I’ve allowed myself to be open and vulnerable with my issues because regardless of social status or background, we all hurt. 

I have dealt with high anxiety, depression, and suicide since the age of 10 or 11. For years I didn’t know what was wrong, but I just knew I was tired of suffering. Like most who are uninformed on the topic of mental health, I thought “What do I have to be depressed about?” This mindset kept me from doing the proper healing and inner work years, along with the fact that I simply didn’t understand the magnitude of what I was experiencing at such a young age. 

Elementary & middle school were hell for me. I remember how I used to wake up with so much anxiety, before I could even formulate a thought. I would avoid all social situations that I could, even family events. These were some of the loneliest years of my life. Surrounded by so many people, a village even, but still alone in my thoughts.

Eventually, my family began to notice the shift in me, and did their best to keep me in therapy. Therapy helped(and still helps) to a certain extent, but as I got older I realized that there is no one else who can pull you out of that dark place except for you and God, whatever God means to you. In high school I began to read books on healing, self improvement, and everything under that umbrella. I began to realize that there is a way out, and a whole community of people with the same experiences who are finding their way out too. I worked out heavily, read, meditated, visualized, and improved my eating habits everyday. Rinse and repeat. Eventually I found what worked. Until it didn’t. I was hurt when I realized that healing isn’t linear as they say. 

The time period from my senior year going into college, I was the lowest I had ever been. I would get so frustrated with myself, how could I let myself slip? I gained weight and struggled to stay on track with my habits. Frustration mixed with depressive emotions are never a good mix. I contemplated taking my own life for years, but at this point it was no longer a thought. January 30 of 2022 I did the unthinkable. By the grace of God, it didn’t work, and I was able to immediately contact a family member letting them know I wasn’t in my right mind. 

Since then, it has been an uphill battle learning how to regulate my mental health, but I am in a much better place now than I’ve ever been. I continue to challenge myself everyday to be better, and do better, and some days are harder than others but I push anyway. I am now in a place where I have dedicated my life to healing and self improvement, and I use my platform to help others fighting the same battle. Social Media has now become a new form of healing for me, because my inner child smiles every time there is someone who is touched by my content. I now get to be what little Zee needed, I get to protect her, advocate for her, and show her a new way of healing. 

My goal is to build a large platform to help individuals heal through community, conversation, documentaries, and workshops. I still have a lot of ideas up my sleeve that I am working on at the moment, and have plenty of learning and growing to do. This success story is still a work in progress, just like life, however it is something I take pride in.

I say all this to say, during my time at Back 2 Work, I have found a sense of purpose. I am touched every time I encounter an individual who has hit their version of rock bottom, and continues climbing to the top. Life is not easy, whatever your story is, but one thing we do have control over is our attitude and choices. I learn so much from the individuals we work with, they teach me resilience. There is rarely a day that I come to work and am not inspired by the success stories around me. Whatever success is for you, own it and wear it with pride!

Thank you