Wes Woodson ’20 Forges a Career to Help Humanity
“Storytelling saved my life.”
Wes Woodson ’20 isn’t exaggerating when he says that.
From the depths of a mental health breakdown, the Babson College alumnus began journaling his feelings and thoughts, which he then turned into the basis of his book, I Have Anxiety (so what?) in 2021. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the benefits and opportunities it presented were huge.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. LEGACY DAY: Wes Woodson ’20 will be the keynote speaker at Babson’s annual event Thursday, February 15. Register now.
Once he started telling his story, he hasn’t stopped. The mental health advocate recently completed his first national speaking tour, visiting more than 20 colleges and universities, from Boston to Seattle, delivering more than 50 presentations.
“It was a profound experience, because I’m speaking to almost 10,000 students and seeing the same challenges,” Woodson said. “It just showed me how much of a need there is across humanity to have this conversation.”
Woodson now is bringing the conversation and his storytelling back to Babson as the keynote speaker of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Day, the centerpiece of the College’s Black History Month celebration.
“My address is to help the Babson community understand that we obviously aspire for more, but that does not have to come at a cost to our own selves,” Woodson said. “I want to help the community understand that that’s not true. I want to help humanity be more humane to themselves.”
‘A Career of Humanity’
For a professional public speaker shaped by Babson, MLK Legacy Day represents a unique homecoming. “This is a wonderful experience that brings the entire Babson community together, and I think that’s what MLK would have wanted,” Woodson said. “It’s full circle to be back at Babson, where my entrepreneurial journey really took off.”
Woodson made a major impact while at Babson. He lived at eTower, attended Babson Connect Worldwide in Madrid as a Babson youth representative, delivered a popular TEDxBabsonCollege talk in 2019 on embracing change, and started his first venture, thehiddencompany. Most notably, Woodson served as president of the Black Student Union, where he worked to unite students across campus and was instrumental in the creation of The Johnson House.
“To be the keynote speaker at MLK Legacy Day, it’s an opportunity for me to help the audience understand that just because you might have a small dream, you can really do a whole lot. That’s how I found myself at Babson and even afterward, too.”
Wes Woodson ’20
“To be the keynote speaker at MLK Legacy Day, it’s an opportunity for me to help the audience understand that just because you might have a small dream, you can really do a whole lot,” Woodson said. “That’s how I found myself at Babson and even afterward, too.”
It’s a message tailor-made for the theme of MLK Legacy Day: “Make a Career of Humanity,” based on a 1959 speech by King.
“The way I see my career is what ways can I use my story, my gift that I’ve been given to help other people,” Woodson said. “That is how I ultimately help humanity in my way is through storytelling, the power of sharing the story.”
‘You Are Enough Here’
Woodson says his current story began when he left campus in the earliest days of the pandemic.
Woodson had been laser-focused on reaching his career objectives, often at the expense of his own well-being. “My mountaintop was not only graduating, but it was to graduate and then earn a salary,” he said. “To be honest, I was willing to even put myself last to get to that mountaintop.”
Dealing with the self-imposed pressures to achieve, coupled with the effects of an abusive relationship, Woodson had been in a bad place with the worst thoughts. The anxiety was nearly overwhelming. He took to writing. “Storytelling really did save my life in that way,” he said. “It allowed me to have an outlet during the pandemic.”
It forced him to confront questions about coping with anxiety, talking about mental health, seeking therapy, and balancing your professional goals with caring for yourself. It also refocused his purpose. “In typical entrepreneurial fashion,” he said, “I asked myself, ‘Why do I have to go to the lowest point of my life, of almost burning out, to learn these things?’ ”
He discovered the entrepreneurial solution through his book, embarking on a mission to help others by elevating self-esteem. Last year, he founded Wes Woodson Enterprises, a company focused on making mental health education more accessible and relatable to students everywhere. In less than nine months, the venture is profitable with a team of three, and it’s about to launch a line of social emotional learning trading cards called Happy Heroes. It’s all to support and deliver the main message: “You are enough here.”
“For me, for a long time, I did not feel enough. I felt like the work meant more than me,” Woodson said. “You can reach that mountaintop, but it doesn’t have to come at the expense of your mental health. I want to help students by saying you are enough here, you deserve showing up for, you are human, and you deserve to be helped. You deserve to be loved. And, that’s my message.”
Woodson uses every tool at his disposal, including social media, where he spends time personally responding to every follower and every message to let them know they’ve been seen and heard. He shares how one student was surprised to hear from him and replied, in part: “I was gonna go home today, and I was gonna hurt myself. But I felt like I was the person in the presentation. And me hearing you and how you talk and how you share your story, I want to go to the counselor’s office.”
Woodson’s story now is saving others, too.
“When you are sharing your story,” Woodson said, “you give someone else permission to share theirs. And, that is what is so powerful for me.”
Posted in Community, Entrepreneurial Leadership, Insights, Outcomes
