'Make It Far' By Leaving An Unforgettable ImpACT

Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony, what you want, what you need.

Tony, Tony, Tony. Hello everyone and welcome back to the V Spot. I am so excited for today's guest. Alyssa Mazzoni, founder of the nonprofit organization Impact Theater, is gracing the space and spending some time with us here today. So Alyssa, welcome to the V Spot.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

Yeah, I'm so excited too, because when I met you a couple of months back, I was so impressed immediately and really inspired by our brief conversation that we had, um, at the, you know, Pumpkin Fest. And I couldn't wait for you to join me because it was apparent very quickly that you are not only, um, a mental health advocate, you know, but you are also really up to some big things. And so I was so excited to have this conversation. And I want to jump right in so that people can get to know you. But tell us more about Impact Theater. What was your inspiration for creating this nonprofit organization?

Yes, so 2 years ago, me and one of my best friends started writing original musicals. And they all were surrounded around mental health, probably a little too personal about our lives that we didn't need to share, but we did. And we just did it as a fundraiser for Cohen's Children's Medical Center in Long Island, and it blew up. We raised a lot of money through those two events. It grew into doing cabarets at Applebee's on Staten Island, and the feedback was great. Everyone loved it. So I kind of always dreamed of having a theater company, and I looked at my parents and said, would I be crazy if this is what I did? And obviously My parents were very supportive. You know them, some people know them, and they're great with all this. So my dad said, if you could write me up a business plan and make it seem like you will actually do this and be committed— because I was going to college, we didn't know what that would be like— I'll help you make this happen. And we had a meeting with our parents, and they both just liked what we wrote up and were good with it.

Wow. So tell us, how old were you when that actually happens?

I wrote my first show at 16. And then I started the nonprofit right after I turned 17.

Wow. 17, you all. Do you hear that? 17 years old. So I love this so much for so many different reasons. Number 1, way to trust yourself, right? Because it's— I believe that it really is a demonstration of trust when you have a creative idea, you have a vision, and you're willing to go after it. And at 17, right, when we— and we're going to visit what's going on with 17-year-olds in a little bit. But at 17, when there's so much happening in high school and there's all of the complexities of being a teenager, to sit down and write a business proposal, you know, so that you can have your parents back you and move forward with this idea is amazing. So I, you know, when you shared a brief part of that story with me, when we first met, I was so inspired because I was thinking, wow, if she can do this at 17, what will the vision be like at 21? And what will the vision be like at 25? You know, so I'm just so excited for people also to hear that what's possible when you trust yourself, you know? So I love that. Tell us a little bit more about the first piece that you end up writing. Like, what was that like for you?

Yeah, so the first one was Make It Far, and I had no clue how to write a musical. I had no clue what happened at all during the process. But I remember about 6 months before starting writing the whole musical, I just wrote a song during COVID It was called Make It Far, put out on YouTube, and I was getting like email responses from people being like, this was great. This really like touched me, was a good story to share because it was all just about like being yourself, and that's what's important. And whatever happens from there, you can't control. So once that took off, I was like, all right, maybe I know how to write a song or two. But my friend Dolly was phenomenal at songwriting. I will always give her credit for that. And we have similar experiences throughout life. So when I messaged her and I was like, all right, let's write a show, we both sat down with our diaries and we were like, what can we pull in our lives to write about this? Because we only knew what we knew. Um, and we had each other's back through the whole thing. We wrote the show in a month and a half, which is crazy, and we started rehearsals about January of the following year, and the show was in July. And it was all our friends, like, we held auditions, but we knew everyone who came that year. So that was exciting because it got us closer to our friends. I made great friends from it, and it blew up again, raised a lot of money, and that's what was amazing about it to see the kids that were benefiting in the end.

Yeah, I love that. So a couple of things. First and foremost, so "Make It Far," in this moment, are you able to recall some of the lyrics that you could potentially share a sentence or two to kind of give us some insight into what that was about?

Yeah, I remembered the main— I don't want to say catchphrase of it, but that kind of idea was like, stay true to you and who you are, and I know that you will make it far. And I remember the whole transition of the song was going to like, you're alone in it, and the whole end everything was changed to we. So it was like, you have people, you're together. I remember that was a big thing that we stressed to the cast, was like, think of the transition. That's important.

Yeah. Wow. I love that. This is so good. OK. And so the other part that comes up from this is the idea of raising the money for Cohen's Children's Hospital. And so do you want to share a little bit with the people about why that is important to you? What had you choose Cohen's? Because it's, it's amazing and it's pretty challenging to, you know, be in those settings. And I love that you share that you're committed to that as well.

Yes. So my dad's been having fundraisers for Cohen's for as long as I could remember. I had to be like 5 years old and this is what he was doing, maybe a little older, but around then. And I always loved that he was doing this and always it was first like competitive with me. I was like, no, I'm going to raise more money than you. So which is a good thing to be competitive about. And I remember I used to put like gift card in the store and we would raffle it off and that blew up really big and we got a lot of money from that. And then we went to the children's hospital right before COVID It was like 3 months before and we got to meet all the kids and meet the doctors and see the hospital. And when you walk into that hospital, I even went there in December and it doesn't feel like a hospital. It is so geared towards kids making their experience amazing and not a terrifying thing, even though some of these situations can be very scary. And that was very uplifting to see. And I think meeting those kids that day and hearing the stories and the doctors and how committed they were and nurses and everyone else involved in the healthcare system, it was phenomenal. And I knew that's where I wanted to donate to. And now one of the people, a part of Impact, she got diagnosed with cancer at Cohen's. So it came very full circle of her being able to help out. So it's close to home in many ways.

Yeah, totally. Well, I will drop the link for Cohen's, you know, in the show notes. So if anybody is interested in checking out, you know, Cohen's Children's facility and what they do and is guided to make any sort of donation to the hospital and what they represent, that will be available to them. So, yeah, thank you for that because it's, it's important work. It's sensitive work, you know, and I think that I love so much that it's connected in terms of how full circle it all comes for you. Let's talk a little bit more too about, because I know that Make It Far was inspired by, you know, your journal and your friend's journal. And we spoke a little bit about mental health advocacy. And I was so impressed too with, you know, how much of a stand you are taking and have taken in going back many years. To mental health. So share with us a little bit about why mental health advocacy is so important to you.

Yeah, so growing up, I had my own struggles mentally, as many teenagers do, I found out. But when you're in that space, you're like, I'm alone, I'm the only one dealing with this, no one gets it. And then talking to friends and talking to people, I realized, no, this is very common, unfortunately, but Fortunately, in the sense that you have each other. So I had my own experience with the mental health system and therapists who, we'll say, were not the best. And I felt it was very important then to find my own way to help me, to support my friends. So the best thing I thought to do was just talk about it. If it's not talked about, nobody's going to know. And I remember mentioning this to you also in our conversation. There's such a difference in generations now, I always say. And I'm happy that the generation I'm a part of is more supportive with mental health. I saw something that the American Foundation for Suicide Awareness posted, and it's like, I'm so happy to be a part of a generation that supports each other. And it's true.

Yeah, that's powerful.

And it was just important then to keep talking about it, figuring out other things that worked for me. Music was a great outlet always, so one thing led to another there, and really just talking was the biggest thing. I know I'm saying that so much, but it's so important.

But it's so good. It's so good. And I'm so happy. And I want to spotlight this for everybody who's listening because this is the very reason why so many people suffer in silence, right? Because of shame and because of the perceived fear of how they'll be viewed and how they'll be judged. And it's very isolating. And the reality is, Exactly what you're saying. You're hitting on the teenagers in terms of you aren't alone. Most teenagers are struggling and most people are struggling, right? And the thing is that we are conditioned. If there's a physical ailment that we experience, if we're on any level experiencing something pertaining to body, we're quick to go for support and we are quick to talk about it and share of, right, the pain or the symptoms, right? I'm experiencing chronic headaches all the time. We'll be very quick to share that. But the moment we're experiencing symptoms of depression, mum is the word, right? And we keep quiet. And that's because there's so much— and I love that you highlight on the generational differences— in many people have been conditioned to keep it to yourself, right? You don't feel well in that regard, tough it up, get over it, deal with it. And that is very much generational. And so I love that you speak on speaking about it because it really can't survive. Shame can't survive when empathy is present. And so what you're sharing is very much that continued effort to squashing out shame by speaking about what it is that you were going through. So I love that. And this is something that is so— everybody who's listening, this is so important. Usually these conversations happen in the month of May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. But this is so good to be kicking off 2024 in conversation around breaking silence, speaking about reality, right? Sharing of self, whatever the truth may be. And so I love that. You know, I love that so much. What was it like for your friends and for you when you start to tap into these conversations and really sharing of self? What did you experience from other people?

Yeah, I think first, all of us, including myself, were hesitant. What do you share? What don't you share? What's too— are. And you also don't want to hurt someone you don't know what they're going through. And saying certain things can be triggering to other people. So it was the fine line to walk in the beginning. But my closest friends, like Dahlia, like my best friend Madison, like, we've been very open with each other about it. And having those times to just text someone and be like, hey, let's talk, was— yeah. And that was something we didn't have until we started really opening up and realizing like, oh wait, that's not normal that I go through this. Okay, but you are going through this, so it's not bizarre. It's just— we— it's not— I don't want to say normal, I hate that word, but, uh, there's a better way to be feeling in this situation. And I think also something that was interesting were because you mentioned physical and mental differences, but I realized recently, like, when I get a bad headache, that's related to my anxiety or something. So it's like if you don't talk about it, you're never going to get to that reason either sometimes. And it might not always be connected because I hate when everyone tosses it up to anxiety or depression because it's not always. But sometimes it is.

Yeah, that becomes like, though, it's probably— you're probably anxious. You're like, no, no, no, that has nothing to do with that. That's one of the drawbacks of sharing out because a lot of times it's very put into a box. Yeah, I think that there's— it's true. You know, what I love is you describing what becomes available to you once you start to have conversation with friends and, you know, you start to hear. Because I think what happens is it's less isolating when you start to hear, oh, that's how you're going through it. Or, oh, wait, I'm not the only one going through it. Or that's how you handle it. Or it's become so much less this thing of something's wrong with me. You know, and more like, this is part of the human experience. But we choose to only speak about sometimes the good and the glamorous. And the hard and the not so pretty and the scary is tucked away. And so I love that there's this ability to communicate, you know, with friends. And for everybody listening too, these are the types of friends, right, that it's important to have around where it's— you feel safe to share of self. The not so pretty parts and the struggle and be open to, you know, learning from and receiving support, but also be able to feel like it's all very normal, you know, and part of the human experience. So I love that. I have clients who are in high school and they talk to me about a lot of issues that are going on in schools today. And as someone who is recently out of high school, what sorts of issues would you share that students are currently dealing with right now that make being in high school really challenging? What stands out?

At least for my school, which I loved, I have to preface that, it was great. I wouldn't choose any other high school to go to. But we didn't have subs come in when a teacher was absent. The subs were the guidance counselors. So if someone's struggling that day and 3 people are out, All 3 guidance counselors are gone and who are you going to? So that was a really big thing. And then I ran for student council president and before I found out that I won the election, I got called in to like the principal's office, not the current principal, he's amazing. But I got called into the principal's office because on my application I wrote down that I wanted to improve the mental health system in the school. And I just said like more mental health resources and just ways that people could express things, have a mental health day, have whatever resource we could come up with. I didn't have it all planned at the time, but I knew I want something. And I got told that it was offensive. I was a disappointment for saying that, which is a common word that people have been called. So that, and then that our mental health system in the school was perfect. And that always stuck with me because the mental health system in the world is not perfect. So it cannot be perfect in one building containing 100 people. It's just impossible. And there's going to be flaws. And our school has had personally experienced children or teenagers suffering with mental illness. We had lost a student to suicide a year prior to that. So it was important for everyone in the school to— that we would do that. I remember when I announced that, my friends were reposting, like, finally we're going to get, like, a mental health resource. And I had to take down the post and say, like, that's not happening. And during my run as president, nothing changed in that category. We made other changes, but our mental health system was perfect.

Wow. So yeah, this is— this brings up so much and this opens doors for so many conversations that need to happen about the school system. And, you know, I'm inspired in this moment to invite some educators to the space to also talk about, you know, what it looks like, what's needed, what's involved right now. And, you know, I think about what you're sharing and your vision for adding services. And what could you name, like, 2 or 3 topics that you feel your classmates at the time were struggling with that had you decide that part of your campaign would be to up the ante with services? What did you notice, or reflecting back, what was pretty common for people to be experiencing?

Yeah, a lot of teenagers, which is known, but experience anxiety, depression. I have friends with OCD and PTSD with different things. So those were common things. But then even going through losing a student in the school or different friend conflicts or family issues at home where it's just you need someone to talk to. And by all means, it was not the fault of the teachers. The teachers in that school were phenomenal. And anytime I could go in the room and talk to them when they were free, it was just the matter of you have trained professionals in the building to help us. And they're not given the time to help us.

Yeah, yeah. That's the very real concern that I hear often, you know, that there's just not the ability for the people who are trained to be able to cover all the grounds because of the demands of the school system, you know? And so that's something that absolutely needs to be looked at, especially given the amount of issues. And one of the questions I was gonna ask you was, do you feel that there's adequate support, which you clearly answered, So if you had a magic wand, I'm going to pivot from what I was going to ask you. If you had a magic wand based on what you know that your classmates were experiencing and you know the struggles that go on in the schools on the regular, what type of support services would you put into place that you feel would adequately support the needs of the students? Like, what might it look like if you kind of gave yourself permission to dream around sky's the limit with possibilities?

Yeah, I would say having a counselor always in the office, or 2 or 3. We had about 400 kids in the school. So I always said there should be one per grade level who is always available unless they were specifically teaching that grade. But so you had someone to always go to. They're not the subs. They're not watching the bathroom. They're not watching the lunchroom. There were other duties that they had that were not a part of it when they signed up to get a mental health counseling license.

Right.

Just having even— I remember a big thing was we should just have like a cool-down room. If you're stressed about something, step out of the classroom for 5 minutes. It's not taking anything away from the lesson, I promise you. Because if the kid's sitting there anxious for 20 minutes as opposed to leaving for 5 minutes and coming back, that's 15 more minutes of learning than they would have had. Your brain is processing nothing when you are that stressed or something's just going on mentally. You don't know what the kid's dealing with outside of that specific room. So let them just let it out for a few. They'll be back. It'll be OK.

I love that. A cool-down room.

Yeah.

That's great. And I think one of the things that you share before you share any other ideas that you may have that stands out is, as someone who experienced and experiences anxiety and panic symptoms, It's so unpleasant. And when it's first occurring and you're not quite sure what it is, it's really scary, you know? And so I remember the first couple of times that I experienced symptoms of anxiety. And I mean, symptoms— panic symptoms are a whole nother level. That's hard, right? Very hard to— yeah, not fun at all. And when that's happening, you're entirely right. You can't think and process anything because you're actually kicked into a survival mode and the adrenaline is is, you know, pumping and it's really not fun at all. So I want to shine the light on this to anybody who's listening as well because you may be experiencing symptoms of anxiety. And if you're not familiar with what it feels like, you may not know that that's what it is, right? But your whole world gets rocked. And so for— I would imagine for, you know, I'm 45 and when I experience symptoms of anxiety or panic, thrown for a loop. So I imagine that if I'm sitting in a classroom and I'm a high school student and I'm feeling these things, it's terrifying. Do you remember, like, one of the first times that you were experiencing, you know, or friends were experiencing symptoms of this and you couldn't focus or, you know, be human?

I mean, I got diagnosed with anxiety. I had to be in, like, 6th grade. So I was in middle school, but it was going on years before that. But I remember always just thinking it's what it is in the movies. Like, I'm just going to like be really stressed and it's a full breakdown or whatever.

Yeah, it is.

And it was not like movie-like at all. It's very personal and custom to every person. So that was weird to figure out, like, oh no, this is just how I experience anxiety. But I remember like in high school, You sit there and you're just thinking then like, how do I suppress this? How do I not let anyone know? How do I keep this to myself and not disrupt the lesson? Where now being in college, if I'm anxious, I could leave the room for 20 minutes and nobody cares. Like, it's very, do your own thing 'cause you are an adult now. But that's such a benefit to people now who just need that time to walk around a second or sit down, whatever you need to do.

Yeah, you know, you just made me think of this idea of how much pressure it is when you're at that age because your identity and the peer pressure and the maintaining face and showing up in a certain way and, you know, whatever, being cool, being calm, being collected is so important. And for many of us, it's important all the time. But I think as you get older— I'll speak for myself— as I have aged, I've been more willing to just embrace, like, this is what I— this is where I am. This is what's up. This is what's happening. But I can't imagine feeling some of the ways that I sometimes feel as an adult sitting in a classroom during high school years when so much other things were running through the mind in terms of confidence and fitting in and peer pressure. So yeah, this is— that's a very layered experience. I love that you shine the light on that. I mean, look, these topics, we could go on and on and on. There's so many different good angles to take and really look at this. And so I'm appreciative to— and we could always do like a part 2 to revisit some of this because I think it's so important, especially when it comes to Mental Health Awareness Month and really shining the light on all of this stuff. But I want to sort of bring it full circle with this last question before we go to the speed round to close us out, because I think it really brings together a lot of what you shared. You very clearly spoke on the advocacy piece, why mental health is important to you, how you were inspired to start, you know, your Impact Theater because of your experiences and the music and all of the things in the children's hospital, why it's so special and resonates for you. What's your vision for— because I feel like Impact Theater really brings together all of the components, right? It's your outlet for really embracing all of the things. So what's your big vision for Impact Theater? And what are you hoping that the organization accomplishes over the next 5 years, next 10 years? You know, if you could share anything that comes to mind around that.

Yeah. And it's funny you said all 3 things, like bring them together. I always call Impact my baby now, and I say it brings together my 3 most passionate things: music, the children's hospital and mental health awareness. So I think moving forward, we want to focus on combining those three things. We do an original musical every year. That'll happen again this summer. We're already writing it, um, and we brought on a new writer this year, which will be exciting to work with her. We do a bunch of cabarets. Always— we're performing at Radio City next year, which is a very big deal for us. Um, we're also opening up like a set location. So we're gonna have our own space. We're not rehearsing in my living room, which my parents are thankful for.

All right, they're excited about that.

Yes, to get 20 kids out of the house. But I think it's just spreading more awareness on— I mean, we're on Staten Island, but we're right next to the ferry, so that's very easy to now bring that to New York and other areas. It's not far from the Verrazano Bridge, like all these ways to just keep spreading the awareness, keep the discussion open. Everyone's welcome. I mean, a big thing also, when we do our shows, the day before the show, we make the cast fill out this form, and it's like, who are you performing for? What's your purpose? What do you want to get out of this? And I always say, keep that in mind when performing, because if you have those questions in your head and you're thinking, what is the purpose of this performance? What message do I want to share? The audience gets it. That's not the issue then. Then it's just me worrying about how well you perform. But the thing then is they got the message. Everyone after I got I want to say 25 emails after Make It Far just saying, I didn't know what my teenager was experiencing, but now I do. And that's the biggest— if we keep doing that, I will be the happiest human on this planet.

Yeah, that's so huge. So parent awareness in terms of— I love this because there's often so many conversations, and this happens with the parents of some of my younger clients where they will say, you know, so-and-so comes home, I ask how the day was. Good. What did you do today? Nothing. What's going on with you? Nothing, right? And so there's limited conversation. And I love that there's an ability for parents to gain insight into the world of, you know, by way of the production. And that's— that's huge. That's big. I love that because that's a way of opening the communication. And what I also really appreciate about this is the questionnaire that gets filled out is really your way of having the people who are involved, the actors and performers, tap into their deeper why, which really takes you from your head to the heart and changes the way in which you are able to perform. Because it has people, I would imagine, very much connected to—

Yeah, we have boxes of tissues everywhere. I tell everyone, I'm like, go anywhere in the space if you want to be alone, if you want to be with a friend, let it out. I don't care. But a big thing in acting they say is The best actors are the ones who are in tune with their emotions and can let it out. If you're holding back, that's going to affect so much in acting. And that's hard. A lot of people stop because they don't want to deal with it. But once you get past that hump of— I call it the hump of torture because it really is a hard time to just get over it. Then you're good. You got in tune with them. Now you could use that.

Yeah, that's so good. Now, do you have a role in the show actually, or are you more behind the scenes writing?

No, I always do the writing. I help compose, and then I'll direct the show. I don't like being in— I like seeing it happen.

Right.

And then I get to watch them all and be proud. Like, I know a lot of people who then will be the lead in their show or a supporting role or whatever. But I like— they have their moment. I had mine.

Yeah.

It's different.

That's so beautiful, though, to watch it unfold because it was the vision that really comes to life. And so I'm so excited for you. I'm looking forward to, you know, staying tuned and to really seeing what comes of your vision for your next production. And I love that it's original and that you stand behind the creativity and the imagination of it, but also the personal experiences, because that's the part everybody who's tuned into this, I really want you to tap into. What you are able to see is really an insight into what's really happening. And that's so huge. I love this and it's— I'm super inspired and I know that the B-Spot community is also. Okay, let's go to the speed round, which is, you know, a fun part of the process. It's 4 questions. There's no right or wrong answer. I'm going to just, you know, share a question with you. You go where you feel intuitively guided to go. First response, and then we will go to the second question. Okay. Do you have any— do you have any questions?

Nope. We'll see what happens.

Okay. All right. So number 1, if you could cast a dream actor or actress into your next production with Impact Theater, who would you choose and what would you make the show about?

That's— okay. So I love Kristin Chenoweth. She would be the actress always. But actor— so I have a good friend, Jelani Remy. He's on Broadway. Love him. Would cast him in everything if I could. But the running joke between us is my celebrity crush is Derek Klena. So Derek would have to be a part of this too. And he would have to be a love interest because I love him.

OK. And so would it be safe to say it would be some form of a love story?

Oh, 100%. That is stunning.

OK. All right. Number 2, what words of encouragement would you like to offer to high school and middle school students who are presently struggling with their mental health?

Just be yourself. Like, once you get to college, everyone's their own self and nobody cares about who's popular 'cause you could be popular in one area of college and you are not in another and nobody cares. So just be yourself through high school. You'll get through it. It'll be okay. But as long as you're you, you have your values at the end of the day to stand on and the people who like you will like you and the people who don't can, deal with that. That's their issue then.

Yeah, I love that. Make it far. Make it far. Okay, number 3, what's your call to action to educators and administrators about adding mental health support to the school system right now?

Yeah, just listen to your students. They know what they want. And if you give them the space to say it, they will. Not everyone will be as outspoken as I tend to be. So just listen, and they will say it. It'll happen. And whatever is best for those kids, try to make happen. Don't come up with a weird reason about subs, teachers, whatever. Like, make it happen.

Make it happen. Yeah, make it happen. We're going to put that into motion. All right, and number 4, what words of wisdom would you like to offer the girl in the mirror?

Ooh, it, uh, hmm, try to think the wording of this. It's only temporary. That's the best thing I could always say, because no matter what you are feeling, whether it's a high or a low, it's always going to change. It's always a roller coaster. You're going to get back to the top, you're going to fall back to the bottom. But something actually, I'll share this too, my therapist always says to me, and it's no matter how many highs and lows you have, you're always moving forward. So even through that roller coaster, if you're going up or down, it's going forward. So just thinking about that always is important.

I love that. It's only temporary. That's powerful. Well, thank you, Alyssa, for being here today. I would love for you to share, uh, what do you have going on right now, and if folks want to contact you pertaining to Impact Theater. Anything else that you shared today, how can they, they do that? And I'll drop it in the, the show notes.

Yeah. Right now is just working on impact. I'm in my second semester of college, so working on school, having a good GPA. But to reach me, I'll give you 3 options. You could go to my Instagram, which is Alyssa.Mazzoni. I answer all my DMs. Send me anything. Not anything. Then the— Yeah. I can't say that anymore. The Impact Instagram is impacttheatre.si, and then my Impact email is Alyssa@impacttheatre.org. So any of those, reach out. I'll have a great conversation with you.

Amazing. Amazing. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And I'll also drop, you know, Cohen's Children's Hospital information in the show notes as well. We are looking forward and staying tuned to all of the things. Everybody, I hope that you are as inspired as I was you know, by hearing from Alyssa and what's possible when you stand for your vision and you do the work that matters. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. And for everybody who tuned in today, thank you so much for being here with us in the V Spot. To be continued.