Suffolk alum Gabrielle Rizzo launches digital wellness platform, Wellbeings

Suffolk University graduate, successful influencer and social media strategist Gabrielle Rizzo launched Wellbeings– a new wellness platform that creates a diverse and inclusive digital community for women to support each other during these trying times. 

Rizzo believes wellness is a spectrum that is not defined in one way. Wellbeings is working to be inclusive during a time where communities are underrepresented. 

“We’re here to highlight that wellness originates in Indigenous communities where there is an emphasis on collective wellbeing and that it is a birthright for all—not just for those who have access to it and can afford it,” according to Wellbeings’ website. 

The platform hosts intentional conversations about the importance of self-care as a foundation of all wellness. The community is built to encourage individual healing as a first step to supporting a whole collective of different people. 

“I wholeheartedly believe that in the community that is being fostered through intimate conversations and connections, we can uniquely shape and inspire and create change… I think together we can impact more change than we realize,” said Rizzo. 

Rizzo created the platform as a result of the current state of the world; specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic and the current social and political movements taking place across the country. She believes that by working together and building a tight-knit community, the Wellbeings collective can move forward and create change. 

“I think in this moment too, being inspired to step up and use my voice in different capacities within the industry that I have found myself in, is almost like a call to action to move forward and bring a collective together,” said Rizzo.

For students, this new platform is an essential space to find free, invaluable resources to improve their mental wellbeing. It is also a place to share experiences in a judgment-free community of women from all over the country. 

Harper Wayne, and student at Boston University and co-creator of Wellbeings, is grateful for the impact the community’s unified voice has had on her mental health, and for the way the platform has created a reassuring space for her. She encouraged students to become a part of the intimate, inspiring conversation.

“I’m a student myself and it feels so nice to just talk knowing that it is a space and conversation I want to be present in,” Wayne said. “I’m lucky that I love to be present and involved in the majority of my classes, but for people that aren’t that interested in their classes right now or want a small spark for an hour and a half, I think Wellbeings is a perfect place for them.”

Rizzo’s experience as a student at Suffolk was a great stepping stone in getting her where she is today. She graduated in 2011 as a political science major and communications minor. Although she fell off the path of politics, her courses and professors gave her the ability to think critically and creatively. 

After graduating from Suffolk, she went on to receive her master’s degree from Emerson College in integrated marketing communications and is currently the director of Social Media Strategy at SMITH&SAINT. She considers her time at Suffolk as the bridge from where she came from to where she is now. 

“There is no time like the present and your voice is more valuable than you think… even if it touches one person, that person needed to hear it,” said Rizzo, who stressed the importance of using your voice to reach out to others. “That is my immediate advice for anybody who is on the precipice of thinking of doing something creatively.”

Wellbeings and the creatives behind the platform are looking forward to the projects they have coming up. Specifically, on Oct. 6, Carter Reid, a holistic nutritionist, will speak on Zoom about looking at nutrition non-traditionally, in which women can nourish their bodies through mindfulness practices. 

“[Wellbeings] is a month old and we’re really hitting the ground running in terms of trying to create an intentional space to have it be diverse and inclusive for all no matter where you are on the spectrum of your wellness,” said Rizzo. “It’s just important for us to share these resources so that we can begin to actually have a better picture of what wellness looks like outside of our westernized lenses.” 

Follow Julia  on Twitter @juliaahaesy.