Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamil Stamschror-Lott.
Hi Jamil, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We started back in 2017; a few months after our daughter was born. We had two babies at once! Yikes!!! We started this business because many of the institutions we worked with in the past did not do a good job of servicing those who experienced marginalization from the society: folks of color, LBGT, lower socioeconomic status and so on. We wanted to ensure everyone was receiving high-quality mental health services despite their social identities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been far from a smooth road. However, in the past, it was never smooth. Sara and I would start many of our own initiatives to make up for the lack of our larger institutions. After exerting so much energy on other businesses we figured we should do it for ourselves and our community.
During the civil unrest in 2020, our office building caught fire. We had to scramble to find new space and continue to serve our clients and community in the midst of so much tragedy. In our new office space I was mircoaggressed; “what are you doing in this building”..”I have an office here…”, so often we were forced to find our own space (instead of renting).
Also, we don’t take insurance. Therefore, we have had to truly live up to our name and find creative methods for clients not to be burdened with sometimes heavy cost of wellness services.
Additionally, there is a high demand for mental services, especially from folks of color looking for clinicians of color. The demand is exceeding our funding. Therefore, we are looking to expand funding opportunities to meet the need and ease the burden.
What do you want our readers to know about your brand, offerings, services, etc?
Direct Services
Direct Services are available by separate offering
Professional Speaking
Creative Kuponya educates about mental health at the intersection of diversity, equity and inclusion, speaking engagement and keynotes.
Therapy
Holistic mental health care for clients to find a place of healing without systemic barriers.
Education/Training
Educating organizations, nonprofits and schools in mental health and DEI topics
Transformative Community Healing Sessions
An integrated approach to community healing consists of psychoeducation, restorative justice, and wellness body practices.
Consulting
Working shoulder to shoulder with organizations, non-profits, and schools to bring mental health care, as well as diversity equity and inclusion tactics to the workplace.
Packaged Services
Healer’s Community
An inclusive community for healers in which professionals come together to engage in connection and education to advance their holistic and equitable skill set.
Healers or their employers can pay for training or membership. CEUs will be offered.
Integrated Model
Integrating therapy, transformative community healing sessions, oppressive trauma-informed care and DEI education into organizations to ensure the wellness of all staff.
Ecommerce
Wellness Merchandise
An earth-friendly upcycled clothing line, Healing Hoodiez and apothecary merchandise sold to support low or no-cost therapy in the community.
What do you do, what do you specialize in / what are you known for?
We center on the experience of those pushed to the margins. We serve all but we do it better because we work to ensure no one is forgotten about.
We do not take insurance. 66% of our team are folks of color. 72% of our clients are BIPOC. We partner with other organizations to eliminate or reduce the cost of therapy.
We did it from scratch and it represents those who have suffered in silenced, those who have be hurt and forgotten about and how you can overcome by tapping into the collective community.
Contact Info:
- Email: Creativekuponya@gmail.com
- Website: https://creativekuponya.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativekuponya/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Therapist/Creative-Kuponya-107891404314532/
