Today we’d like to introduce you to NicCole Weinberg.
Hi NicCole, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’m a trafficking survivor from the 90s, and I have pretty severe ptsd from it. In 2010, my past caught up with me, and I had a nervous breakdown. From there, I went through the Fairview program for six months, and then found my therapist. I started going to therapy three times a week to learn how to deal with my past, and communicate.
Then in 2020, I got covid, and then long covid. I couldn’t function like I used to, and I had to retire from my photography dreams. This sent me back, therapy wise, quite a bit. I stopped communicating with my partner, frustrating us both. After a year or two of this, we were getting desperate, and I started looking for communication cards to help us. The only thing I could find were for autism. While I am audhd, I needed something more complicated than an apple. I couldn’t find anything, anywhere. So, we made them. Now, we have communication cards designed for ptsd, depression, and normal people who just need help communicating.
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?
We’re just reaching the point of putting them in stores/shops. They can be bought on our website now. It’s been fairly smooth, because we haven’t been in a hurry. We took our time, had test groups for each new deck, crowdsourced ideas on tiktok and instagram to make sure we’re covering as many needs as possible. We’ve also partnered with Springboard as a fiscal sponsor so we can claim nonprofit status, which lets us give decks away to places like shelters and homeless programs. Our next big road is translating them into the words, and cultures, of the local needs. They’re not helpful if you don’t understand them.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a retired, self taught, photographer. I used to shoot burlesque, pinup, boudoir, and fetish/studio work. I have had several photographs shown around the world, including the Louvre.
I used old skills to build the cards.
When I’m in a panic attack or flashback, I can’t read. My brain won’t slow down enough to read. So, the cards weren’t helpful just writing them on a post-it note. I needed an image to connect to the outcome.
I started using photos and art to tell them apart, and it worked!
I contacted an old friend in Manhattan, one of the models that hung in the Louvre, and she worked with me to build an artistic palate for the first deck; now called the Human deck. I now had images to tell the cards apart, and I could get the outcome I needed.
When we started building the ptsd deck, we needed new art. I didn’t have an artist at my fingertips, so I took the pictures this time. It worked well. We could find images that fit the messages, so it made sense to me to grab that image and get that result. We could find images that shouldn’t set off the average person, which was harder than I expected.
Now that we’re building, I have artists to work with. The depression deck was shot by a friend, and then edited by me, to convey depression through nature. That deck should be ready soon.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
These are made for everyone. You don’t have to have mental health issues to need help communicating. Sometimes pride gets in the way, or you don’t want to bother anyone, or you’ll just suffer and be “fine.” You don’t have to. Pride was a big issue for me, and I definitely didn’t want to be a bother. Now I’m getting help and happy, as is my partner, because the guessing game is over. He can just check the book and see what I need, instead of guessing. It’s been very healing for both of us.
Pricing:
- 50.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.heretohelpcards.com
- Instagram: @heretohelpcards
- Other: Threads: @heretohelpcards
