Influencer Editorial Team
Dr. DeShaun Williams is the Founder and CEO of Write to Stay, a pioneering mental wellbeing and suicide prevention awareness training company. His mission is to equip leaders, HR teams, and senior management with the skills and confidence to protect their people and foster safer, more compassionate workplaces.
Write to Stay is more than just an awareness initiative. It’s a call to action. At the heart of the company’s work is The Stay Aware Certification Program™, a comprehensive training built around the 5 D’s of Intervention. This program empowers leaders to recognize warning signs, respond effectively, and build a culture where mental health is not an afterthought but a foundation.
Through a combination of professional expertise, personal experience, and practical tools, Write to Stay provides not just training, but ongoing support. From digital toolkits to guided practices, Dr. Williams ensures that organizations continue applying what they learn long after the sessions are over. His vision is to transform the way workplaces approach mental wellbeing, creating environments where every individual feels valued, understood, and supported.
“Too often, leadership isn’t fully prepared to handle the realities of mental health, leaving employees without the support they need. Write to Stay exists to change that by turning awareness into action.”
How do you approach leadership and the culture you create within your company?
Dr. DeShaun Williams:
I approach leadership as both a responsibility and a service. For me, leadership means creating a culture where people feel safe, supported, and empowered to show up as their full selves.
At Write to Stay, that culture is built on compassion, accountability, and clarity. I believe the best leaders are not the loudest voices in the room but the ones who listen deeply, recognize potential, and step in when people need guidance or protection.
My focus is to make mental wellbeing a core foundation of our company culture, not an afterthought. That’s why our programs center around habits of awareness, empathy, and action.
When leading my team, I prioritize collaboration and trust over control. I don’t believe in micromanaging, I believe in equipping people with the tools they need and giving them the space to execute with confidence. Leadership, to me, isn’t about control. It’s about creating conditions for others to thrive while holding the vision steady and reminding everyone why the work matters.
What drives your mission and keeps you motivated through challenges?
Dr. DeShaun Williams:
My mission is fueled by a deeply held belief that mental wellbeing should never be optional or hidden in the background.
My grandfather used to say, “People will tell you what path to take, but it’s up to you to write your own path.” Those words became the foundation of my life and the inspiration behind Write to Stay.
The core values guiding my work are compassion, integrity, and action. Compassion keeps me connected to the human side of every conversation. Integrity keeps our mission focused, even under business pressures. Action ensures that awareness becomes systems and tools that save lives.
Challenges are inevitable, but I see them as opportunities to adapt and improve. Growth and innovation come from listening to what people and organizations truly need, then designing solutions that meet them where they are.
When things get tough, I think about the individuals who have shared how our programs gave them the courage to open up, step in for someone else, or feel less alone. That real, human impact gives me the strength to keep pushing forward—no matter the obstacles.
A Message for Leaders and Changemakers
“Mental wellbeing is not just a personal issue, it’s a leadership issue.
The way leaders and HR teams respond to the people around them can mean the difference between someone struggling in silence and someone finding the support they need to stay alive.
Write to Stay was built to help leaders become champions of mental health. My hope is that every person who crosses paths with our work not only learns to take care of themselves, but also becomes the kind of leader who knows how to take care of others.
At the end of the day, every life matters. Every voice matters. If we can create workplaces and communities where people feel safe to speak up and supported when they do, we can truly change the future, for families, organizations, and society as a whole.”
