In 2019, Case Western Reserve University alum Ana Arruda founded Conquer Life, an organization dedicated to reducing the suicide rate and making a meaningful impact in mental health awareness. During her final year at CWRU, Arruda faced the devastating loss of a close friend and fellow athlete to suicide. Inspired by his memory, she launched Conquer Life to help prevent similar tragedies and support those in need.
“When I came to understand [how he passed], it was as though the experience of mourning had to be re-lived, yet only this time with a lot of questions about how a friend could miss another friend’s signs of struggle,” Arruda said. “I’ve carried this question with me since, and it only leads to a few more questions, such as what is going on in our general demographic, at what age do we begin to be affected by things like anxiety, why is it so, and lastly, what can we do about it? From these questions Conquer Life was born.”
Originally, Conquer Life was intended to be an e-commerce company, selling products featuring designs inspired by Chicago, Arruda’s hometown, along with the brand’s empowering message.
“The idea was to build a brand that instigated people to believe in themselves and to have the merchandise as a mere reminder for them to wake up each day and Conquer Life,” Arruda said.
However, shortly after founding the company, Arruda faced a major challenge: COVID-19. As a small business, Conquer Life was forced to pause production until its first batch of inventory arrived in 2021. Once operations resumed, the business expanded.
“We began with written blogs, where we’d write about Chicago people and places that embodied the idea of conquering life,” Arruda said. “From there we moved to a video blog series, where each week I would Zoom-interview someone with an interesting story that also lived the message of Conquer Life.”
They launched a weekly series called Thursday Talks, featuring conversations with a diverse range of guests, including military personnel, LGBTQIA+ advocates, comedians and suicide attempt survivors. Through these powerful stories, Arruda shared the mission of Conquer Life and discovered common threads that connected people from all walks of life.
“There were consistencies in the etiology of the struggles, in the longing for acceptance and inclusion and the importance of sharing, seeing and feeling seen,” Arruda said.
Within her company, Arruda set three primary goals: to reconnect people, redefine the concept of mental health and provide therapy without labeling it as such. She recognized the stigma surrounding mental health, where many dismiss its importance or view seeking therapy as embarrassing. Arruda was determined to change that narrative.
“We want to reconnect people because with the mass use of screens and social media in our daily lives, more and more we are becoming disconnected and feeling alone,” Arruda said. “We want to re-brand ‘mental health’ so as to normalize chats about how we really feel. We want to find a way to give people therapy without calling it therapy not because we don’t believe in 1-on-1 therapy, we actually know it is critical, however, most people don’t end up going to 1-on-1 therapy, so we want to find an alternative.”
With support from CWRU, Conquer Life is conducting a study to evaluate whether Conquer Life Games, the organization’s latest initiative, can positively impact participants’ mental health.
The idea for Conquer Life Games was born after Arruda took an improv class in New York City. She immediately experienced a boost in self-confidence and well-being, inspiring her to integrate the program into Conquer Life. To bring this vision to life, she partnered with Rebecca Stuard, owner of an improv school and a stand-in cast member for Saturday Night Live, along with John Galgano, a former collegiate athlete whose life was transformed by the improv games, and together they helped make Conquer Life Games a reality.
“We have come together and are deeply committed to the mission of Conquer Life because we share the experience of having our lives independently improved by the games, and because we also share a deep belief that these Games can have a tremendous positive impact on the lives of others,” Arruda said.
At CWRU, Arruda was part of the six-year Pre-Professional Program and played four seasons with the CWRU women’s soccer team. Due to her experience as a student-athlete, the games are currently tailored for athletes but Arruda believes the program can benefit people from all walks of life.
“The focus right now is on athletes because I was an athlete at Case, my story with this movement started [because of] of my friend who passed, who was also an athlete at Case, and it is a group that I feel very comfortable with and connected to,” Arruda said. “Being a college athlete impacts your life forever, and I don’t think one ever loses the connection they had with that team … The Program, however, is designed to be applicable to a wide variety of groups, such as those in the military, the general college student body, corporate employees and professional athletes.”
Arruda first connected with CWRU football coach Greg Debeljak, whom she knew from her time at CWRU. He welcomed her team to lead a one-hour session with the football team. Impressed by her work, the swimming and diving coach introduced her to the Case Association of Student-Athletes and CWRU’s chapter of The Hidden Opponent (THO), a national nonprofit advocating for mental health awareness in athletics.
“As we saw success more coaches came on board and encouraged their players to try it out, so our numbers have grown tremendously,” Arruda said. “In parallel, TJ Shelton, our Athletic Director, has come to support the Program and help us to figure out how to make this work for a school like Case.”
This past fall, Conquer Life ran its first eight session games program with five student athletes. One participant, fourth-year women’s soccer player and CWRU’s THO Vice-President Sydney Schenk, connected with Arruda about the games this past summer.
“I was excited to help bring this program to CWRU,” Schenk said. “[Arruda’s] enthusiasm about the effects of Conquer Life games resonated with me. Each year, our campus team with THO meets to see how we can support the mission, and Conquer Life games seemed like a giant step in the right direction: physical programming that can positively impact all student-athletes.”
Schenk found the games helpful in breaking out of her shell and building more confidence both on and off the field.
“Each week, I look forward to going to Conquer Life and it is a great start to my week. The games require you to focus, which forces you to be fully present. As student-athletes, I think we are constantly thinking about ‘what’s next’—class, homework, practice, treatment, lift—that we often forget to stop and be where we are.”
After participating, Schenk became a strong advocate for the games, believing they can benefit all athletes.
“Whether it’s improving communication skills, thinking on the fly, or just coming for the laughs, I genuinely believe every athlete can benefit from this program,” Schenk said. “This program will grow the camaraderie of student-athletes on campus, as well as equip us with necessary skills for our sports and our lives.”
Arruda and Conquer Life’s mission is still to reduce the suicide rate in this country. They aim to combine Conquer Life Games with a mobile application they are creating to implement this program at scale across the country.
“If we can get athletes, as well as other groups of humans, playing as children do for short and repeated periods, across different institutions, we believe we may begin to see a change,” Arruda said. “To start seeing people that are more connected, that feel more seen, that are free to be their truest selves and follow their intuition, that’s our long-term goal.”
Conquer Life Games officially launched on Feb. 3, with seven additional sessions available for any CWRU student. The sessions are offered at two time slots: 2:15-3:15 p.m. or 3:30-4:30 p.m. The next session will be on Feb. 10 at the Veale Recreation Center in the multipurpose room on the second floor.
Disclaimer: Ellie Palaian is a first-year on the women’s soccer team.