About Ross Szabo
Ross was born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth…Pennsylvania. (True story!) Other fun facts about Ross are that he likes to sing songs he doesn’t know the words to, which is just about every song other than “Nuthin But a G Thang.” He listens to Delilah as he drives around the country at night between speaking gigs. He loves to put chips on sandwiches and is a phenomenal car dancer. Yes—you know the people who you see at red lights, or on the freeway, moving all around to their music? Like that. He also likes kettlebell boxing on the beach, golf and yoga. And some people might even say he’s just a TAD sarcastic. He definitely embraces his freakishness everyday!
Aside from all of those things, though, Ross was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when he was 16. He went through the hell of living with the disorder for about 6 or 7 years, fully experiencing the mania, depression, hallucinations, anger and major self-medication that unfortunately can come along with it. Luckily, he was able to find a way to manage his issues, and to this day, is still learning new ways to deal with them. At age 17, he started speaking about his experiences with bipolar disorder in order to help raise awareness about mental health issues. As a result, Ross is the only person in the U.S. over the past five years who has spoken to more than half a million young people about mental health issues.
Ross is also the Director of Youth Outreach for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign. He was named the 2007 Best Male Performer by Campus Activities Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards, which recognized him as one of the top speakers on the college speaking circuit. He has been featured in Parade and Seventeen magazines, appeared on CNN, CBS and FOX News, and he has even had one of his presentations turned into a television special for a regional PBS affiliate. In general, he is a kick-ass mental health advocate who works as hard as he can to spread a positive message about mental health issues beyond the mental health field. When he isn’t on the road you can find him near his home boogey boarding or just hanging out in Venice, CA.
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