See it.
Believe it.
Become it.

Dr. Alpha Gonzalez, DNP, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC
Founder

I know what it means for one person to change the way a young person sees their future.

My story did not begin in a hospital, a university, or with a clear path into healthcare. I grew up in Long Beach in a family affected by addiction. As a teenager, I became pregnant and attended continuation school, where I participated in a program for pregnant minors.

During that time, a Nurse Practitioner came to my pregnant minor program to teach us practical skills to prepare us for motherhood and help us care for our babies. She probably never knew the impact she would have on my life.

I saw her.

I watched the way she taught us, cared for us, and treated us as young women who were capable of learning, growing, and becoming more than our circumstances. Through that experience, I was introduced to a profession I had never imagined for myself.

I decided I wanted to become a Nurse Practitioner.

That single experience helped shape the trajectory of my life.

I went on to become a Registered Nurse and spent more than a decade working in emergency medicine, with additional experience in Labor and Delivery. I continued my education and became a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner, eventually bringing advanced practice medicine into the prehospital setting as an EMS Advanced Provider. My career has allowed me to care for patients across emergency medicine, maternal health, urgent care, rheumatology, community based care, and emergency medical services.

Along the way, I became increasingly aware that physical health and mental health cannot truly be separated. Nearly every healthcare issue has a psychological component, whether it involves the beliefs that influence a person's willingness to take a medication, the behaviors that affect chronic disease, the impact of trauma, or the role that hope and mindset can play during illness and recovery. That realization led me to pursue additional advanced practice training as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

I also continued my doctoral education because I wanted to do more than care for the person standing in front of me. I wanted to understand how healthcare systems can be improved and how clinicians can create meaningful change within the communities they serve.

Outside of my professional life, I am a wife of more than 18 years, a proud mother of five, and a grandmother of two. Those roles have shaped me just as profoundly as any degree or professional title. I understand both personally and professionally how much a young person's environment, exposure, encouragement, and access to opportunity can influence the direction of their life.

Long before the degrees, credentials, and career, there was a pregnant teenager sitting in a continuation school in Long Beach who needed someone to show her what was possible.

Someone did.

You Become What You Believe was created from my belief that exposure can change the trajectory of a young person's life. Young people cannot pursue careers they do not know exist. Sometimes meeting someone who has walked the path before them is enough to make a future they never considered suddenly feel possible.

Today, I want to provide youth of color with what that Nurse Practitioner gave me: exposure, knowledge, encouragement, guidance, and the opportunity to see beyond what is immediately in front of them.

Through healthcare career exposure, hands on learning, mentorship, education, and meaningful connections with healthcare professionals, You Become What You Believe exists to show young people just how many possibilities are waiting for them.

My journey began because someone showed up.
Now it is my turn to show up for them.