Biographie
Vanessa Cloke (Dimitropoulos), an actor turned advocate, embraced a significant new role as the founder of The Escaped Goat, a campaign dedicated to reforming laws surrounding psychological and emotional abuse. Her goal is to support survivors of narcissistic abuse on their path to healing and recovery, while working to break the cycle of trauma and abuse.
Her advocacy was sparked by her own deeply traumatic experience of narcissistic abuse inflicted by her abuser, his family, and the local police department, which left her unsupported and struggling with symptoms including PTSD.
Vanessa devotes much of her time to facilitating support groups and researching generational trauma and the impact of narcissistic abuse. She advocates for psychological abuse laws to receive the same criminal treatment as physical and sexual abuse, urging the United States to follow the progressive reforms already in place in the UK, France, Ireland, and Scotland.
Raised in Paramount, CA, Vanessa earned a BA in Communications from Chapman University. She then ran a children's dance company in San Diego, serving 300 students. While managing the company and after a brief period bartending on San Clemente Island, 80 miles off Southern California, Vanessa relocated to Rota, Spain, where she traveled frequently and worked as a Library Technician.
Her next chapter took her to New Orleans shortly after the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. At that time, NOLA was a vibrant Film & TV hub, allowing Vanessa to pursue her lifelong dream career.
She worked at Cineworks post-production facility while launching a successful video audition taping and demo reel business called Shoot My Reel.
Before moving from New Orleans to Los Angeles during the Oscar-winning success of The Big Short, Vanessa produced two web series and a short film, the latter earning Best Drama at the Louisiana International Film Festival.
Although she has stepped back from full-time film and TV work, Vanessa is currently producing a documentary and developing a media company focused on interviews, PSAs, and video books about narcissistic abuse. When not producing, writing, advocating, or studying Krav Maga, she enjoys dancing, traveling, creating entrepreneurial ventures, and pursuing her spiritual growth.
