Shows
The Primary PE HuddleThe Primary PE Huddle Podcast| Linking Physically Active Learning and wellbeing within schools with Stephen ClarkeWho is our guest? Stephen Clarke has been a school governor for 15 years in the Staffordshire three-tier school system, firstly at Primary School, then Middle School and finally High School. He then stepped up to the challenge of being Chair of Governors back at the Middle School in 2019 and shortly after helping to guide the school with the Headteacher strategically through the COVID crisis, remote learning, and several risk assessments! Outside of the school environment, Stephen has over 25 years of experience in education technology and running award-winning multi-million pound small to medium enterprises. Th...2024-09-3044 min
Building futures: Career conversationsEpisode 17 - Stephen Marcos JonesIn this episode, Gaelle Blake interviews Stephen Marcos Jones, Group CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE). Stephen shares insights into his career as well as advice for others looking to get into the field.
2023-11-1527 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#92 - Jane Technologies Founder Soc Rosenfeld on the Future of Cannabis Retail TechWhat is the future of legal cannabis from a retail / e-commerce perspective? Today's guest, Socrates Rosenfeld, Co-Founder and CEO of Jane Technologies explains. Jane is an e-commerce solution for the Cannabis space that supports nearly 3,000 dispensaries and handles more than 20% of the legal Cannabis transactions in the U.S. each year. Prior to founding Jane, Soc was a consultant at McKinsey and Company. Before that, he served in the US Army as an Apache Helicopter Pilot from 2004-2011. Soc earned an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and his undergrad degree my alma mater, West Point. 2021-12-1345 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#91 - Modern Health Co-Founder and CEO Alyson WatsonAlyson Watson is CEO and co-founder of Modern Health, a mental health unicorn! Modern Health is a global mental health benefits solution for employers that covers the spectrum of mental wellbeing needs from tech enabled solutions to professional support solutions on one platform. You can connect with Alyson here: LinkedIn What If Fellowship: https://whatif.vc/fellowship HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: Alyson shares her background with mental health, her education, and how it led her to the mental health space. She also shares about Modern Hea...2021-11-0235 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#90 - Spring Health CEO April Koh - On Building a Mental Health UnicornApril Koh is the youngest female founder to ever take a startup from just an idea to unicorn status. We are so excited that she’s accomplished this in the mental health space, and we are excited for you to meet her and learn more about her Company, Spring Health! For those who may not be familiar, Spring Health is a provider of mental health benefits to employers for their employees, and their employees’ families. Spring Health’s product is a "precision mental healthcare" platform that matches a company’s employees to the most effective care for each employ...2021-10-2735 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#89 - The Future of Precision Psychiatry with Dr. Amit Etkin of Alto NeuroscienceDr. Amit Etkin is pioneering a revolution in the way mental health medications are designed, developed, prescribed, and brought to market. Precision psychiatry is the future of mental health treatment and Dr. Etkin is leading the way with his drug development platform, Alto Neuroscience. In this episode, Dr. Etkin explains why psychiatric drugs have failed, what he is doing about it and why it will work. Prior to Alto Neuroscience, Dr. Etkin was a tenured professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and a member of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. Dr. Etk...2021-10-1750 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#88 - _able Partners Founding Partner Amanda Eilian - A Pioneer in Mental Health InvestingAmanda Eilian, Founding Partner of _able Partners joins us to talk all things mental health startup investing. _able Partners is an early-stage VC firm supporting visionary founders in the positive living space. Their investments focus on companies that improve the daily lives of people, making them healthier, happier, and making their lives more meaningful. Some specific investment areas include mental health, addiction, women’s health, sexual wellness, wellness broadly, coaching and continued learning, child care, and self-expression. Amanda has led incredible early stage investments in companies like Spring Health, Compass Pathways, ATAI Life Sciences, Alma, Alto Neuroscience, and many ot...2021-09-1337 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#87 - Brain Computer Interfaces - A Primer with John DonoghueToday’s guest is John Donoghue. He is well known for his groundbreaking work developing Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) to restore movement for people with paralysis, known as ‘BrainGate’. BrainGate was the original BCI system created by a company called Cyberkinetics, of which John was a co-founder. In this episode, John gives us a primer on BCIs. What are they? How do they work? When will they be widely adopted? Are they safe? How do we know? We cover these questions and much more. Many people consider John to be the founder of the entire discipline...2021-08-3048 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#86 - Elyse Cohen - VP Social Impact at Rare Beauty by Selena GomezToday’s guest is Elyse Cohen, VP of Social Impact and Inclusion at Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez and a mental health advocate. Elyse is an expert on purpose driven brands, social impact, and has been hand selected by Selena Gomez to lead the impact efforts at Rare Beauty and the Rare Impact Fund addressing mental health. Previously Elyse has worked at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama as Deputy Director of the former first lady’s legacy Let’s Move initiative, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and various marketing agencies leading social impact initiatives and lev...2021-08-1830 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#85 - Measuring Mental Health with Ksana Health Co-Founder Nick AllenYou can’t fix what you don’t measure. Measurement and testing of our mental health lags the same capabilities in physical health care. Dr. Nick Allen, our guest today, is building a mental health measurement solution for clinical use. Today we talk to him about the challenges, and opportunity for his startup, Ksana Health. Nick is leveraging the tools and technologies that he developed as the Director of University of Oregon’s Center for Digital Mental Health into products and services that are transforming mental health care. Nick is a clinical psychologist and social neuroscie...2021-07-2037 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#84 - Veterans Mental Health with Dr. Anthony Hassan, CEO of Cohen Veterans NetworkDr. Anthony Hassan, President and CEO of the Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) joins us today. CVN is a network of 25 non-profit mental health clinics providing care to veterans and their families. The facilities are located in or around historically dense veteran and active duty military communities. Dr. Hassan is a veteran of the United States Army and Air Force with 30 years of experience in military behavioral health. He holds a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from the University of South Florida and is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. You can connect with Anthony he...2021-07-0739 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#83 - Psychedelic Treatment Cured My Alcohol Addiction - Jon KostakopoulosToday’s guest is Jon Kostakopoulos who was the first study participant in the NYU Psilocybin clinical trial. After years of struggling with alcoholism and after trying other options including in-patient programs, out-patient programs, AA, and pharmaceutical treatments, nothing was working for him. Finally, at age 25, Jon joined the clinical trial and underwent three different Psilocybin treatment sessions and has not craved alcohol since his first treatment session. Jon has been interviewed on 60 minutes by Anderson Cooper regarding his Psilocybin treatments and since then has launched the Apollo Pact which is a non-profit funding medical research for me...2021-06-2832 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#82 - Eating Disorders - Prevalence, and Lack of Solutions with Courage Therapeutics Founder Dan HousmanToday’s guest is Dan Housman. He’s the co-founder and CTO of Courage Therapeutics. We met Dan when he came through our first cohort of the What If Fellowship Program. His startup is a biopharma drug development business focused on eating disorders (anorexia nervosa specifically). You can connect with Dan here: LinkedIn, Courage Therapeutics Website Links mentioned in the show: NEDA, Feast, Daniel Le Grange Research What If Fellowship Program: https://whatif.vc/ HERE ARE SOME THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT Dan tells us about the histor...2021-04-2342 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#81 - Is Meditation Really Hard? - with Chorus Meditation Founder Ali AbramovitzToday’s guest is Ali Abramovitz. She is the co-founder of Chorus Meditation and she is here to talk about the work she is doing to make meditation a group activity. In this episode, we will talk about why group meditation is beneficial, how to do it, and what exactly the benefits are. You can connect with Ali here: Linked In, Chorus Website, Facebook, Instagram What If Fellowship: https://whatif.vc/fellowship HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: Ali shares about her background in business and...2021-03-3028 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#80 - Lyra's VP of Partnerships (early employee) - Sean McBrideSean McBride, VP Partnerships at Lyra Health joins us in this episode to talk about Lyra, behavioral health care broadly, and he experience working to reform the healthcare system throughout his career. Sean was the first employee at Lyra Health and shares with us about how the Company has scaled into a unicorn over the last 6 years. Lyra Health is focused on making behavioral health care more accessible and easier to find. Prior to Lyra, Sean worked at Castlight Health, The White House’s National Economic Council, and The Brookings Institution’s Health Care Reform Center among other positions. Y...2021-03-1037 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#79 - Matthew Cooper on Stepping Down as CEO for His Mental HealthIn this episode, we are talking about entrepreneur mental health. Our guest, Matthew Cooper, stepped down from his role as CEO of EarnUp after growing the business successfully for 7 years after creating it. When he stepped down, he cited mental health as the primary driver and wrote an incredibly authentic, vulnerable and amazing blog post about his decision on December 18, 2020. You can connect with Matthew here: Blog, Twitter, Linked In What If Fellowship: https://whatif.vc/fellowship HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: Matthew shares his story abo...2021-02-2551 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#78 - Esther Dyson: Building a Healthier Society by Investing in Healthcare StartupsIn this episode we chat with long time healthcare startup investor, Esther Dyson. Esther has been very influential in the healthcare investing space for quite some time. It’s very hard to run into anyone doing anything meaningful in the broader healthcare space and not find a connection to Esther in some way. She’s the executive founder of Way to Wellville, a non-profit dedicated to demonstrating the value of investing in health, including how the benefits of investing in health accrue over time and not always to the investors directly. Esther spends her time investing in sta...2021-02-2238 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#77 - Central Nervous System Drug Development with Industry Expert Dr. Errol De Souza (Chairman @Bionomics)In this episode we speak with Dr. Errol De Souza, PhD, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at Bionomics. Bionomics just raised nearly $16mm to conduct clinical trials on their revolutionary drug to treat PTSD. Dr. De Souza is one of the premier entrepreneurs in the biotech space with a special focus on development of therapeutics for treatment of Central Nervous System disorders. During his career as an entrepreneur, Dr. De Souza has raised several hundred million dollars in capital in both private and public markets and has taken companies public (Neurocrine Biosciences IPO) and sold co...2021-02-1548 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#76 - Cybin CEO: Doug Drysdale on The Future of Psychedelic TreatmentsIn this episode, we chat with Doug Drysdale, CEO of Cybin. Cybin, is a life sciences company advancing mushroom based psychedelic pharmaceuticals and non-psychedelic nutraceutical products as potential therapies for psychiatric and neurological conditions. Cybin is developing technologies and delivery systems aimed at improving bioavailability to achieve the desired effects of psychedelics at low dosage levels. Doug is an extremely accomplished and experienced CEO who has chaired a NASDAQ-listed company and has built and turned around 3 different pharmaceutical companies over the last 12 years. He has more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare sector broadly and brings a l...2021-01-2431 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#75 - Mental Health Startup Valuation Trends and Investor Sentiment in 2021In this mental health market update episode, we are covering valuation trends, investor sentiment, and our 9 key takeaways from the mental health startup market heading into 2021. We cover public and private market valuation trends impacting mental health startups, and we dig into results from a 150-investor survey we recently conducted on valuation expectations and market sentiment. We also share our 9 key takeaways on the mental health startup market going into 2021 based on our 2020 experience investing $5.4mm dollars into 9 startups in the space at What If Ventures. Links Mentioned: Blog: Mental Health Investor Sentiment Survey: E...2021-01-0917 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#74 - Pray.com CEO Steve Gatena on the Digitization of FaithSteve Gatena is the founder of Pray.com, the word’s #1 app for daily prayer and faith-based audio content. Prior to becoming an American Entrepreneur, Steve was an NCAA Champion. He played football for the University of Southern California where he won a Rose Bowl Championship as well as UC Davis where he won a Great West Conference Championship. As a young entrepreneur, Steve started his first company at 22 which was a video agency. In 2012, he launched his 2nd company which quickly grew. In 2014, Steven was honored as an “Entrepreneur of the Year” at the United Nations. In 201...2020-12-1336 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#73 - Tom Insel Addresses What If Fellowship Cohort #1 on The Future of Mental Health CareTom Insel is the mental health “czar” of the State of California, he’s a co-founder of Mindstrong Health, and formerly Director of the NIMH. Tom is someone I look up to greatly as a trailblazer in the mental health space around what can be done, what is being done and what could be done to improve access to high quality care. Tom has a rare combination of skills as a highly experienced neuroscientist, founder, entrepreneur, and investor in mental health startups. His advice and thought leadership help lead policy initiatives around the country on the topic of access...2020-11-2458 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#72 - Headspace's Chief Strategy and Science Officer - Megan Jones BellToday’s guest is Megan Bell, Chief Strategy and Science Officer at Headspace where she directs a team focused on global corporate strategy, technology strategy, and new ventures including Headspace’s digital therapeutics subsidiary, Headspace Health. She also oversees medical and clinical affairs, behavioral science and clinical research, and design research including implementation of a human-centered design process in product and content development. Prior to Headspace, she was chief science officer and scientific founder at digital mental health startup, Lantern, whose core IP went on to become part of Omada Health, Ginger, and others. As...2020-11-0143 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#71 - Calm Co-Founder, Michael Acton Smith a Pioneer in Mental Health and WellnessMichael Acton Smith, co-Founder of Calm joins us to talk about building the #1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, with over 75 million downloads and over 700,000 5-star reviews. Michael tells us about how the idea was born from his own personal discovery of the power of meditation. In our conversation he tells the Calm founding story, and talks about the journey to making medication accessible to tens of millions of people while taking on stigma around meditation and mental health long before the recent surge in interest around the space. In addition to being the co-founder...2020-10-2342 min
Silent Superheroes - Talking About Mental Health At Work#32 On Being Bipolar 1 With Stephen HaysStephen is the Founder and Managing Partner of “What If Ventures”. He is also the host of the Stigma podcast. Stephen has left a trail of destruction in his life due to undiagnosed bipolar 1. Three country clubs threw him out for being disruptive. He paid gambling debts by cashing in pensions and was unfaithful …
Continue reading "#32 On Being Bipolar 1 With Stephen Hays"
The post #32 On Being Bipolar 1 With Stephen Hays appeared first on Silent Superheroes Podcast.2020-09-1600 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#70 - How Psychedelic Treatments Work with Ronan Levy, Founder of Field Trip HealthRonan Levy is co-founder and the Executive Chairman of Field Trip Health, a psychedelic assisted treatment business. Ronan joins us to talk about how psychedelic treatments work, what all the hype is about, where we are by way of regulation in the industry and the future use cases of psychedelic treatments. Prior to Field Trip, he was an early pioneer in the medical cannabis industry which gave him a unique perspective on launching the world’s first integrated company in legal psychedelics. Field Trip currently has operations in North America, the Caribbean and Europe where their goal is to becom...2020-09-1538 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#69 - "Suicide Girl" - How One Founder Was Labeled by an Investor Due to Her PastAimee-Louisse Carton, founder of KeepAppy, shares her story with us which includes getting cornered in a bathroom by an investor at a startup event, where the investor called her “suicide girl.” This investor continued to tell Aimee she would never be able to raise money because of her past suicide attempt. In this episode, Aimee talks to us about her struggles with mental health and how they did lead her to an attempt on her own life and how that moment has ultimately led her to build something to help many people who have experienced similar pain. Aim...2020-09-0829 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#68 - "Peloton of the mind" - Training for Mental Fitness with Sail Founder, Johnny ChenToday’s guest is Johnny Chen, founder, and CEO of Sail. Sail is a coaching community that empowers men to be more vulnerable. The focus of their platform is the “Peloton of the mind” specifically for men. Sail currently offers several 4-week coaching programs designed specifically for men. These programs are comprised of four, 90-minute sessions on specific topics such as leadership, relationships, emotional intelligence, etc. The groups are comprised of 10 like-minded men who are seeking self-improvement. These programs are a mix of teaching, coaching, and coach-led practice around certain skill sets. It’s a safe space for men to ope...2020-09-0327 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#67 - Video Games as Medicine with Dr. Adam Gazzaley, Founder of Akili InteractiveDr. Adam Gazzaley, founder of Akili Interactive joins us to talk about the intersection of molecular and experiential treatments for mental health conditions. Akili is the maker of the first ever video game to be approved by the FDA as a digital therapeutic treatment for a clinical condition. We talked about how Adam and his team figured out how to use video games in this manner, how they got approval to do so and the science that proves a video game can help improve cognitive function. We dig into the future interactions of molecular and experiential medicine and where hi...2020-09-0146 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#66 - Jessica Carson, Author of "Wired This Way" on Entrepreneur Mental HealthJessica recently published a book called “Wired This Way” on finding mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being as an entrepreneur. The book has been called “the essential user’s manual for the entrepreneurial spirit.” I got so much out of this conversation personally, and I am truly humbled and honored that we get to share it with you. I hope you will get as much out of it as I did. Jessica Carson is the Director of Innovation at the American Psychological Association where she leads the organization’s effort to innovation and product strategy. She has such an incredible and di...2020-08-2439 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#65 - Mental Health Investing Legends - Charlie Hartwell and Maureen Pelton of Bridge Builders CollaborativeCharlie Hartwell and his wife, Maureen Pelton, MSSW, join us this week to talk about their experiences in the mental health space. Charlie is the Managing Partner at Bridge Builders Collaborative, the most active investor in the mental health startup space over the last decade by far and co-founder of the ShiftIt Institute. Maureen is a Co-Founder of the ShiftIt Institute, is a pioneer in the field of embodiment - aligning our true nature, attuning our highest potential, and holding space for divinity. I view Charlie as a mentor and trailblazer in the mental health st...2020-08-1944 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#64 - Founder Spotlight #1 (Mental Health Startup Pitches)We are trying something new. We want to leverage our platform to tell the story of those entrepreneurs who are building in the mental health space that do not get the air time they deserve. In this new segment, you will hear from a handful of mental health startup founders. Each of these entrepreneurs has been given 3 minutes, uninterrupted, un-edited, to tell their story. They will explain why they are working in this space, what are they building, and how far along are they. We intend to publish founder spotlights a couple times a month....2020-08-1717 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#63 - Psychedelic Focused VC: The Conscious Fund with Richard SkaifeToday’s guest is Richard Skaife. Richard is Founder of the Conscious Fund which invests in early stage startups pioneering plant powered medicine with a focus on psychedelics. To date, they have invested in startups such as ATAI Life Sciences, Bexson Biomedical, Cybin, Gilgamesh, Hive, Microdose, Numinus and more. Richard talks about how he found his way into VC, and gives a great summary of the psychedelic startup ecosystem including an overview of the current regulatory environment. Connect with Richard: Richard on Twitter, Conscious Fund on Twitter, Richard on LinkedIn Other Links Mentioned: 1961 U.N...2020-08-1242 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#62 - Market Update: Teladoc Announces Acquisition of Livongo 8/5/2020Mental Health Market Update: 8/5/2020 – Teladoc Acquisition of Livongo Big news today, August 5th, in the world of disruptive healthcare companies, Teladoc is acquiring Livongo for a valuation of approximately $18.5 billion dollars. In this episode we do a little bit of analysis of the deal then talk about what it means to entrepreneurs in the digital health space. Links mentioned in the show: What If Ventures rolling fund: https://angel.co/v/back/what-if-ventures/ Join webinar with What If Ventures and AngelList on 8/14: https://forms.gle/PSCiSiVS8mHk1gf8A2020-08-0610 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#61 - Learning to Breathe, A Path to Wellness with Breathwrk Founders Max and AddieHow we breathe can have a profound impact on our mental health and wellness. Humans are one of only a few species that can proactively manipulate our breathing patterns and those patterns are associated with various emotional states of being. In today’s episode we learn about the physiological and psychological impacts of breathing Max Gomez and Addie Conner, created their early stage startup, Breathwrk, to help people consciously improve their breathing in order to achieve health and wellness. In this episode we dig into how breathing impacts us, why it does and the formation story of this...2020-08-0333 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#60 - Behavioral Health Innovation with UHS Divisional VP Nicki Tessler (Psy.D, MBA)Today’s guest is Nicki Tessler (Psy.D, MBA) the Divisional Vice President for Behavioral Health at Universal Health Services (UHS) where she provides senior-level leadership for multiple hospitals across multiple stages for UHS. She joins us to talk about innovation in the behavioral health space and how UHS is leading the way with their “Innovation Hub” that supports behavioral health entrepreneurship. Nicki is an extremely accomplished, and experienced Behavioral Health Executive with an impressive 20-year career in the space that began in Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital, leading to Hospital Corporation of America and now Universal Health Service...2020-07-2635 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#59 - Former Universal Health Services Executive on The Behavioral Health Industry Evolution Martin Schappell spent 15 years as a leader at Universal Health Services (the largest inpatient psychiatric hospital operator in the United States) as a Senior Vice President in the Behavioral segment. He joins us to talk about the behavioral health care industry, how care has evolved over the last 30 years, and the impacts of our current climate on the mental health of the seniors in our population. In this episode we talked at length about why behavioral healthcare has changed so much, what is good about those changes as well as what is bad. We also discussed where t...2020-07-2240 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#58 - Market Update 7/17/20: 2Q 2020 Digital Health Earnings Preview with Teladoc, Livongo and One MedicalMental Health Market Update: 7/17/2020 – 2Q 2020 Disruptive Healthcare Earnings Preview – With 2nd Quarter 2020 earnings announcements just around the corner, I thought it would make sense to take stock of where our disruptive healthcare peers are trading, how they have performed so far this year and what to expect and watch out for as their release earnings in the coming weeks. In today’s episode we are focused on a subset of our “Disruptive Healthcare” peers which as a group broadly, includes Teladoc, Livongo, One Medical, Health Equity, Progyny, Health Catalyst, Phreesia, Ontrak (which was Catasys prior to this we...2020-07-1713 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#57 - Eric Dresdale - An Early Pioneer in Addiction StartupsEric Dresdale joins me to talk about building startups in the mental health and addiction space. Eric was one of the earliest entrepreneurs to build a startup in this space called “Next Step” which he sold to True Link Financial back in 2016. He now spends a lot of time advising startups in the mental health space and has some unique insights into care models, care delivery, addiction treatment, and where entrepreneurs can find opportunity to innovate today. Links: Eric on LinkedIn, KNWN Technologies HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT: E...2020-07-1130 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#56 - Teladoc Analysis - Company Overview, Valuation, M&A and Positioning on the Mental Health Market Update 6/26/2020Mental Health Market Update: 6/26/2020 – Teladoc Overview: Teladoc (Ticker: TDOC) provides integrated healthcare services including telehealth, mental health, expert medical services remotely. In today’s market update, we dig into the company’s primary business units, its growth, valuation, M&A history, growth prospects and what we in the behavioral health startup ecosystem can learn from digging into the numbers around Teladoc. SOME OF WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE: What exactly Teledoc does, how they have grown via relationships with UnitedHealth, CVS, Medicare/Medicaid and through an aggressive M&A strategy. 2020-06-2624 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#55 - Market Update 6/19/20: Universal Health Services - Recent Performance and Implications for Mental Health StartupsMental Health Market Update: 6/19/2020 – Universal Health Services Overview – Universal Health Services (Ticker: UHS) is the largest inpatient psychiatric hospital operator in the United States. In this episode, we give an overview of the business, scale, the differences between their acute care and behavioral segment and talk about how much better performance has been through the downturn within their behavioral segment than the acute segment. We discuss what all of this means for those of us building or investing in mental health startups. You can support Stigma Podcast and get deeper insights and white papers here o...2020-06-1909 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#54 - How to Use Technology to Prevent Suicide with Amanda Johnstone, Founder of "Be a Looper"How can we use technology to stop suicide? How can we leverage technology to encourage vulnerability and connectivity to help people deal with difficult times? We dig in to these ideas today with Be A Looper Founder and CEO, Amanda Johnstone. Amanda and I met during a mental health tech conference (Transformative Tech Conference) in Palo Alto during November 2019. We had such a great conversation about suicide prevention, mental health, tech, and other stuff that I just had to ask her to come on and share her insights with our friends. Amanda is from Australia. She is a so...2020-06-1526 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#53 - Market Update 6/12/20: Acadia Healthcare - Valuation, Earnings, Trading, and Implications for Behavioral StartupsMental Health Market Update: 6/12/2020 – Acadia Healthcare Overview – One of the largest providers of behavioral healthcare services in the world reports some of the best data on demand, market dynamics, payment trends, and other macro insights that can be extremely insightful for startups building within the mental health space. In this episode, we give an overview of the business, their geographic footprint, growth and margins across segments, trading levels, demand data, recent management commentary and we talk about their valuation, leverage and attempted sale of their underperforming UK based business. You can support Stigma Podcast and get d...2020-06-1213 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#52 - Unwanted Sexual Behavior: What the Research Shows with Jay StringerJay Stringer joins us to talk about unwanted sexual behavior (pornography, buying sex, affairs, etc.). Jay is a licensed mental health counselor, ordained minister, author, and speaker on the subject – his research revolutionized my view of this topic. His research shows a strong tie between past experiences, and sexual behavior and what we can learn from that connection. He’s spent the last decade helping men and women gain find freedom from unwanted sexual behavior by helping them identify the unique reasons that bring them to this behavior in the first place. Jay talks to us about his bo...2020-06-0943 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#51 - Sobriety is a Superpower with Venture Capitalist Steve SchlafmanSteve Schlafman is a friend, mentor, a sponsor of sorts to me, and a very experienced Venture Capitalist who also has 5-years of sobriety under his belt as of today, June 5th, 2020. After 1 year of sobriety, Steve wrote a blog post under a pen name (which you can find here) explaining his experience getting sober and what it meant to him. Today, he’s sharing that blog post under his own name, for the first time. Steve talks to me about how important it is to share openly because that’s what gives others the strength to get he...2020-06-0358 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#50 - Black Men & Mental Health with Henry Health Founder Kevin Dedner, MPHKevin Dedner is co-founder and CEO of Henry Health. Henry Health is a digital community that provides self-care support and culturally sensitive teletherapy. Henry Health's initial target audience is black men who have the lowest life expectancy of any population. In fact, the stated goal of Henry Health is to increase the life expectancy of black men by ten years within the next twenty-five years. Kevin has over 15 years of experience in public health (he also has a Masters in Public Health degree) - He’s worked on a variety of issues including childhood obesity, HIV/AIDS, and tobacco contr...2020-06-0231 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#49 - KoreVoices Founder Jesse SternIn this episode I spoke with Jesse Stern, founder of KoreVoices. KoreVoices is a community of over 200,000 people overcoming mental health issues by sharing stories and offering support. The mission of KoreVoices is to build a movement that allows people to find solutions to their mental health issues, while also helping others. Here at the Stigma Podcast we feel their mission aligns very closely with ours! Jesse built KoreVoices after spending nearly 10 years producing issue driven documentaries all over the world for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. KoreVoices has an incredible reach and helps unt...2020-06-0135 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#48 - Market Update 5/29/20: Who are the Investors Putting $850mm into Mental Health Startups So Far in 2020?Mental Health Market Update: 5/29/2020 – Who is Investing in Mental Health Startups? Investors have placed over $850mm into mental health startups in the first 5 months of 2020. This far outpaces 2019 mental health startup funding for the entire year. Q1 2020 Mental Health Funding Article is here: https://whatif.vc/blog/explosion-of-mental-health-startup-funding-in-q1%C2%A02020 Link to the investor list is located on our Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/stigmapodcast Original blog post from early 2020 on the mental health startup investor landscape: https://whatif.vc/blog/top-100-mental-health-startup-investors You can support Stigma Podca...2020-05-2908 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#47 - Bipolar-1 - Public Perception Versus Reality - Examples of Lived Experience With the Illness w/ Jason Finucan and Stephen HaysJason Finucan and I both live with type-1 bipolar disorder. We have had vastly different experiences with the illness. In this episode, we explore what this disease looks like, how it manifested itself in our own lives and how we got better. We challenge the public perception of bipolar disorder and how the media portrays it. One of the key takeaways from this conversation is how differently two people can experience the same mental illness. Today, Jason is an author, mental health advocate, stigma fighter, professional speaker, and founder of StigmaZero, Jason is also the creator of the...2020-05-2538 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#46 - Market Update 5/22/20: Mindstrong Raises $100mm Series-CMental Health Market Update: 5/22/2020 – Mindstrong Raises $100mm Series-C Mindstrong Health announced a series-C investment of $100mm in a press release dated yesterday, Thursday 5/21/2020. This funding round included capital from What If Ventures, General Catalyst, Bezos Expeditions, Foresight, ARCH, 8VC, and others. Press on TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/21/with-an-ex-uber-exec-as-its-new-ceo-digital-mental-health-service-mindstrong-raises-100-million/ Mindstrong job postings: https://mindstrong.com/careers/ Tom Insel video explaining digital phenotyping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZKAaqfaX8I&feature=youtu.be Support for claim that most anti-depressants are prescribed by general practitioners: https://www.ncbi.nlm.ni...2020-05-2209 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#45 - Starting a Business From Prison with Emily O'Brien Founder of Comeback Snacks“I launched a Company While Serving Time for Coke Smuggling” – Emily O’Brien I’m so inspired by our conversation with Emily O’Brien. Emily is a keynote speaker, entrepreneur, consultant and convict. Emily is an entrepreneur, who started her current business from prison. She overcame far more than most entrepreneurs have to deal with, to start her business. She is the founder of Comeback Snacks where the website proudly proclaims, “We broke the law, but we fix good snacks!” In this episode, Emily talks about why she went to prison, how her perspective on life changed during...2020-05-2037 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#44 - My Sober Compass Founder Arielle DymentArielle Dyment is an influencer in the recovery community, and a highly sought-after sober coach. She joins us to talk about addiction, getting sober, and how she’s helping people who are falling through the cracks of the existing recovery solutions in the market. Arielle built a recovery coaching platform called My Sober Compass in order to help people get sober and stay sober. In this podcast, she tells her story of addiction, how she found her way to recovery, and why she started a platform to help others get well. You can connect with Ariel...2020-05-1742 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#43 - Market Update 5/15/20: How Big is The Mental Health Market and What Does One Medical's Earnings Mean for FoundersMarket Update 3 – Sizing the Mental Health Market & What Can We Learn From One Medical's Q1 Earnings Report? We dig into 8 research reports on various sub-markets of behavioral health that I believe add up to give us the size of the mental health market. Overview of One Medical's Q1 earnings report and what founders in the mental health space can learn from key metrics around volume, virtual mix and reimbursement, etc. Links to public sources: NAMI Stats What If VC (mental health startup investing) ONEM Earnings Press ONEM Q1 Earnings Call Transcript2020-05-1515 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#42 - It's Okay If You Need Meds to Be Okay - A Chat About Depression with Nyemade BoiwuToday’s guest is Nyemade Boiwu. Nyemade recently wrote blog post on the NAMI website titled “It’s Okay If You Need Meds to Be Okay.” This post caught my eye because I’ve been a part of several conversations lately about stigma where taking medication has been the focal point. In today’s conversation Nyemade and I tackle the stigma of mental health medication from the perspective of two people who both take medication for mental health differences. I hope you learn as much from her perspectives as I did. You can connect with Nyemade here and...2020-05-1330 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#41 - Meru Health Founder and CEO Kristian RantaKristian Ranta, founder and CEO of Meru Health, lost his older brother to suicide in 2005 pushing Kristian to build a mental health solution that could help others dealing with the same problems his brother had. Kristian joins us this week to talk about how his brother’s personal struggle with depression and substance use was never addressed, in part, due to lack of access to quality care. Kristian founded Meru Health in 2016 and the Company has evolved to become a tech-enabled telehealth practice that features a 12-week digital therapeutic program including therapists, psychiatrists, digital therapeutics and HRV bio...2020-05-1031 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#40 - Market Update 5/8/20: The Telehealth Revolution + CATASYS Q1 '20 EarningsCatsys: https://catasys.com/ Catasys latest investor presentation: https://catasys.com/presentations.html# Stigma Podcast: https://www.stigmapodcast.com/ Join our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gMH3rX Stephen Hays: https://stephenrhays.com/ What If Ventures: https://whatif.vc/2020-05-0811 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#39 - Men's Mental Health with EVRYMAN Founder Lucas KrumpLucas Krump joins me on the podcast this week to talk about men’s mental health. Lucas started a company called EVRYMAN, for the sole purpose of helping men, improve their mental health and wellbeing by focused on the unique dynamics that men deal with around mental health and wellness. Lucas is passionate about connection, community, and emotional wellness. As CEO and Co-Founder of EVRYMAN, Lucas together with EVRYMAN co-founders Dan Doty, Owen Marcus and Sascha Lewis lead a global movement that brings men together to develop their emotional skillset, enabling deeper connections with themselves and others. Since launching in 20...2020-05-0625 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#38 - Zak Williams on Sobriety and Mental Health Advocacy After His Father Took His Own LifeZak Williams joins us to talk about how he handled the passing of his father (actor Robin Williams) and how he found his way to sobriety, and eventually to mental health advocacy. Zak explains that finding ways to serve, and to help others, was a huge part of his path to wellness and that being vulnerable, is one of the most important parts wellness and sobriety for him. His story of substance use, and difficulties with mental health differences reminds me of my own personal experience and is highly relatable for anyone who may be s...2020-05-0339 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#37 - Market Update 1 – AbleTo Acquisition @ 10x Revenue – What it Means For YouMental Health Market Update: 5/1/2020 Analysis of the UnitedHealth (Optum) acquisition of AbleTo and what it means for founders in the behavioral health startup space. Overview of April 2020 startup funding in the mental health space as well as mention of the $80mm funding round that Compass Pathways just did. Links to sources mentioned or referenced: What If VC Q1 Mental Health Startup Market Funding Analysis CNBC United – AbleTo Coverage Compass Pathways $80mm Raise One Medical IPO Coverage From January 2020 ATAI Life Sciences April 2020 fundraise link on Cr...2020-05-0119 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#36 - Limitless Ventures Founder, Alexander Holt on Investing in Behavioral Health and Addiction SolutionsAlexander Holt, Founder of Limitless Ventures, joins us today to talk about addiction, recovery, and investing in behavioral health and addiction-focused startups. His venture fund, Limitless Ventures is an impact investment firm, that looks to fund companies seeking to help people who need behavioral health and addiction treatment solutions. Their mission at Limitless is to combine venture capital and philanthropic capital to scale multi-disciplinary solutions for people impacted by mental health challenges as well as addiction. They have a unique way of combining capital from non-profits as well as for-profit investors that he explains in detail in...2020-04-2836 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#35 - Change Your Brain Chemistry, to Improve Happiness and Mental Health - Dr. Laura Murray from Johns HopkinsDid you know we can manually adjust our brain chemistry leading to increased happiness (and health)? Did you know that in countries like Zambia, people with a 4th and 5th-grade education are being taught to successfully administer mental health treatment to local populations? What can we learn from that effort to improve access and cost to much needed mental health care services in the United States? We discuss all of this, and how these learnings can be applied to help us manage our mental health during physical distancing due to COVID-19 with Dr. Laura Murray. Dr. Murray is a...2020-04-2035 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#35 - Change Your Brain Chemistry, to Improve Happiness and Mental Health - Dr. Laura Murray from Johns HopkinsPositive thoughts lead to positive emotions which lead to positive health. The neuroscience proves it. Dr. Laura Murray from Johns Hopkins joins us to explain it. What she has to say can literally change your life.2020-04-2035 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#34 - Combating Loneliness and Isolation in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Danielle Ramo from HopeLabDr. Danielle Ramo, from HopeLab joined me this week to talk about the launch of the Nod app. Nod was built by HopeLab in collaboration with Grit Digital Health. Nod’s mission is to reduce loneliness in young people and to prevent adverse effects during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.2020-04-1630 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#34 - Combating Loneliness and Isolation in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Danielle Ramo from HopeLabDr. Danielle Ramo, from HopeLab joined me this week to talk about the launch of the Nod app. Nod was built by HopeLab in collaboration with Grit Digital Health. Nod’s mission is to reduce loneliness in young people and to prevent adverse effects during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. Danielle is a clinical psychologist and the Senior Director of Research at HopeLab, which is a non-profit social innovation lab based in San Francisco creating behavior change tech to help teens and young adults live happier, healthier lives. Danielle has worked extensively on projects ranging from addressing lo...2020-04-1630 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#33 - How to Fix Mental Health Care in America – Ben Miller from Well Being TrustMental health care is broken in America, and has become an afterthought of politicians, payers and providers in many ways. We need to fix that, and Ben shares how we can.2020-04-1340 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#33 - How to Fix Mental Health Care in America – Ben Miller of Well Being TrustBen Miller, Chief Strategy Officer at the Well Being Trust joined me to discuss what’s broken, what works, and what the future of mental health care in America can and should look like. Ben is a clinical psychologist and spent a decade as a professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine where he did extensive work to understand how we can better integrate Primary and Behavioral care resources and what an idea mental health care system would look like in America. Ben is one of the most well-informed people I’ve spoken to wh...2020-04-1340 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#32 - Ginger Founder, Karan Singh on Building a Mental Health StartupKaran Singh, Co-founder and COO of mental health startup, Ginger, joins me in this episode. Ginger is one of the early pioneers within the mental health tech space and it’s an honor to have Karan join us to talk about the founding of Ginger, the mental health startup space, and his advice to aspiring mental health startup founders. He tells the founding story of Ginger, as well as how the business has evolved and grown into what it is today. Ginger has accomplished quite a bit in the last decade and has been named one of the...2020-04-0733 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#32 - Ginger Founder, Karan Singh on Building a Mental Health StartupCo-founder and COO of Ginger, joins us to tell the founding story of Ginger, how he got into the mental health space and what the opportunity set for founders aspiring to build in this space today.2020-04-0733 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#31 - COVID-19, Isolation, Loneliness and Your Mental Health with Kasley KillamIn the time of COVID-19 and social distancing, it’s important to know how we can maintain our mental health. Kasley Killam, joins me for a conversation about loneliness, and isolation during this trying time and how we can protect our mental health even when we may not be able to connect physically with others. Kasley is a Masters of Public Health Candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is also a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a social health advocate as well as a Contributing Writer at Scientific American (and has been for 5 year...2020-04-0323 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#30 - Using a Ketogenic Diet to Treat Mental Illness - with Dr. Chris PalmerCan the Ketogenic diet cure mental illness? Has it really been used to cure epilepsy? Is it safe? How does it work? We answer all of these questions in this conversation with Dr. Chris Palmer. Dr. Chris Palmer is one of the world’s leading researcher on the use of ketogenic therapies for treating neurological disorders. He has done extensive research on the intersection of psychiatric disorders and metabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and inflammation). There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about the ketogenic diet and therapies. Dr. Palmer dispels these myths in our conve...2020-03-3058 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#29 - Corporate Executive Mental Health Leaderboard with Rob StephensonIn this episode, I spoke with Rob Stephenson who is moving mountains to defeat stigma around mental health. He’s one of the most active, and most impactful people I’ve met when it comes to fighting stigma around mental health. His motivation is driven by his own mental health struggle with bipolar disorder and the overwhelming response he received a few years ago when he decided to come out about his struggles. His main focuses today are: InsideOut Leader Board – An annual list of senior leaders from corporations that have been open about their mental health s...2020-03-2429 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#28 - Coming Out About Mental Illness With Elizabeth HornerComing out about having a mental illness isn’t easy. Elizabeth Horner, psychiatric nurse, mother of 4, joins us to talk about how she decided to come out to her friends and family about her bipolar disorder. In our conversation we both shared our experiences from finding out about our bipolar diagnosis, to how we deal with it and what we can do to encourage others to speak their truth and de-stigmatize having a mental health difference. Elizabeth’s story of how she finally decided to get help, then how she spent nearly 2 decades keeping her truth...2020-03-1028 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#27 - West Point Grad Talks Addiction, Rehab, and Mindfulness Journey in SE Asia - with Nick PadloNick Padlo joins us for a very candid conversation about addiction, rehab, recovery, relapsing, and mindfulness. Nick is a long-time friend, and he’s a West Point classmate from the class of 2003. After a successful career in the Army, he obtained an MBA from Stanford GSB and ultimately formed a pledge fund to acquire and launch the Pet Loss Center. He drove the company to incredible growth. In the midst of all of the success he was having as an entrepreneur, he struggled with addiction. But this isn’t a story of “entrepreneurship drove me to addiction” rather it’s...2020-03-0228 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#26 - What is the Role of the Church in Mental Health - with Michael Perron of Prestonwood Baptist ChurchMichael Perron is one of my sponsors in recovery. He is also a minister who created and runs the Life Recovery Program at Prestonwood Baptist Church. This program has been very influential in my recovery and was instrumental in saving my life from addiction and mental illness. Michael himself struggled for over 15 years with addiction to drugs and alcohol. In this episode he talks about a spiritual encounter that he had, that turned his life around and set him on a path to ministry and dedicating his life to helping others. We dig into the role...2020-02-1039 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#25 - Homeless Naval Academy Graduate Gets Back on His Feet Via Entrepreneurship - Bob MoranBob Moran graduated from the Naval Academy in 1983. He served honorably as a Marine officer, but as he neared retirement from the military, he didn’t make the transition into civilian life as smoothly as others do. Like many veterans, Bob struggled to integrate into society, struggled to get the right jobs and perpetually under-earned versus his potential as a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. This struggle, combined with his own mental health differences led Bob to losing relationships, his home, and his income. Eventually, Bob found help in a civilian homeless shelter and m...2020-02-0534 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#24 Afghan Refugee -- Mental Illness Startup Founder - Sophia MahfoozSophia Mahfooz is a survivor, she is a role model and she is one of the most inspiring people I’ve met. She was born pre-maturely, as her village in Afghanistan was bombed while her young parents fled to a refugee camp. This trauma shocked her mother into labor and left Sophia with very little chance to survive. Shortly after this, her family quickly fled the war-torn village where she was born after their home was destroyed. Sophia spent many of her formative years living as a refugee in Afghanistan, and later in England. In our conversation, she tel...2020-01-2846 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#23 - Streamlining the Pathway to Mental Health Care with Strong365 Founder, Chantel GarrettChantel Garrett, Founder and Executive Director of Strong365 joins me for a conversation about psychosis, schizophrenia, and how we can help people when they first start to struggle. One of the biggest problems we face in helping people who struggle from mental illness is reducing the “pathway to care” from the first symptoms until treatment. The average duration from symptom to treatment in the U.S. is 15 months when the World Health Organization says it should be under 3 weeks. Strong365, is a non-profit, and a subsidiary of OneMind. Chantel and her team are on a mission...2020-01-2137 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#22 - Congressional Candidate Lindsey Boylan (D-NY) on Making Mental Health a Priority Issue in The ElectionIn our latest episode, I had the chance to speak with congressional candidate Lindsey Boylan. She is a candidate for Congress in NY’s 10th district. I found myself getting emotional a few times during my conversation with her. She has a very personal reason for pushing a mental health agenda as part of her campaign. If you do nothing more than watch her short video on why mental health is such a big part of her platform here. In this episode, Lindsey explains how the people in her district are spending more time searching for thin...2020-01-1348 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#21 - Walk and Talk Therapy in NYC with Clay CockrellIn this episode, Stephen Hays chats with Clay Cockrell. Clay is a therapist in New York, NY and has gained quite a bit of notoriety for the medium through which he meets his clients. He meets his clients for walks. Clay started Walk and Talk Therapy in NYC after realizing many busy professionals simply don’t have time to transit to therapy sessions. Clay has been featured on numerous TV shows, and in many publications including Good Morning America, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London and the NY Times for his unique approach of walkin...2020-01-0741 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#20 - Stigma, Discrimination, Recovery, and Politics - with Ryan HamptonIn this episode Stephen Hays chats with Ryan Hampton about Ryan’s personal addiction journey that has led Ryan to the forefront of our national conversation on addiction and recovery. Ryan shares his story and talks about where we are as a country on combatting addiction, fostering recovery, and defeating stigma. Ryan really tells it how it is, and if you are at all concerned about how the government is dealing with (or not dealing with) drugs or addiction, you will feel better when you hear that Ryan is on our side (and when you hear what he’s doing...2019-12-2354 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#19 - PsyberGuide - 'Consumer Reports' for Mental Health Apps with Dr. Stephen SchuellerStephen Schueller, a psychology professor at UC Irvine, talks with us about his non-profit, PsyberGuide that acts as a consumer reports of mental health technology applications. We also dive into digital technology applications within the mental health space more broadly, what is working, how many there are, what still needs to be built, etc.2019-12-1751 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#19 - PsyberGuide - 'Consumer Reports' for Mental Health Apps with Dr. Stephen SchuellerIn this episode I chat with Dr. Stephen Schueller about the role of technology in treating people for mental health conditions as well as the landscape of existing technology solutions, and those that are yet to be built. Dr. Schueller is an assistant professor of Psychological Science at the University of California in Irvine and he is also the Executive Director of PsyberGuide, which is a non-profit functioning as the ‘consumer reports’ agency of the mental health technology world. Dr. Schueller has a team of people who evaluate technological tools (such as apps, and other tools) used in th...2019-12-1751 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#18 - Let’s Talk About Sex (Addiction) – Dr. Alexandra KatehakisDr. Alexandra Katehakis is a pioneer in the area of sex addiction, and healthy sexual behavior. In this episode, we talk about what sex addiction is, where it stems from, how to treat it, and how to know if you need help. It’s a provocative conversation on one of the most stigmatized addictions we face. Dr. Katehakis is a Marriage Family Therapist, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist/Supervisor and Certified Sex Therapist/Supervisor, and Clinical Director of the Center for Healthy Sex in Los Angeles. Dr. Katehakis has extensive experience in working with a full spectrum of sexua...2019-12-1044 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#17 - Getting Sober with Alex Wilhelm of TechCrunchIn this episode, my friend Alex Wilhelm joins me to talk about our shared experiences in recovering from addiction. Alex was most recently, the editor in chief of Crunchbase News, and is currently the host of the Equity Podcast on TechCrunch. He’s been covering the tech world as a journalist for many years and has had a wide variety of experiences in the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystems. Alex had a huge impact on my decision to get sober, and my decision to get help when I got to the point where I decided I wanted it. In th...2019-11-2641 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#16 - Suicidal Ideation and Self Harm - What to do When it's Your ChildI had a raw, personal, and honest conversation with Robbie Millward about mental health, suicidal ideation, self-harm and how he struggled with these things in his life, and what he’s done to overcome them. Robbie is a military veteran and now serves on the Board of Directors for NAMI in New Hampshire where he has taken part in drafting materials that guide how New Hampshire’s state level first responders handle mental health crisis situations. Robbie has overcome a lot with respect to his own mental health and he has used that as a platform to help o...2019-11-1939 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#15 - Opioid Addiction Prevention – with Yossuf Albanawi Founder of PilleveIn this episode, I speak with Yossuf Albanawi, co-founder of Opioid addiction solution, Pilleve. Yossuf is a graduate of Wake Forest University, he is a fellow at the Halcyon Incubator in Washington DC. This conversation is about the Opioid crisis. This is such a huge problem in our society, and we need solutions faster than we are bringing them to market. While there are traditional resources available for people once they become addicted, there are no solutions on the market focused on preventing addiction effectively. That’s the focus of Pilleve – to prevent addiction to Opioids while still allowing doctors...2019-11-1143 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#14 - Children’s Mental Health and the Role of EducatorsIn this episode of the Stigma Podcast, I had a chance to speak with Mandy Froehlich. Mandy is an educator, and personally, opens with us about overcoming PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Mandy is an experienced educator who leverages her professional experience, and her passion for learning, to teach, train, and inspire other teachers to renew their excitement for teaching, and re-engage with their profession in an innovative way. Currently, she spends her time consulting school districts and post-secondary institutions on effective use of technology to support teaching, mental health support for educators, and how to create organizational ch...2019-11-0444 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthHeart Rate Variability – Learning to Self-Regulate with Rohan Dixit of Lief TherapeuticsWhat do monks, startup founders, and Ph.Ds in cognitive neuroscience have in common? They all have a heartbeat. Today’s guest, Rohan Dixit, founder of Lief Therapeutics joins us to talk about how our heartbeat, can tell us more about our mental health, than any other biomarker, and how we can learn to use it to self-regulate our mental well-being. Rohan explains how Heart Rate Variability (HRV) data can be used to help us learn to self-regulate our emotional state by taking biofeedback and using it to train ourselves to regulate our mental state. Roha...2019-10-1535 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthHow Psychotherapy Can Become MainstreamI had the most educational, and enlightening conversation with Dr. Cameron Sepah and I’m lucky that I captured it digitally and can share it with everyone! We talked about a range of topics from his education at Harvard and UCLA, to his time growing a digital health tech startup from 6 to 300 employees and now his efforts running his own private practice while advising multiple venture capital funds on their investment strategies in and around digital health investing. Dr. Sepah is a venture capitalist, an investor, an executive psychologist, an assistant clinical professor at UCSF Med...2019-10-0858 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthMxiety: You Are Not AloneMarie “Mxiety” Shanley joined me for a conversation about mental health, depression, streaming on Twitch/Mixer, and how to get help when you are struggling. She shares her own story of overcoming debilitating depression, PTSD, and anxiety. Since getting help, Marie felt compelled to create a place that connects people who are currently struggling with people who have struggled, so nobody ever has to be alone in their time of need. She has built a community on streaming platforms Twitch, and now Mixer, where she talks with her audience about mental wellness two nights a week. ...2019-10-0143 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthCornbread Hustle – Recovery & Second Chances with Cheri GarciaMy conversation with Cheri Garcia, founder of Cornbread Hustle was very raw, very vulnerable and opened my eyes to the movement around second chance hiring that’s growing quickly here in America. Cornbread Hustle is a staffing agency for second chances (people getting out of prison or living in recovery). Cheri is passionate about helping felons, and people in recovery find transformation through employment or entrepreneurship. Cheri’s story of addiction to methamphetamines, and alcohol resonated with me and her story of finding sobriety is going to be helpful to many people. Cheri talks about how she...2019-09-1751 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthStigma is a Squirrel. Run at it Shouting!I’m excited to share my conversation with Mark Freeman. Mark is an author (Book: “You are Not a Rock”), mental health coach, workshop facilitator and someone that I follow closely as his frequent tweets and public commentary on mental health and wellbeing are helpful for me as I live in recovery from addiction and live with bipolar disorder. In addition to talking about stigma, mental health care and treatment for anxiety, Mark discusses his own struggles with addiction, anxiety and OCD. We were able to relate quite a bit about our past struggles and paths to recover...2019-09-0947 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthBea The DifferenceBea Arthur is a Columbia University trained psychotherapist, founder and CEO of The Difference, and an author who works with high-performance individuals. Bea was the first African-American female founder in Y-Combinator and was named as an Entrepreneur to Bet On by Newsweek Magazine as well as one of Bumble’s 100 Most Inspirational New Yorkers. I had a blast during this conversation, and I learned a lot. Bea is just all-around amazing and I learned a lot from my conversation with her. She knows the history of mental health care, and the mental health tech landscape better than anyon...2019-09-0340 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthMental Health, Stigma and Vulnerability with Jordan Brown of AnswersNowIn this episode of the Stigma Podcast, I spoke with Jordan Brown, an advocate for mental health, a social worker in the mental health field, writer, poet and key member of a mental health-related startup. He has also spent time volunteering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness as well. He’s a part of a team helping to build “AnswersNow” which is a solution that helps parents raising children with autism by providing access to board-certified clinicians via desktop and mobile devices for guidance to help the parents through day to day concerns they face. Jor...2019-08-2741 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health'Asking For Help' Is Not Weakness. It Is StrengthMicah Baldwin is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Graphicly which was acquired by Blurb in 2014. We are very fortunate to have him share his experience recovering from addiction and battling mental illness as a child and throughout his adult life. He has a lot of wisdom and experience living in the recovery community and helping others do the same. Micah grew up in Silicon Valley and started his first company at the age of 9. After selling Graphicly, he spent time at Amazon where he led a team dedicated to helping startups grow their businesses by connecting with...2019-08-2030 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthMental Health, Addiction and Esports - A Conversation With Scotty Tidwell of GFuelIn this episode we talk with Scotty Tidwell, Chief Community Officer at GFuel, the official energy drink of esports. We dive into the intersection of mental health and gaming. This has been a topic that has come up for many of us, our entire lives from our parents telling us video games are bad for us, to finding out later in life that you really can be addicted to video games. Scotty is a bit of a legend in the esports community. He’s been around since the early days of esports and has been apart of marke...2019-08-0852 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthFounder, and CEO Kunal Gupta, on Meditation and Founder WellnessI had the chance to sit down with Kunal Gupta, founder and CEO of Polar, a trusted-web platform provider for global media publishers. He is a member of the Board of Directors at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada (CAMH) which is an organization with over 3,000 team members operating a hospital, providing mental health education and advocacy in Canada, and has one of the largest research teams in the world focused on understanding and solving mental health conditions. Kunal’s passion or MindTech is unparalleled. He has met with and maintained relationships with over 150 foun...2019-08-0250 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthAre Entrepreneurs Touched With FireDr. Michael Freeman is a practicing psychiatrist and psychologist in San Francisco. He has performed intensive research on the topic of entrepreneur mental health. His work has been published in numerous journals, books and publications. Most notably, he co-authored a report called “Are Entrepreneurs Touched with Fire” in 2015 – which is a study that shows the link between entrepreneurs and mental illness. This study has been cited numerous times and most recently in Forbes, as well as the July 2019 Wall Street Journal article, “Beyond the Confetti: The Dark Side of Startup Success.” The best place to learn more abo...2019-08-0257 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental Health#1: Stephen Hays - Welcome to Stigma - My Personal JourneyWhat is the Stigma Podcast? Our focus is on the intersection of mental health, addiction, and entrepreneurship. We will be talking with founders, investors, and leaders of all types about how mental health has impacted them. We will be talking with psychiatrists who have done extensive research on the link between mental illness and entrepreneurship. You will hear from CEOs who can tell you specifically how their leadership styles changed once they incorporated meditation and awareness into their daily routine. You will also hear from those who are still struggling and how they seek help. Th...2019-08-0209 min
Stigma Podcast - Mental HealthStigmaWhat is the Stigma Podcast? Our focus is on the intersection of mental health, addiction, and entrepreneurship. We will be talking with founders, investors, and leaders of all types about how mental health has impacted them. We will be talking with psychiatrists who have done extensive research on the link between mental illness and entrepreneurship. You will hear from CEOs who can tell you specifically how their leadership styles changed once they incorporated meditation and awareness into their daily routine. You will also hear from those who are still struggling and how they seek help. Th...2019-08-0209 min