Mental health and the entrepreneur: Why Startup Grind Columbia is focusing on founder well-being in March

Like many membership-based organizations, the pandemic made Startup Grind — a national entrepreneurship and startup support organization based on the tenets of give first, make friends not contacts, and helping others before yourself — rethink and reimagine their approach to monthly happy hours, fireside chats, and even their global conference, which took place late last month on the Bevy platform.

Throughout the pandemic, Startup Grind’s Columbia, Maryland, chapter has been evolving schedules and formats to respond to the changing demands of its audience; trying to avoid zoom fatigue, provide engaging topics and speakers, and otherwise keep the audience and community well-represented and connected.

Within that effort, the chapter has transformed its events, aligning into a consistent theme for a given month with March’s focus being on mental health and it’s impact on entrepreneurship.

Mental health (or lack thereof) is a major issue for society generally but especially critical for entrepreneurs, founders, cofounders, teams, employees, families, customers, and investors.

2020 and 2021 have only made a bad situation worse. We are entering into the long tail phase of the pandemic and people are just beginning to struggle and deal with the long-term impacts and effects of the last year, and what the future looks like.

It’s no secret that everyone, regardless of their career and interests, have taken a huge physical and mental health hit this last year. Even in times not involving coronavirus, entrepreneurs statistically pay a huge physical and mental price doing what we do.

The data is downright terrifying:

• 72% of entrepreneurs suffer from one or more mental health issues.
• We are:
  • 3X more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, stress, and fear
  • 6X more likely to suffer from ADHD
  • 3X more likely to suffer from substance abuse
  • 10X more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder
• 58% of entrepreneurs report feelings related to Imposter Syndrome

Startup Grind is hoping to bring awareness and de-stigmatize something that we all experience but are afraid to talk about by providing valuable tools and resources to help us all combat the effects of mental health issues for ourselves, our families, co-worksers, customers, and stakeholders.

It is in this spirit that they’ll be hosting, in conjunction with Startup Grind’s Baltimore and Grand Rapids, Michigan chapters, two events featuring founders that have dealt with and deal with mental health within their ventures.

March 23rd: Susie Morozowich, LMSW, LCSW, CEO & Founder of Telebehavioral Health US.

Susie Morozowich, LMSW, LCSW is the CEO and founder of Telebehavioral Health US. She has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2004 and is one of the first clinicians in the United States to adopt a nationally supported telebehavioral health mode. Her experience in the field of behavioral health has been an eclectic mix of direct practice, clinical supervision, and program development.

“I have been a Clinical Social Worker since graduating from Grand Valley State University with my Master’s Degree in 2004. My career in social work has consisted of long hours that regularly extended into the evenings and included numerous “side gigs,” to make a sustainable living.” said Morozowich. “Whether I was teaching classes at a local university, providing on-call case management with an insurance company, facilitating speaking engagements or professional development courses, or moonlighting as a clinical supervisor, I was left with less and less time with, and for, my children. Putting food on the table and a roof over our heads was necessary, having time with my children was a luxury. I love being a social worker and like most social workers will tell you being a social worker is more than a job or career, it is a calling. Unfortunately, the field does not leave much room for life outside of social work.”

Telebehavioral Health US has grown from just Susie as a single practitioner to a thriving practice of 25 therapists and a Nurse Practitioner. ” She started the company on her own with no investment, other than her own “sweat equity” and carried a low volume of patients and scraped by financially so that she could build the practice in a way that felt like building a sandcastle, one grain of sand at a time. She was also one of the first providers in the country to adopt the American Telemedicine Association and American Psychological Association “Direct to Consumer” model using a Video Telecommunications Platform.

Within her event, she will share her story, journey and lessons learned going from suffering from autism, homelessness with a child to getting both her LMSW and LCSW certifications, to opening her own practice, then to becoming an entrepreneur, founding and bootstrapping Telebehavioral Health US. She experienced many, if not all, of the major mental health issues and how she deals with them while helping others with theirs.

April 1: Michael Freeman, MD, Founder of Econa

Michael A. Freeman, MD is the founder and CEP of Econa, an international centre of excellence for entrepreneur mental wellness. Dr. Freeman is considered the Godfather of entrepreneurial mental health and its treatment and is the pre-eminent international expert, and leader of the research and treatment of mental health and wellness issues faced by entrepreneurs.

He is a psychiatrist, a fourth-generation serial entrepreneur, an executive coach, an entrepreneurship researcher, and a behavioural health systems architect. He also serves as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, where he received his MD after completing related advanced training programs at U.C. Berkeley and the Sorbonne, and as a Mentor in the Entrepreneurship Center at UCSF.

“With support from the Kauffman Foundation, I’ve studied issues related to entrepreneur mental health in collaboration with colleagues from U.C. Berkeley, the Gallup Organization, and other universities.” said Dr. Freeman. “My psychiatric and executive coaching practice is focused on entrepreneurs and as an entrepreneur myself, I’m uniquely privileged to support my compatriots across the globe running their ventures.

Econa offers evidence-based workshops and peer support groups, co-creates programs with founder communities globally, and supports academic research on entrepreneur-centric mental wellness solutions. Their ground-breaking researchers, clinician-entrepreneurs, facilitators, founders, investors, and operators help entrepreneurs optimize their life and business outcomes. to expand access to and insurance coverage for mental health and addiction treatment services.

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These two events kick off a new 2021 plan for Startup Grind Columbia and other chapters around the globe, for those interested in getting involved, contact Chris Haug (Chris.haug@startupgrind.com) or Sean Sutherland at (Sean.sutherland@startupgrind.com) to get connected to your local chapter.