WEBVTT - Tech, The Metaverse and Mental Happiness with Tamar Blue 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.080 You know, the best thing I've I've heard was just 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:07.760 build a product that people desperately want. Investors will follow suit. 0:00:08.000 --> 0:00:10.479 Customers will follow suit too, But sometimes it takes a 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:13.360 little pushing customers if it's something very new. Right, people 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:16.560 didn't automatically want the automobile from going from a horse 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:20.920 and buggy. But I talked to customers on a weekly basis. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.200 I have like an open calendar where you know, customers 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.599 can like schedule time with me. I ask them, you know, 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:30.000 what is it that they're experiencing, So we're I'm constantly 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:35.120 like looking at the product from their perspective. I'm Will 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:39.320 Lucas and this is black tech, green money. I'm gonna 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:40.960 answer you. This you to some of the biggest names, 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:44.360 some of the brightest minds and brilliant ideas. If you're black, 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:46.720 in building, or simply using tech to secure your back. 0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:54.960 Its podcast is for you Tomorrow. Blewest, founder and CEO 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:58.680 at Mental Happy, a mental health platform which helps individuals 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:03.200 overcome challenging why events via professionally led peer support groups. 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.360 The start up recently came through White Combinator, arguably the 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:12.720 most admired startup accelerator. It's mental health month, and historically 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.760 mental health was not a conversation in our community. And 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.840 I do the opposite of a conversation a stigma, a 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.680 reflection of weakness. So I asked tomorrow, can she talk 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.520 about how at least the conversation that's changed in our 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:29.000 community and what might be behind the openness to have 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.399 the discussion about mental health. Yeah, that's that's a very 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:38.800 great question. We started Mental Happy six years ago and 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:42.199 it doesn't sound like a long time, but I feel 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:46.240 like progress mental health is made. It feels like twenty 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:49.680 years in the six years, because it just it wasn't 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.920 a thing, and it definitely wasn't a thing about amongst 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.760 people of color. I have a Caribbean background, my co 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:02.320 founder UM is from you know, Ghana, West Africa, and 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.280 we were the ones kind of pushing the charge like 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:07.800 in our families and our friend friend groups to talk 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:12.799 about it UM, especially like amongst even men right men 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:17.600 of color. It wasn't a conversation. And I think now 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:22.320 the reason why it is becoming UM such a hot topic. 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.679 I think people are just worn out. We're just we're 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:29.040 just worn We're fed up with everything that is happening 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:31.400 in society. I mean you have work stressors, you have 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.960 life stressors, you have um just really horrific things that 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:41.000 are seeing UM and experience collectively through social media online. 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:45.160 And I think we're just as a society just at 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:50.240 our absolute breaking point mentally and emotionally, UM and and 0:02:50.280 --> 0:02:53.880 we want real solutions for ourselves and for our loved ones. 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.240 What's important is that you have faith in people that 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.639 they're basically good and smart and if you give them 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:11.000 the tools, they'll do wonderful things with them. And how 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:15.680 does technology fit in the scope of you know, helping 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:22.680 people both protect their mental health and repair their mental health. Yeah, 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.120 we we battle with that being a tech company to 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:30.200 write because we're a platform that brings people together. But 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:34.200 we're not necessarily bringing people together to just you know, 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.520 do a dance or you know something else that could 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.000 be healing to the soul. Right, But we're just not 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:45.240 that platform. UM and I do believe that we are 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.720 a tool. But I agree with him and that we 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.880 are nothing without the providers on the platform who want 0:03:53.960 --> 0:03:58.760 to share their expertise. Were nothing without the survivors. Even 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.600 on the platform, you don't have to just be a 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:07.080 licensed professional to really help facilitate these groups. So it's 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:10.680 a tool that we entrust in people who have experiences, 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.680 who have expertise, and just who really have a heart 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:17.640 to do this type of work. So did I hear 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:21.760 you know this internal battle that you you battle being 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:23.799 a tech company? Did I hear that in your voice? 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.640 Just now? Yeah? Yeah, you know it's you don't you 0:04:28.680 --> 0:04:31.240 don't want people to to to to you don't want 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.359 to heal, right, Like as a healer, you just that 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:35.560 means people need to be sick in order for you 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.960 to exist as a healer. Like it's it doesn't feel good. 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.200 I don't feel good knowing that a problem needs to 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.160 exist in order, um for me to like keep solving. 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:48.440 So I I internally battle with that a lot. Um. 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:51.720 And yeah, as a as a tech company, UM, we're 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:55.640 always thinking about like are we truly solving something? And 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.600 how do we keep people safe? You know? Um, when 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.400 we started Mental Happy, we had over a hundred thousand 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.520 people in a Facebook group that we were running these 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:09.560 peer support groups through and it was tough, Like it 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.080 was tough to keep people safe from trolling and and 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.480 bullying and things of that nature. So we're always top 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:18.800 of mind of like how impactful, Um, is our work 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:21.400 and is it is it adding any value versus like 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.400 creating one more thing that people have to like log 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.159 onto and manage and things of that nature. So I've 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:30.919 read a story, Um, another interview you were on and 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:32.640 you were talking about how the company started and you 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.240 started like giving away or maybe not giving away, but 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.880 you know, distributing like actual product or maybe it was 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.240 care packages or whatever it was. And I'm hearing you 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:44.480 talk about now like you're a healer and you know 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.480 you started it with a Facebook group. But I imagine 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.560 and I'm going to speak. I don't want to speak 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:51.040 for you, but I'm gonna I'm gonna say what I'm 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:53.640 assuming is happening, and then I want you to give 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.080 me clarity if you could. And so what I'm hearing 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.320 is that you know you want to do the good work, 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.359 but you might recognize that there has to be a 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.040 market opportunity in order to do that work more fully 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:12.159 and scale impact. Is that what I'm hearing you nailed it? So, Uh, 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.400 giving is a is a good word. Um, It's accurate. 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.440 We started off really creating these uh we call them 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:23.080 wellness kids at the time, and we did give them 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.720 away and we gave him away to just a few 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:30.039 people that we had admired, and only the few people 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.039 at the time. Um, in the in the text stas 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:37.040 and just people of color talking about mental health. They 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.159 shared it on their social media. Um, so social media 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.240 can be good. I'm not saying it's bad. But they 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:45.919 shared it on their social media, and the product immediately 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:49.400 just went viral. Like we had people requesting to buy 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:52.120 a product that we didn't actually even have at the time. 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.880 We just made a few batches of this thing, and uh, 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:57.560 my co founder looked at me and was like, well, 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.279 I guess you know this is a business. We have 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.400 to do this now. And so the product has evolved 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:07.920 from us doing these wellness kids selling them to consumers 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:10.960 who were gifting it to like friends, family member. We 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:13.200 always get asked what's in the wellness What was in 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:16.200 the wellness kids? At the time, it was a long 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.880 time ago, so I'm gonna try to remember, but um, 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:21.440 it was just a way to At the time, there 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:23.840 was like this box craves right, like everything was a 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:26.560 subscription box, and um, I just kind of joked with 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.880 my co founder like, you know, there should be a 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:31.600 box that you know, there were all these like beauty 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.400 kit boxes, like there should be a box to help you, um, 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:36.440 you know, focus on the beauty on the inside. So 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:38.800 when we made these wellness kids, they had things like 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.120 meaningful journals, but we also broke down like how to 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.640 journal right, Like, remember, we're talking to a group of 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:49.440 people who don't know what these tools are. And UM, 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:51.960 I just kind of collectively took all my experience that 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:56.680 I learned from therapy, you know, practicing gratitude, practicing mindfulness, 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:01.120 like how to journal, UM, using positive affirmation, ends and UM, 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.920 positive self talk and thinks just so were we took 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:08.400 physical products that represented those things and UM we put 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:10.800 them in this kit and the kid kind of walked 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:15.160 everyone through how to UM A self care or what 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:19.960 it's known professionally is is self activation self management UM. 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.800 And people really loved it, and we started doing that 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:27.680 back in two UM. It was a wonderful product. We 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.360 actually got accepted into a y combinator because of it. 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:35.280 We grew to selling it to very large corporations that 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.800 had you know, thousands, like five thousands about employees that 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:43.000 they were purchasing the kids for and and giving them to. 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:47.320 And those always had a significant life event UM. But 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.640 you know, just being obsessed with the work that we're doing, 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:52.800 we just kept on thinking, like how do we reach 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.400 more people? Like how do we you know, sell a 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:59.080 product that's you know, even less in expense and less 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.320 in uh um roadblocks and shipping and you know, just 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.320 all of this stuff and like what if you speak 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:08.680 another language, like how do we reach more people? Um? 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:11.840 And that's how we made the transition from that physical 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:15.760 product to UM the SaaS platform that we have that 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:19.200 we have. Now, did you go into this thinking you 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.520 were going to have to build something that scales or 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:26.120 did when you started doing the wellness kits so care packages? 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:31.000 Was that idea what we were going to do? Now? 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.320 You know, I'm a big believer that you know, you 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.880 can't get from here to there. You can only get 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.320 from like right here to like right there. You know, 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:44.640 just like these small, these small steps right because there 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.200 to they're just feels like a big jump and you 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.960 probably wouldn't do it because it feels too big. But 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:52.520 at the time, we were just focused on the here. 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.120 And then when we were focused on the here and 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.760 then more things started showing up, more things started showing up, 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.439 and someone introduced us to y Combinator and we were like, Okay, 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.920 well you know, we'll we'll try to apply and see 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.200 if we can if we can be this physical product 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.720 company getting into this huge tech company, right um or 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.439 this huge tech accelerator that has spawned all these great 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:16.199 tech companies. So UM, it just really kept on snowballing. 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.880 What do you think it was that it gets a 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:23.040 Y combinators attention and what you were doing. Then I 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.520 get what you're doing now why they would be interested. 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:28.160 But if you were them, you know six years ago 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:31.120 he said, or when or whenever that you know period 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.800 of time was what was it about what you were 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:37.840 building in your from your perspective that says to them, 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:44.199 this is interesting? Yeah? You know, UM, if I had 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.400 to look at it from their perspective, not putting words 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.520 in their mouths, but their perspective is that, um, you 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.040 know it. I think a lot of people have really 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:58.160 great ideas. It's another thing to um figure out you're 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:02.559 going to bring that idea into fruition on Zorow resources, 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:06.000 like I started Mental Happy with like literally the last 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.000 two hundred and fifty dollars I had on my American 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.679 Express card. So um, and then we had to kind 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:14.960 of figure out, like, how are we going to get 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.960 money for the product from there? Um? And I think 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:23.080 that what they find interests in founders is founders who 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.640 are people who seem relentless and seem like they're not 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:31.040 going to give up no matter what the obstacles. Um. 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:36.600 And then also people who say like I've built this product, 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.320 like I've built this company, and you should give me 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.839 money to make it expand versus people coming and saying, oh, 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.360 I have all of these ideas, you should give me 0:11:45.400 --> 0:11:48.960 money and let me figure out my idea. And and 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.280 we we already had a business, um, we were selling 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:58.360 to you know, really top companies in the country UM 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.760 and and hospitals and so it was just kind of, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.920 I guess a no brainer for them at that point. 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.160 And then when you think of our perspective, right, um, 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.720 as people of color, like we're so resilient as a people, 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:15.640 Like we were coming to y Combinator, no IVY league background, 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:20.120 no parent connections, no, um, you know, our family helped 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:22.880 us raise a hundred thousand dollars for our friends and 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:27.040 family around. They probably looked at us like, who who 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:31.120 left the door open to let these people walk in here? 0:12:31.160 --> 0:12:33.600 You know, like who left the window open? Like, how 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:35.920 did you guys sneak in here? Because that's, honest to god, 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.200 how I felt like, I felt like we snuck our 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:41.880 way through. But um, we overcame a lot of ospitles 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:44.640 to talk about that, because I've talked to somebody before 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.280 who went through y C. And you know, you're a 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:50.160 black woman and you're interesting, you're building something for mental health, 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.080 and you're also in the same room with guys who 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:55.000 are trying to implant your brain into somebody else's body, 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.200 Like how does it how does it feel to be 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:06.120 in that space? Yeah? Yeah, you know, Um, I just truthfully, 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:08.439 I didn't know much about why comedy are going in. 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.600 I know, when they see this video, they're gonna laugh, 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:13.040 But I didn't know much about why comedy are going in, 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:17.240 So I had like zero intimidation on like who they were, 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:20.679 you know what. It was only until like I had 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:25.079 gotten to the interview that I realized, oh my goodness, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:30.679 they spun up Airbnb, they spun up like door Dash 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.480 and Stripe and just like all these companies, And it 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:36.520 just kind of felt a little overwhelming in the interview. 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:42.439 But um, I really think for for me, personally. I 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.360 don't know about my my co founder. At the time, 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:48.440 it just kind of felt like validation, Like I felt 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.560 like I had been doing all these things all my 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:54.000 life and for the first time, you know, aside from color, 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.600 aside from you know, being a woman, someone was just 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:01.360 saying you were you're a bright, smart human being UM 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:05.560 and and we're not. We don't get that privilege ever 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.200 or at all as people of color to just be 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:14.839 smart human beings. You know. I love that often all 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:19.760 too often technology can be the vehicle that things that 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:23.560 want to attack our mental health right in and can 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:28.000 you talk about how technology can be helpful to positive 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:32.800 mental health? What we battle with right is like how 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:37.440 especially on our platform with Mental Happy, we talk amongst 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.600 ourselves all the time like how much of outside influence 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.280 should we allow on the platform within the peer support groups. 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.320 So one of the things that we mindfully do is 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:50.840 that we don't allow other social media links to be 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:56.040 shared on the platform. Will allow like video hosting links UM, 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.440 so like the YouTube's the videos, because that's a medium 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:05.080 for like sharing education and information at UM. News articles 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.440 and social articles we don't allow on the platform. UM. 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.880 We also are mindful about not allowing uh direct messaging 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:18.960 like gams. So social media isn't bad, it's just taking it, 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.360 just taking the best parts of it right. Like social 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.760 media is great in that I wouldn't know what's happening 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.640 out in Ukraine if it was like sometimes the truth, right, 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:31.920 like the real videos of what's happening out and from 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.240 like a perspective of someone who's you know, eighteen or 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:37.480 sixteen who has to fight a war, or parents who 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.560 have to be separated from their children. UM. So there 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:43.360 there is a lot of valid information that can come 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.120 from social media. I think what we've done UM, at 0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:48.960 least I hope what we're continuing to do is really 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.760 taking the best parts of what makes UM a digital 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:57.200 platform and technology meaningful for human beings and taking out 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:01.920 UM or leaving out some of the harmful parts. You know. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.400 I say this and some people might, you know, raising eyebrows. 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.440 I'm like, I don't watch the news. I don't read 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:11.280 a lot of news. I'm very mindful of, you know, 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.680 my own mental health, because I could find myself I 0:16:14.680 --> 0:16:17.240 can say I'm just watching news. I haven't watching news 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:19.760 maybe nightline or whatever in a long time, or it 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:22.360 might be interesting. Let me watch and then I find 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.600 myself like having trouble going to sleep that night or 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.480 the next day, being anxious or and I'm like, why 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:31.400 am I so anxious? And I didn't realize that that 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:36.040 gateway just watching a news program where it's you know, 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:38.240 good news and bad news, but you don't realize what 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.360 it's doing to you. And I wonder, what are some 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:47.440 other maybe unknown drivers that may have that may be mainstream, 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.800 may be pervasive, that we may not recognize as inputs 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:59.040 of negative you know, inspiration to bad mental health. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.760 you know, um, just taking it off. I'm completely here. 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:06.000 You'm the same way, and UM, you know, I think 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.480 the feedback people would give people like you and me 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.320 is that, well, how do you stay on top of 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.960 what's happening in the world, Like how are you? Um? 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:16.600 You know, you can be an impactful human being if 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:20.400 you know what's happening and you can't know what's happening, 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.960 But you know, I don't have to listen to hours 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.000 and hours or watch hours and hours of the news, 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.119 or have that be like the first thing that pops 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:33.160 up on my phone, like whether it's a shooting, a bombing, 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:38.159 and then that's like the piece of canet. I watched 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:39.760 people and I sitting next to people and they have 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:42.080 their phone and like news alerts will go off all 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:48.040 day long. Yeah yeah, right right, right, yeah, a hundred percent, 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:51.919 just like I don't know, I just I couldn't And 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:54.520 then you become it's like watching a car accident, like 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:56.840 you just you can't look away, you know, you want 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.600 to know the developing thing, and the next developing thing, 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.920 next the heloping thing. So UM, you know, I take 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.600 it as sound bites UM and I limited, but I 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:09.080 think the other way that people can be mindful of, 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.240 like what they're digesting with their ears, UM and their 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:18.040 spirit right is engaging in UM conversations with people that 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:22.280 that may be negative. Uh. The hardest thing to do 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:28.360 in that is disengaging from those conversations with family members. UM. 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.040 We often here on the platform and there are a 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.560 lot of groups that are around, like you know, dealing 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.159 with like narcissism and your family, dealing with like toxic 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:40.520 people in your family. So I think making that that 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.040 disconnect with news is oftentimes like having to do it 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:48.040 with the closest people around you UM and just saying respectfully, 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.280 like you know, hey, my boundary is that I've I've 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.960 had enough, UM or my boundary is I'm not emotionally 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.960 in a space to really process this or talk about 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:02.199 it now or even ever. And that's okay too. So 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:08.200 we're having this whole conversation about Web three and particularly 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.520 the metaverse, and you've probably been at least around a 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:14.879 bunch of conversations around the metaverse and Ready Player one. 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:16.159 I don't know if you've ever read the book or 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:17.879 seen the movie Ready Player one, but it was my 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.840 favorite book. UM. But it kind of describes, you know, vividly, 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.840 what the metaverse could look like one day. But when 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.800 you hear things like the metaphors being described and people 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.280 potentially one day spending a lot of time in this 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.680 virtual world, what does that make you think about? You know, 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:40.320 regarding your position as a healer and you know, a 0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:46.920 mental health advocate, yeah that you know. Don't get me wrong, 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.480 I think cool things should exist in tech, UM, I 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:53.479 really do. UM. I think we've made a lot of 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.320 technological advancements, and it only makes sense that we start 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:02.920 imagining worlds in places are fun or interesting. UM really 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:09.040 allow us to tap into UM. Escapism isn't a bad thing. 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.119 Distraction is actually a really good mental health tool. You know, 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.520 sometimes if you're experiencing moments of very high anxiety, kind 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:20.680 of distracting yourself from that trigger works. But I do 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:24.720 have some concerns that UM, you know, we might be 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:32.200 really really really disconnecting UM from people and and relationships 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:35.200 in a meaningful ful way. I could be very wrong, 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:37.880 you know, I'd like to think I have a crystal ball, 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:41.919 but I probably you know, not a dent accurate all 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:47.080 the time, but it is caused for alarm, especially for 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:51.920 like younger kids that are UM trying to make sense 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:55.840 of their physical world around them. So there was this 0:20:56.119 --> 0:21:00.359 um a tweet I saw where this guy was talking about, 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.280 you know, we already live in the metaverse. And his 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:07.200 description was, most of so many things we care about, 0:21:07.280 --> 0:21:10.960 and so much of our lives is happening through virtual world, 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:14.919 whether that be Twitter or our Instagram, which is you know, 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:18.080 photoshopped in so many ways, filters and all these things 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:22.040 with TikTok, and so we care the things that we 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.240 value are the likes and the shares and the retweets 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:28.560 and the reshares, all those things. And so he was 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:30.840 saying that we already live in the metaverse. When the 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:34.000 things that we do all day are in this virtual 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.320 world the Internet. Now, what do you say to that 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:47.280 sort of take if you will? Yeah, Um, I see 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.600 his point, and I think I think no matter what 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:54.919 you create in technology, because I sometimes you'll build a 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:57.760 feature and then people take that feature to a whole 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:00.960 another you know, I mean Instagram wash you know. It 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:03.800 allows you to share your experiences, allows you to share 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:06.600 where you've been through like video and photos and stuff. 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:10.200 But human beings, once they touch your technology, they just 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:11.919 kind of take it to a whole another level, for 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:18.639 good or bad. Right, Um. But I would not completely 0:22:18.680 --> 0:22:21.520 agree that we live in a metaverse. I mean, these 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.879 products were come they came together with people in a 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:29.640 physical space that we understand it, right, Um, a physical space, 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:33.879 and they collaborated together and they continue to collaborate together. 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.080 The the images and photos that are shared in this 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:41.520 metaverse are of of a real, concrete time in place, 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:43.960 right Like if I post a picture of my family, 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.080 yet it's out on the Internet, but we were, you know, 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.800 on solid ground at the time that we took the picture. Um, 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:55.119 So I I don't totally agree. I'm not saying the 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:58.320 metaverse shouldn't exist. I'm just saying, you know, if if 0:22:58.359 --> 0:23:00.840 it is what it is, that's fine, but let's try 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:04.920 to um digest it in a in a different way 0:23:04.960 --> 0:23:07.280 than than we have been digesting a lot of the 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:11.120 digital things that are out there. You know, you raised 0:23:11.560 --> 0:23:14.080 a million dollars last outlook, it might be more now, 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:17.840 but you raise a million dollars for this, and you 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:20.520 talked a little bit about, you know, the technology not 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:24.240 necessarily wanting to embrace or seeing the need to embrace 0:23:24.280 --> 0:23:26.919 being a technology company. But you you went through y 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:32.520 C and so there's obviously market opportunity for being a 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:36.159 healer in so many respects. I understand that it's needed 0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:39.479 and necessary, and it's you know, good work. It's um 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:44.720 necessary work, UM, and it's purposeful work, you know. But 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:48.399 when you think about market opportunity, when people are investing 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:51.959 money into your thing, what is it that you know? 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:55.920 How does that strike you as somebody who just wants 0:23:55.960 --> 0:23:57.520