Entrepreneurship as a profession has risen in popularity over the past couple of decades. Despite its rising fame, it can be a lonely and grueling job that requires independence and involves tremendous amounts of risk. All of these factors can make mental health and stability difficult for entrepreneurs. On Track Two Podcast, hosts Sarah Gerber and Joanne Gouaux provide advice and clarity on this subject through their esteemed guests. The podcast episodes below specifically highlight entrepreneurs and their journey with mental health, both personally and in relation to the workplace. Their experiences prove invaluable, each with their own definition of the entrepreneurial mindset and their own methods for overcoming common obstacles. Similarly, these guests talk about the parallels they’ve encountered in learning how to manage both their business and life.
‘A New System for Success’ With Justine Evirs
Gerber and Gouaux talk to Justine Evirs, president and founder of The Paradigm Switch. The Paradigm Switch is a nonprofit digital ecosystem that centers around helping military spouses cultivate careers that work within their unique lifestyle. As a Navy veteran and spouse herself, Evirs has experienced firsthand the difficulties and differences in employment and earnings between military spouses and their counterparts. Her work has centered around forcing a culture change, impacting and reimagining military spouses’ roles and abilities. Building such a legacy hasn’t been easy, but because of her passion, Evirs has succeeded. However, Evirs also speaks of her struggle with alcoholism, along with some of the habits she considers to be part of the “entrepreneurial mindset” and how they have led to healthier living. Often the mental health of entrepreneurs isn’t spoken of, and it is just as serious and challenging as the work they are doing.
‘Prioritizing Mental Health’ With Robin McIntosh
Robin McIntosh is the cofounder and co-CEO of Workit Health, a telemedicine company that focuses on affordable and sustainable addiction care. Workit Health can serve as a stand-alone virtual care program, and for patients who can’t afford the financial cost or time to enter an established rehab, it has been a saving grace.
As McIntosh has gone through her entrepreneurial process, she has learned what methods have worked best for her mental health and productivity. For example, the ability to springboard ideas off of a partner has been one that she finds stimulates ideas. The concept of partnership altogether has been crucial, creating an efficient support system for her company and her mind. Failure, more specifically fear of failure, is also a topic McIntosh brings to light and is a common worry for any entrepreneur. However, anyone can relate to these topics and advice; McIntosh herself speaks to how she’s learned to apply her entrepreneurial mindset in her day-to-day life.
‘Solve the Local Problem First’ With Kevin Kuchta
In this episode, Gerber and Gouaux sit down (virtually) with Kevin Kuchta. Kuchta is an entrepreneur focused on the mental health community. He founded First Response Mental Health, an organization that uses programs to form a supportive community and make sure everyone is taken care of. Taking advantage of his interest in product and software development, as well as strategic analysis, Kuchta has been able to use these skills to curate a company with a positive social influence.
Kuchta describes how influential it was to work at group homes in his early career, and how it fostered not only his appreciation for the underserved and misunderstood, but also taught him how the system worked and how to improve it. Finding out what he loved to work on and how he could create the largest positive impact was a big part of his entrepreneurial journey. Furthermore, Kuchta’s unique position working in the mental health community has given him the privilege of gaining insight and experience through the people he is helping.
