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It was really eye opening to understand not only the immense determination and perseverance that someone like Aidan has had throughout his life, but the reality of mental health for all entrepreneurs. We talk about topics like Aidan’s upbringing, and how the system had failed throughout his experience with mental health, how Speakbox is ultimately helping people to access and control their care, and how entrepreneurs should take note of how real this can be for us.
About Aidan Scott
Aidan is the co-founder and CEO of Speakbox, a technology startup on a mission to create a world with unobstructed access to health. He is a speaker, an educator, and a supporter of improving the mental health support systems for everyone, regardless of level of care. From a Tedx talk to running a health technology startup, he’s using personal experience and evidence based approaches to create large-scale impact.
Find Aidan
Email: aidan(at)speakbox(dot)ca
Find Speakbox
Everything We Talked About in This Episode
[2:27] How Speakbox is battling a data flow deficiency in mental health
[4:19] Why health startups are usually on a slower journey, not because of effort
[5:37] Where the mental health journey started for Aidan
[7:14] Major problems with the current care system for mental health
[8:10] Mental health is especially difficult for men, we don’t talk about our feelings
[10:13] Reference to team members:
[11:17] Just as though working through mental health takes time, so does starting a healthcare company
[13:00] How taking a step back, and starting to care about the system and other people helped Aidan get out of his own head
[15:20] How Speakbox has evolved and how failing slow at the beginning was kind of painful
[16:20] “Entrepreneurship has taught me humility and humbleness to ask a lot of questions”
[17:37] The hurdles with getting public engagement for a mental health initiative, and the medical system’s acceptance
[21:25] How did the healthcare system work for you or not work for you?
[27:31] Will we ever get to a point where the majority of people are totally open to talking about mental health?
[31:04] Social media’s role in mental health and how we should be careful
[34:58] Reference to Aidan’s article: How to Improve Mental Health in Startups
[37:57] We need founders to be more open with their process
[43:22] Diving into the Speakbox app features and where it’s going
[51:12] Aidan’s advice for other entrepreneurs
- Get into a person-centred mindset – get feedback
- Stay healthy, don’t break yourself while trying to do good work
[55:57] Reference to BJ Fogg, Professor at Stanford and Author of Tiny Habits