Jessica 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 ..read more

Steve 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 2016, after the lo ..read more

Today’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 be ..read more

Today’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 Oth ..read more

Ronan 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 t ..read more

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 ..read more

Today’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 ..read more

Eric 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: Eric was one of the earliest entrepreneurs ..read more

Charlie 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 startup investme ..read more

What 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 degr ..read more