World Mental Health Day Portland (10/9) Bonus Episode: Why Founders Should Talk About Mental Health

Let's get real, real fast here. My mental health is directly related to the success I've had as a founder, hands down. And honestly, in all the things that I've worked on that have been meaningful for my success in the advancement of my big ideas, paying attention to my body, my mental health, how those things are related, and how those things support the work that I'm trying to do, has been the most important and biggest investment that I've put in to Awesome Future. I am so delighted to be emceeing World Mental Health Day at the Upstart Collective next Friday, October 9th It's the first annual gathering that the Joyely team is putting together. Honestly, it's probably a conversation that many of you are feeling like we don't get enough of, right? We all have mental health, good or bad, happy or sad, positive or negative. We all have them, and the challenge really is that we don't talk about mental health often unless it's a problem, Mental health is something that you need to plan for, you need to work to maintain, and it impacts every other part of your life, and we just don't talk about it enough. So Portland, what is the state of mental health in Portland? How is mental health for Portland founders? How is mental health for Portland civic leaders? There's really no better time, place, or event to talk about the state of mental health in Portland, Oregon than at the Upstart Collective with me, the Joyely team, a panel of civic and mental health experts and leaders, community partners who will be tabling 4:00 to 7:00, October 9th World Mental Health Day, Sheryl Lynn and Bailey Romatowski of Joyely will be presenting on the JQ Emotions Map. And I have to tell you, this is really a very cool way, to understand your emotions, be present with them, understand how they show up in your body and in relationship to other emotions, and then tips and tricks and methods and hacks that can help you get to the state that you wanna be in, not just experiencing the current moment. But, like, if you want to adjust, how you're doing, there's, there's tools and prompts and meditations, all packed into this map. I found it really helps me understand my emotions and without, like, judging them or putting, too many shoulds into the equation. There's also going to be a presentation by Upstart's own Dr. Ali Maaxa, who's going to be talking about mental health in the age of AI. So many founders that I'm surrounded by and so many of the startups that I'm talking to are deep into using AI, and having an always on, always working, hyper-productive coworker can have some challenges, it turns out, and maybe it has some perks. Dr. Ali Maaxa is a researcher and knows this stuff and presents it in human, actionable ways that are not gonna make you fall asleep. Talk about engaging energetic frameworks for understanding complex ideas like your mental health in the age of AI. And then I'm not saying it's the star of the show, but there's gonna be a panel with me and some civic leaders. Who better to get into topics on mental health, startups, the founder journey, the civic journey, the journey of founders in mental health in this city? Well, that's what we're gonna talk about. So please join us. There will be food. There will be community organizations. There will be other professionals who care about this city, your neighbors in it, and the mental health that we all have and barely ever talk about. Let's change that. Small change over time, that's transformation. So Let's start today or, like, next week. So excited to be a part of World Mental Health Day, first annual at the Upstart Collective, 4:00 to 7:00, Friday, October 9th Join us. See you there Let's talk about it