The Founder Newsletter.

I know from experience just how challenging life as a founder can be. I also know that having the right support can make a world of difference.

About 2 months ago, I decided to open up some spaces in my calendar for Founders who needed support – whether it was for a chat about mental health, navigating entrepreneurship, work/life balance or just a listening ear.

Needless to say, the response was overwhelming.

I received more requests than I had hours in the day and quickly realised that not only was there a HUGE support gap for founders but also that many of us were facing similar challenges. We just didn’t realise it, because we rarely talk about them to one another.

This realisation prompted me to set up the Founder Support Network, a community where founders can join drop-in sessions to talk about the challenges they’re facing. Over the last few weeks, people have shared with me about a vast number of topics, including navigating mental health challenges, providing strong leadership even if you don’t feel up to it, overcoming major setbacks, taking calculated risks, balancing business growth with family, and much more.

Being more transparent about our challenges is the first step toward addressing them.?

So with that in mind, I’m launching this.

…whatever this ends up being.

Essentially, every two weeks, I’ll share some of the things that have been coming up recently. The goal is to do this with transparency, compassion and sometimes, maybe even a little humour.?

Some of the themes I’ve already seen in conversation include:

1. Keeping on top of your mental health

Over 50% of founders suffer from depression (myself included). It is exceptionally difficult to prioritise your mental health whilst trying to run a business – but absolutely necessary. Burnout doesn’t have to be inevitable.

2. Navigating neurodiversity and entrepreneurship

I’ve been very open about both my dyslexia and ADHD diagnoses, sharing how they affect my day-to-day life. There is still so much stigma attached to neurodiversity in the workplace – and talking about it is the only way to combat this.

3. Establishing an individual version of work/life balance

Balance, as a concept, is a hugely personal thing. What one person may view as a healthy work/life separation may be another’s recipe for burnout – but the sooner you can establish your own boundaries, the better.

4. Changing your relationship with failure and setbacks

If being an entrepreneur is central to your identity and self-worth, it can make addressing failure extremely challenging. Learning how to separate these two things is a journey that almost every founder has to go on – but that doesn’t make it any easier.

5. Dealing with founder comparison and imposter syndrome

It’s a natural instinct to use other people’s successes as goalposts for your own – but it can also lead to a vicious cycle of comparison and imposter syndrome, particularly amongst founders in a similar industry.

6. Learning to celebrate your achievements and enjoy the ride

Small details have a way of taking over, making it difficult to step back and realise what you have actually achieved. I think we could all do a little better when it comes to celebrating ourselves and leaning into the process itself.

Each founder’s journey is an individual experience, and our businesses may even be competitive –? but we share more common ground than you may think.

Looking forward to sharing more with you in the weeks and months to come – but in the meantime, I’ll leave you with this from a founder I spoke to this week who reminded me that, ultimately:?

We’re all in this together!