What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
I make a cup of tea and drink it in bed. It’s also the time I use to respond to any emails that came in overnight.
Why did you start Recovr?
It was born out of a need. A friend of my mine wanted to specifically see a black therapist but unfortunately the NHS don’t facilitate that in the way that they should. My friend felt that if he was to be vulnerable, it would help if the therapist could relate to his experiences as a black man. Two things were critical for my friend in making the steps on his own to see a therapist. The first is the recognition that your mental health should not be neglected and the second is the financial flexibility that allows for continuation of therapy. So it made me wonder, what can we build that can help teach young black adults about their mental wellbeing, how can we help people choose a therapist and eventually, how can we help people pay for it?
Likes…
I really like the Recovr team. Actually, I really love the Recovr team! Working everyday with people who are so passionate about the mission inspires me. We dream big, we work hard, we support each other, we critique each other and most important, we have fun whilst doing it!
Dislikes…
The pace at which the health system moves. It’s painfully slow. In order to maximise our impact we need to work closely within the health care system. Unfortunately, the system is really bureaucratic and things are slow to move. I’m inpatient so I struggle with that.
What does a typical day involve?
It really varies. My job right now is to make sure the development team is on course to hit our deadlines so we can launch the directory. I find out what they’ve accomplished the day before, what they’re about to do in the coming day and together we figure out how we can remove any blockages that may be slowing us down. Also, my other job is to get us to a place as an organisation where we’re ready to work alongside health organisations and get funding to deliver the service directly to people who need it most – that takes up most of my time.
Most memorable moment?
Before we spent any money or time developing the product and service, we launched our landing page to see if this was something people wanted. The overwhelming response was crazy and really inspired us to dedicate the next 5 months to building Recovr. So yeah, seeing floods of interest was great.
Childhood dream?
It really changed every 6 months or so, varied from being a musician to an archaeologist and back to being a musician again. Now though, my dream is to be a stay at home dad.
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