Roughly a year ago, I had the pleasure of partaking in an accelerator program, which encompassed some of the most accomplished entrepreneurs I’d ever met. Some were founders with multiple lucrative exits; others had established companies that now shape policies in their home countries. However, there was one super impressive founder from Latin America (let’s assume his initials, KP) who was clearly the golden child in our circle. When my goal was to refine the business model for our corporate division, KP had figured out a flawless strategy and was looking to raise a “small $10M funding round.” He surpassed his goal.
At the conclusion of the program, we all met to discuss our learnings. And as expected, the conversation progressed smoothly until KP opened his mouth and tears began to carve the corners of his cheeks. As a familiar pain echoed each word that managed to escape, we all must have deduced his mental health was at stake. He may have scored the financial capital but was clearly miles away from the emotional capital. You see, the recurring problem across communities is we often forget that intentionally creating an environment for our loved ones to shed tears is how their emotions communicate to the outside world. Imagine leaving salty water in a vessel; it has no other option than to rust.
At that point in our conversation, a powerful shift occurred. Narratives about depression and anxiety flowed from multiple vessels like waterfalls. I learned then that perceiving others based on their outward excellence alone can also be detrimental to our own mental health, sometimes theirs. What we must embrace is to strive towards creating an environment for each other to feel listened to, and not just heard. What we hear, if not digested, can only catapult vanity. It’s no surprise that if you were presented with two options: (1) a $10M investment for your startup and (2) a $300K salary working at a tech firm, you may quickly gravitate to the former- primarily because we haven’t created spaces that position us to comprehend the challenges associated with each route we envision to someday embark on.