004: Alison Darcy: Turning ideas Into reality
"I don’t have to be a YouTube entrepreneur. I just need to lean into the fact that this is a problem that needs to be fixed, we will do our best to try and contribute to fixing it." Alison Darcy is the founder of Woebot, an app that offers cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). She says: 'We're on a mission to make mental health radically accessible' which is important as more than half of the world’s population still doesn’t have access to basic health care, let alone mental health care. She saw the problem first hand through her clinical work at Stamford, but instead of being content just to research and run trials she embarked on finding a practical solution that was available and accessible to all. She wasn’t scared to follow her passion. Whatever it took, that’s where she went. If you are struggling to find your purpose, this conversation is for you. For Alison, purpose meant giving herself the permission to go for it, to ‘get in the ring’ as she puts it. And she explains what it means to be in that place: the good and the bad of following your passion in a very open and honest way. Whatever is driving you, whatever stepping off the conveyor belt means to you - you can give yourself permission to be that authentic version of yourself and work from that place. Woebot: https://woebot.io/ [Interviews and lectures referenced during this podcast: Marc Andreessen on his investment philosophy and what he looks for when investing Stanford lecture: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/marc-andreessen-take-ego-out-ideas Andreessen Horowitz is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm with $2.7 billion under management, investing from seed to growth. The First Principles Method Explained by Elon Musk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV3sBlRgzTI&feature=youtu.be “The best way to complain is to make something.” James Murphy, lead singer of LCD Soundsystem during Shut Up And Play The Hits Documentary, 2012: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FAA17DAB61EC754 “A lot of cheap seats in the arena are filled with people who never venture onto the floor.” (Brené Brown, Rising Strong: The Reckoning, The Rumble, The Revolution) “By 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of world disability” (‘Dare to care: Stop exclusion’, WHO, 2001): https://www.who.int/world-health-day/previous/2001/files/whd2001_dare_to_care_en.pdf] Self-Centred Podcast is presented by Roann Ghosh and Epiphany Social Innovation.