.jpg)
Founders' Fears & Failures
It’s time to shine a light on the emotional and mental challenges of life in the startup ecosystem. Join Dr. Melissa Parks, executive coach for entrepreneurs and former therapist, as she interviews founders, investors, and other professionals supporting the startup world. Learn from their personal experiences, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way, about how to navigate the emotional rollercoaster of life as a founder. To get in touch with Melissa visit her website melissaparks.com
Episodes
32 episodes
A Final Episode and Reflections on the Past Year with Dr. Melissa Parks
“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.”I was reminded of this quote towards the end of last year and made the incredibly difficult decision to end this podcast.Last year was a challenging year for me with lots of colli...
•
Episode 31
•
7:43
Self-Care for Autistic Entrepreneurs and Coping with Autistic Burnout with Kelly Redmon Loo
In this week’s episode I’m delighted to introduce you to Kelly Redmon Loo, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) specializing in Autism.We dive into how Kelly developed her passion for working with autistic clients, as we...
•
Episode 30
•
1:23:17
Cultivating an Entrepreneur Mindset and Revolutionizing the Freelance Industry with Karl Swanepoel
In this episode I’m delighted to introduce to you an inspiring founder who is working to revolutionize the freelance industry and improve the working conditions and ultimately help prevent burnout amongst freelancers around the globe.Kar...
•
Episode 29
•
36:43
An Exited Founder on Staying Optimistic and Resilient on the Entrepreneur Rollercoaster with Aaron Chatterley
In this episode I’m excited to introduce you to Aaron Chatterly, an exited serial founder who, having sold his beauty retailer to Sephora in 2021, is living the dream so many founders aspire to when they start their companies. However, in...
•
Episode 28
•
58:22
How Founders Taboo is Disrupting the Startup Ecosystem’s Approach to Entrepreneur Mental Health with Janos Barberis and Annabelle Cameron
Founders Taboo is a UK-based startup working to increase awareness, access, and affordability of support for startup founder mental health and well-being. They aim to solve the problem of founder well-being at scale in order to disrupt the enti...
•
Episode 27
•
58:50
.jpg)
Harnessing Her Passion for Women’s Health to Overcome Obstacles as a Non-Technical Femtech Founder with Olivia Orchowski
In this episode, I’m introducing you to an inspiring femtech founder, Olivia Ochowski. In a previous chapter, Olivia worked as personal trainer, women's health coach, and doula. Today, as the founder and CEO of Femtek, Olivia introduces the fir...
•
Episode 26
•
1:01:19
Reflections on Half a Year of Episodes
Your host, Melissa Parks, shares her reflections on the first 24 episodes of the Founders' Fears & Failures podcast. She shares some common themes guests have spoken about, lessons she’s learned as the host of this podcast, and a sneak peak...
•
Episode 25
•
6:49
Exited Founder and Author of “Founder Therapy” on Successful Entrepreneurship without Burnout with Mike Buonaiuto
This week on the show I’m introducing you to Mike Buonaiuto, exited founder and author of the recently released book, Founder Therapy.Mike is a philanthropic business leader and performance coach, who founded, scaled and exited ...
•
Episode 24
•
49:49
Normalizing Entrepreneur Mental Health Differences with a Leading Researcher in the Field, Dr. Michael Freeman
Nearly 40% of entrepreneurs have one or more diagnosable mental health condition, 3% of entrepreneurs had made suicide attempts and 1.7% had a history of psychiatric hospitalization. It’s essential that we continue to destigmatize entrepreneur ...
•
Episode 23
•
49:22
A Startup Executive Psychologist On Navigating Cofounder Conflict with Dr. Matthew Jones
Successfully navigating cofounder conflict is an important, yet often overlooked, topic which directly impacts the success and sustainability of startups. When conflicts arise between cofounders, it can disrupt the entire organization's functio...
•
Episode 22
•
47:04
The Importance Of Creativity and Community for Entrepreneur Well-Being with Tova Safra
What role does creativity have in your life as a founder? Do you make sure you find ways to protect and prioritize it?In this week’s episode I’m introducing you to Tova Safra, a solopreneur turned tech startup co-founder. In this...
•
Episode 21
•
53:10
A Trailblazer In The Field Of Entrepreneur Mental Health On The Human Experience Of Building A Business with Kristin Darga
This week’s guest is a trailblazer in the field of entrepreneur mental health. She started working to shift the conversation on this important topic nearly a decade ago, when no one else was talking about, and despite receiving some pushback ar...
•
Episode 20
•
51:25
You Can't Stop the Waves: Dealing with the Uncertainty of Entrepreneur Life
Entrepreneur life is full of uncertainty and things that are outside of our control. Being a successful founder requires to you to find ways to thrive amidst this inevitable chaos.In this week’s episode, I’m introducing you to some of th...
•
Episode 19
•
43:08
You're Not Alone: Normalizing Imposter Syndrome
This week on the show we’re mixing things up and instead of interviewing someone else I’ll be speaking on one of my favorite topics to talk about - imposter syndrome.It’s one I’m very familiar with after helping many clients to o...
•
Episode 18
•
20:09
How Therapy Made Me a Better Founder With Ryan Schwartz
Too often we think about therapy as something to seek out as a last resort, when we’re in crisis and have exhausted all our other options.Even if you suspect that it might help you to pursue therapy proactively, too many of us vi...
•
Episode 17
•
46:38
Creating The Product He Needed: The Story Of A Firefighter Turned Mental Health App Founder with Andrew Douglas
In this week’s episode I’m introducing you to Andrew Douglas, a firefighter turned mental health app co-founder.This episode is an intense one and I want to warn you that there is mention of suicide as well as a traumatic event that cont...
•
Episode 16
•
53:55
.jpg)
Making Sure Your Business Isn’t Your Life from a Tech Startup Founder turned Solopreneur with Neha Gunnoo
In this week’s episode, I’m introducing you to Neha Gunnoo, a former tech startup co-founder who stepped away from her startup after realizing how much it was harming her mental health.Neha is now the founder & senior content strateg...
•
Episode 15
•
48:33
A Serial Entrepreneur On Recovering From Burnout & Living A Life Aligned With Your Values with Melani Gordon
In this week’s interview I’m introducing you to Melani Gordon, a founder who realized at the height of her company’s success that she was experiencing burnout.Melani is a highly respected serial entrepreneur and business coach, with a de...
•
Episode 14
•
52:14
Destigmatizing Mental Illness in the Startup World with Micah Baldwin
The rates of mental illness amongst founders are incredibly high. Research out of UC Berkeley found that 72% of entrepreneurs are affected by mental illness.This s...
•
Episode 13
•
44:00
.jpg)
Knowing When It’s Time to Call it Quits as a Startup Founder with Kat Brendel
What if you realize that the day-to-day of bringing the vision of your startup to life requires you to ignore parts of yourself that are incredibly important?What if you’re still passionate about the mission behind your company, ...
•
Episode 12
•
52:03
A Serial Founder and Investor on the Importance of Asking for Help with Erik Halvorsen, PhD
In this week’s episode I’m sitting down with an investor who has been a founder or co-founder himself multiple times for a candid conversation about the importance of not going it alone as a founder.We also discuss the traits that he as ...
•
Episode 11
•
48:12
.jpg)
A Silicon Valley Veteran on the Importance of Founder Mental Health with Janice Fraser
TW: mention of suicide in this episodeIn this week’s episode we’re going deep. My guest, Janice Fraser, is a Silicon Valley veteran with decades of experience in the startup world. She’s also no stranger to mental health...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 10
•
53:38
Crafting a Successful Business from Scratch with Adam Higginbotham
In this episode, we do speak about alcohol consumption as it relates to the company founded by this week’s guest. This could be triggering for anyone who struggles with alcohol use so please choose wisely if this is the right episode for yo...
•
Episode 9
•
54:28
Overcoming Fears & Prioritizing Mental Well-Being As A Minority Female Founder with Jiaming Ju
TW: In this episode, we briefly discuss a hate crime on the AAPI community that happened around the time of this interview.Entrepreneur life is full of mental and emotional challenges, but when you’re female, especially a minori...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 8
•
52:00
Coping with Fears and "Failures" - Lessons from an Exited Founder with Kate Berski
When you’re in the thick of things as a founder you often start questioning whether or not it’s still worth it. Our guest in this week’s episode is an exited founder who isn’t shy about her experience with this but actually puts a positive spin...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 7
•
43:56
.jpg)