Launches podcast and work with investors, VC firms and business accelerators to help better understand health of entrepreneurs
The Future Farm , a platform dedicated to creating a better and safer world for entrepreneurs and leaders to build their dreams, today commits to improving the lack of support for entrepreneurs and leaders, particularly for their emotional and mental health. It’s a topic rarely talked about and even less so addressed.
The Future Farm was born out of the experience of its founders – Vladimira Mesko Briestenska, Nektarios Liolios and Nadeem Shaikh – building, supporting and investing in businesses over the last decade, who have observed the lack of support targeted towards individual entrepreneurs and leaders. Around 582 million people, almost 8% of the global population have devoted their lives to entrepreneurship. Often considered as a driving force for positive change in society and around the world, the entrepreneurial lifestyle can come at huge personal cost.
A University of California study in 2015 found compelling evidence outlining the underlying relationship between entrepreneurship and many of the cognitive and behavioural differences associated with mental health conditions. The image of an entrepreneur has often been glorified, and the vulnerability and openness about an entrepreneur’s struggles discouraged. How do we change this?
Vladimira Mesko Briestenska, Founder and CEO at The Future Farm, says: “Talking about your emotional and mental state is often an uncomfortable and tabooed conversation. We want to normalise this, especially for entrepreneurs and company leaders, and provide a safe and inclusive space for all entrepreneurs across industries, geographies, genders, and of all levels of expertise.
“As well as to provide a spectrum of ways to continuously build-up the emotional resilience and tools needed to grow from adversity, we want to create positive change for individuals, and to also contribute to a wider movement and systemic shift towards a healthier entrepreneurial space for everyone. Part of this is launching our work with investors, venture capital firms and business accelerators, to help them better understand the health of the entrepreneurs they work with and how they can practically provide support to their portfolios in building-up resilience.”
The Future Farm brings people together to talk, share and explore ways to rediscover the joy that comes from building businesses, while not losing your sense of self. As part of this, The Future Farm is launching NAKED – one of the first business podcasts dedicated to sharing open and vulnerable stories of company builders. It aims to destigmatise a public discussion about the physical, emotional and mental health of entrepreneurs and leaders through their stories, and to promote prevention, by sharing practical insights on how to improve resilience capability.
“Around 95% startups fail. We need to hear those stories. By hearing those stories it helps people to accept that this is the truth. And I think that’s fundamental. I think what The Future Farm is doing is really important as we know that the real success comes through resilience that comes from failure,” says Emma Obanye, Founder & CEO at Mindful Team.
The first series of NAKED features tech entrepreneurs talking about the struggles they’ve faced with co-founder divorce and going through an identity crisis. Later episodes will feature a range of guests including a British chef, an investor, and the partner of an entrepreneur.
Visit thefuturefarm.co to find out how you can get involved. To listen to NAKED by The Future Farm, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify.
