Entrepreneurship is often compared to a roller coaster for its ups and downs, twists and turns. As someone who has launched and scaled a company from scratch, I can confirm that this metaphor is a fair comparison.
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In startup life, the highs can be exhilarating and fun to experience, but the lows can be taxing on your mental health and sometimes make you question what the hell you’re even doing! We’ve all heard about mega-successful companies like Uber and Airbnb that raise massive amounts of capital and have these huge valuations. The truth is that companies like them are ultra rare, and statistics show that 20% of all new companies shutter within the first year and 50% of companies shutter within the first 5 years, illustrating how difficult it is to build a sustainable business.
In December of 2016, my Co-Founder and I founded our sports tech startup FanSaves and set out on an entrepreneurial journey to change the way sports fans engaged with team sponsors. We conceptualized and launched our company with the big vision of becoming a unicorn (a company with a billion-dollar valuation). Why not us? We had complementary skills as founders and a scalable digital solution with a massive market to sell into that has continued to grow exponentially since 2016. But we didn’t know what we didn’t know.
Different from opening a franchise or starting a small business with a proven blueprint, we had to create everything from nothing. Slowly but surely, we figured things out. We built our mobile app, made our first hires, created processes, and made our first sales. We found business insurance, began building a brand, and were accepted into startup programs meant to accelerate our business.
We brought on advisors, received grants, and raised our first outside capital via a friends and family round. We were featured in local media, secured an accountant, and competed in pitch competitions, which helped fund our company.
While accomplishing all these tasks, there were also a lot of speed bumps along the way. Having to fire an employee for the first time, getting evicted from our home, which was also our office, and getting ghosted by sales prospects. We experienced gender bias, the pain of rejection, and isolation as we sacrificed time and time again. We lived very lean financially for years, reinvesting in the company rather than paying ourselves. Oh, and then came the pandemic, which I could write a whole column about in itself, but my point is those early years took a toll on us, and as the company grew and matured, so did the challenges and struggles that no one saw behind closed doors.
Look, I’m not complaining, this journey has been the most meaningful thing I’ve ever done with my life and has provided me with so many incredible experiences, opportunities, and memories that will last a lifetime, but it’s been a consistent grind which has included a lot of sleepless nights and anxiety.
There was a point in 2024 when I experienced depression for the first time in my life and simply burnt out. They say it’s lonely at the top. As a founder, you’re solely responsible for providing for your staff, ensuring the bills are paid, constantly putting out fires, all the while trying to take the company to the next level.
There is a saying in the startup world that goes, “If it was easy, everyone would do it”. This saying became a mantra for me and keep me grounded on the most difficult of days.
I’ve learned some valuable lessons over the past 12 months when it comes to my mental health, which I believe have made me a better overall person and leader. For the first time, I recognized the effects the startup grind was having on my life and began to take the steps necessary to heal and protect my mental health.
A few of which I like to share with you in the hopes that if you’re going through similar challenges might help you avoid burning out.
IT’S OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY. Mental health has long been stigmatized as weakness, and many avoid speaking up about their mental health in fear of losing clients or being judged, but the truth is, everyone experiences mental health challenges to some degree or another. Speaking up and seeking help is not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. It’s the recognition of an illness and an action to improve your overall well-being. I recently spoke about my mental health struggles and journey at an event called Dare to Be Vulnerable and let me tell you, not only did it feel like a weight was lifted of my shoulders but I also felt a sense acceptance and community knowing I was in a room with hundreds of other leaders who have all experienced their own mental health challenges.
PRIORITIZE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. You can’t be the best version of yourself if you are constantly feeling like you are not worthy of success or happiness. Recognize the things in your life that bring you happiness and make time for them without feeling guilty for doing so. Try new things like therapy, journaling, meditation, or like I did, opening up to others through a community that is meant to uplift you. At the height of my burnout in 2024, I began walking in the morning. Every day, 5,000 steps around my small town. I coupled that morning exercise with a podcast that I would listen to as I walked, which came out with new episodes daily featuring snippets of speeches and other podcasts from inspiring athletes, keynote speakers, and celebrities who have overcome enormous odds throughout their lives on their path to success and well-being. I now run five days a week, joined a Sunday night ball hockey league, and I’m in the best shape of my life at the age of 36.
PRACTICE GRATITUDE. Focus on what you have instead of what you don’t have. I write this column from a place of deep gratitude. I’m privileged to have a strong support system, both friends and family. I’m a respected business leader and have been able to do some incredible things over the past 8 years that I could have only dreamed of. I’m physically healthy and live in the country surrounded by nature’s beauty. On the difficult days, I try and remind myself that I’m a good person who is loved and has so much more to give to the world and that while I may feel like my mental health struggles are unique to me, they are not and there are so many people in this world dealing with the same if not worse. I give myself some grace and accept that there will be harder days than others, but that I am alive and can make a difference with the time I have in this life.
While these are just a few aspects of my mental health playbook, there are many others that help me feel like the best version of myself, even on the hard days. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
Make the change, speak up, and never let your mental health stand in the way of the best version of yourself.
by Kris McCarthy
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