Ep 61: On physical health, mental health and doing things differently this time around, with Drew Graham

NAKED by The Future Farm

This week’s guest is no stranger to The Future Farm, and you may have heard his name pop up from time to time in conversation with Nektarios. That’s because Drew Graham is Nektarios’ co-founder. He is also a serial business builder. He joins NAKED to talk about his entrepreneurial life, how he put that on hold and joined a bank, largely because his health was deteriorating.

Drew is incredibly vulnerable and open about the challenges he’s faced and how he continued to build businesses, all while ignoring the signals that were telling him his physical and mental health was in decline. It was only after his fourth startup in a row did he realise how broken he was. That’s when he walked away. We talk about the guilt and the shame one feels when you can no longer perform, when you have a responsibility towards your investors, your co-founders, your clients… that keeps you in the business. How you feel you have no choice but to go on, until the decision to stop is no longer yours.

Having two co-founders present, Vladi used this opportunity to talk more about Drew and Nektarios’ experiences in building a new business together and the impact it has had on their respective mental health. You’ll hear more about what they’re trying to do differently to ensure that each individual has their needs respected.

Specific topics covered in this episode:

• Guilt and shame when you feel you can no longer perform;
• Recognising the signals of deteriorating mental and physical health;
• The role of therapy in recognising behaviours and effecting change;
• Co-founder dynamics, permission, communication and doing things differently.

In addition, we discuss the following questions:

• How do you know when it’s the right time to walk away to protect your physical and mental health?
• How do you create a working environment that gives permission to take time out when things are bad without guilt or shame?
• What mechanisms or tools are helpful in recognising behaviours and making positive changes?