Values at work are…

the difference between a boss like Dr. Cox on Scrubs and a boss like Michael Scott in The Office.

When you are interviewing for a new role at a new organization, ask your interviewer about office culture and back channel to confirm it’s true. To back channel, I recommend reaching out to a few people on LinkedIn who work at the organization,  especially in the department you’re applying to, to better understand what their experience has been and whether the company is a place you see yourself finding belonging and thriving.

The first step to understanding whether you’d like to work there, or whether the org’s culture aligns with your values, is to reflect on what your values in a workplace are.

In what environment do you feel most yourself? In what environments in the past have you felt the most fulfilled? Do you value being challenged, like JD by Dr. Cox, or do you value finding joy and play in your day-to-day, like Michael Scott?

You are unlikely to find everything in one person, or one place, and understanding what you are looking for, and what will be a unique fit for you, is a great filtering agent when finding the right workplace fit.

Call me biased, but working with a therapist or a coach is one of the best ways to take a deep dive into your values, especially as they relate to work and workplace wellbeing.

On the topic of workplace values, I am grateful today to share a glimpse into our values at MyWellbeing:

1. Be you not them.

In the world of therapy, we are guided by our partners-on-and-off-the-couch to learn the ins and outs of who we are. Not who we think we should be, but who, at our core, we really are, and who we really want to be.

You know that weird quirk you have that you’ve been trying to train yourself out of for years? Don’t. It just might be your biggest strength. How can you design more of your day-to-day to highlight that strength, rather than brush it under the rug or hide it beneath what looks more like “them”?

There are plenty of “them” in this world. We need YOU.

We at MyWellbeing are a female-founded, female-led, largely bootstrapped, SaaS-enabled marketplace in the mental health space. We are led by trained therapists who’ve had their own first-hand experiences in the mental health world -- the good, the bad, and the ugly. We are growth, product, and business experts. We have big hearts and we often wear those hearts on our sleeves. As much pain as that makes us vulnerable to, we are so grateful for the connection, warmth and personal growth that comes with vulnerability.

For years, people told us that we would never make it. Marketplaces are hard to scale (true). Others have more funding (true). A note to the majority out there: we may not look like you, or sound like you, or behave like you, but we believe in what we do. Our community does, too. Our community, at our core, is the opinion we care most about.

We are human. We are committed to looking in, to introspecting, to exploring, defining and redefining our values, and to living by them.

Comparison anxiety is real. We feel it and we know you do, too (and if you don’t, hit us up -- we’d love to talk and feature you on a Small Talk so we can all learn from your magic). This will be a mindset and a work in progress. An everyday kind of commitment. We’re up for the challenge and we are so grateful for your support on this ride together.

We will be where the world comes to be well.

2. Lead from “session” one.

We at MyWellbeing, much like in therapy, understand that some of the most rewarding accomplishments in life are some of the hardest blood, sweat, tears (and words!) we have to give.

Starting, growing, and scaling a startup is not designed for the faint of heart. We are here for it. And we cannot do it alone.

We are problem-solvers. Believers. We take initiative. We say yes, and. We are inspired by leaders who live or observe a problem and do whatever they need to do to innovate and alleviate it. We model strength, taking ownership, stepping up to the plate, using our voice and our privilege for good, and intention-setting. We believe in radical candor and vulnerable, compassionate leadership.

We practice appropriate boundaries. We set ambitious goals and then we surpass them.

As some of our favorite role models like to say…

• “Luck has nothing to do with it.” -- Serena Williams
• “Courage has no limit.” -- Hidden Figures
• “On the greatest teams, everyone thinks like an owner.” -- Maryanna Quigless
• “An athlete needs to read situations before they happen...my will is to always be better and better and better. I’ve got the will to want to be the best.” – Dwyane Wade ”
• “It’s about damn time” -- Arlan Hamilton

3. Everyone deserves a seat “on the couch.”

Our world is plagued with injustice. Therapy in particular is no exception.

BIPOC therapy-seekers are regularly discriminated against and face significantly higher rates of trauma. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ providers have long been excluded and discriminated against, leading to a severe shortage of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ providers in our industry. The therapy industry experiences a rare reality in that womxn-identifying providers represent the majority, and yet, we do not feel empowered to learn and own the quantitative or business-sides of all we do.

This must change. The time is yesterday, this is long overdue.

We are committed to this change and we hope we can partner with you to help hold us accountable.

Below are just a few things we are committed to. Please reach out if you have any suggestions about how we can improve:

• We are committed to hiring candidates who bring diversity in age, race, ethnicity, and perspective to “the room.”
• When our budget does not allow full-time talent, we are committed to hiring talent to our advisory board that represents the various demographics and specialities of the therapy-seekers and providers who we serve.
• We will continue to lead and prioritize efforts like All For 1, our partnership with The Hoxton--an exceptional hotel and hospitality leader that is committed to anti-racist efforts--to sponsor free support groups provided by (*paid*) BIPOC providers for BIPOC and other marginalized seekers.
• We are committed to all full-time and part-time teammates training in self-education and anti-racist practices, learnings, advocacy, movements, and personal and professional development.
• We are committed to partnering with and amplifying BIPOC artists in our brand, marketing, and social media growth.
• We are committed to partnering with BIPOC service providers including but not limited to lawyers, photographers, web designers, and accountants to provide supplemental support to mental health providers.
• We are committed to hosting and facilitating anti-racist peer-to-peer support and learning groups for MyWellbeing providers.
• We are committed to regular consulting with advisory teammates to cross check our blindspots.
• We are committed to partnering with BIPOC directories, affinity groups, and associations to ensure that MyWellbeing’s membership fees are not a barrier to BIPOC providers joining the community and providing needed care to BIPOC seekers.
• We are committed to providing professional development and business training resources to mental health providers to complement their clinical expertise.

4. Always learning.

Remember when we said we were human? Well, we are, and we will make mistakes. It comes with the territory (thank you, species).

In our world of therapy, we learn, grow, and reframe regularly. We seek (and find) meaning. We integrate our past into our present and our future.

We at MyWellbeing prefer to consider these “mistakes” → learning opportunities.

We anticipate that, in an effort to grow, to innovate, and to provide the very best product possible to any and all who come to MyWellbeing, we will make bets, and not every bet will work out. We are grateful for the many lessons we learn along the way.

A failure is not a loss. We are always learning.

If you are up for it, we count on you to hold us accountable. We do not know everything and we cannot do everything on our own. If there is something we are up to that you have feedback around, we are all ears. We can only grow to be the best possible community with your insight and your help. Thank you.

5. Don’t “shrink” the small stuff.

Our first priority in our decision making, whether considering a short-term product launch or a long-term strategic direction, is-- that’s right -- listening to you, the therapy-seekers, therapy-curious, and therapy-providers who have brought us to life.

We live and breathe for belonging, for love, and for empowerment.

If you have met Kayla, our Community Manager, you know what we mean. If you have attended one of Mariah (our Head of Growth)’s marketing webinars, you’ve experienced it.

The “little things” matter to us.

When I (Alyssa, our founder) was having a particularly challenging day, Kayla sent me a direct, private Slack message to remind me that if I needed her at all, she was there. Never in a million years would I have known that my teammate would send that to me 3 years into our business, on a day that could present like any other, after a meeting that could have easily gone unnoticed. Not here.

When we match seekers with therapists, we do our very best to ensure that every single touchpoint with MyWellbeing is infused with belonging, love, and empowerment. We may not have all of the answers, but we want the very best for you, and we are here to help in any way we can. If there is no perfect solution, we will do our part in helping to alleviate as much of the pain from the process as possible.

We’re better together. We truly believe that and we hope you will join us.