S04 S08: Looking Inward and Going Global with Sophie Gray, Founder of DiveThru
10/06/21 • 49 min
Despite being an experienced flyer at the peak of her career, a panic attack brought on by the prospect of another plane journey changed Sophie Gray's life forever. Instead of getting on the plane, Sophie and her husband tackled the long trip home in a car while the panic attacks continued. It was then that she realized that she needed to change something. After setting out to learn about her own mental wellbeing, she founded DiveThru, a mental wellness platform that partners with mental health professionals to help people take charge of their mental well-being. In this episode, Sophie opens up and shares how she came to start DiveThru and we hear about how the platform separates itself from others in the space. Our conversation dives into Sophie's experience as a female tech founder and what it has been like raising capital, DiveThru's marketing and SEO strategies, and advice for those looking to launch or grow their own startup. Tune in to hear it all!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Get to know today's guest, Sophie Gray, and the circumstances that led her to launch DiveThru.
- What happened after the panic attack that changed Sophie’s life, and the decisions she made after.
- Sophie's advice for those who feel like they might be headed toward burnout.
- How Sophie achieved early success on Instagram.
- What DiveThru offers and the unique services the platform offers.
- Sophie’s perspective on toxic positivity, and what it really means to take care of your mental health.
- How Sophie feels about being a tech founder, a title she was reluctant to hold.
- Sophie's experience fundraising and the challenges she has faced.
- Advice for those who are looking to raise funds for their startups.
- Strategies that DiveThru has used to drive adoption.
- DiveThru's SEO strategy and the results that this has produced.
- Why the company decided to create a podcast network.
- What the DiveThru team looks like currently and the roles they occupy.
- The fulfillment Sophie feels from building a truly healthy workplace.
- DiveThru's reach and the markets they have set their sights on.
- Why it is so important that most of DiveThru is free.
- The distinction that set DiveThru apart from competitors.
- Who Sophie thinks is making waves.
Tweetables:
“We often think that our mind is overthinking; we know we're anxious and we can label it, but when have we actually paused and enquired about that feeling?” — @iamsophiegray [0:11:42]
“It's interesting to see how the industry I come from isn't necessarily respected in the way that other backgrounds are in tech.” — @iamsophiegray [0:25:17]
“Get very clear on the mission of your company, what you're looking to accomplish because you will face so much rejection that you need to be able to validate yourself.” — @iamsophiegray [0:30:37]
“For us, mental health access is the number one priority.” — @iamsophiegray [0:43:52]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Despite being an experienced flyer at the peak of her career, a panic attack brought on by the prospect of another plane journey changed Sophie Gray's life forever. Instead of getting on the plane, Sophie and her husband tackled the long trip home in a car while the panic attacks continued. It was then that she realized that she needed to change something. After setting out to learn about her own mental wellbeing, she founded DiveThru, a mental wellness platform that partners with mental health professionals to help people take charge of their mental well-being. In this episode, Sophie opens up and shares how she came to start DiveThru and we hear about how the platform separates itself from others in the space. Our conversation dives into Sophie's experience as a female tech founder and what it has been like raising capital, DiveThru's marketing and SEO strategies, and advice for those looking to launch or grow their own startup. Tune in to hear it all!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Get to know today's guest, Sophie Gray, and the circumstances that led her to launch DiveThru.
- What happened after the panic attack that changed Sophie’s life, and the decisions she made after.
- Sophie's advice for those who feel like they might be headed toward burnout.
- How Sophie achieved early success on Instagram.
- What DiveThru offers and the unique services the platform offers.
- Sophie’s perspective on toxic positivity, and what it really means to take care of your mental health.
- How Sophie feels about being a tech founder, a title she was reluctant to hold.
- Sophie's experience fundraising and the challenges she has faced.
- Advice for those who are looking to raise funds for their startups.
- Strategies that DiveThru has used to drive adoption.
- DiveThru's SEO strategy and the results that this has produced.
- Why the company decided to create a podcast network.
- What the DiveThru team looks like currently and the roles they occupy.
- The fulfillment Sophie feels from building a truly healthy workplace.
- DiveThru's reach and the markets they have set their sights on.
- Why it is so important that most of DiveThru is free.
- The distinction that set DiveThru apart from competitors.
- Who Sophie thinks is making waves.
Tweetables:
“We often think that our mind is overthinking; we know we're anxious and we can label it, but when have we actually paused and enquired about that feeling?” — @iamsophiegray [0:11:42]
“It's interesting to see how the industry I come from isn't necessarily respected in the way that other backgrounds are in tech.” — @iamsophiegray [0:25:17]
“Get very clear on the mission of your company, what you're looking to accomplish because you will face so much rejection that you need to be able to validate yourself.” — @iamsophiegray [0:30:37]
“For us, mental health access is the number one priority.” — @iamsophiegray [0:43:52]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Previous Episode
S04 E07: Setting Healthy Boundaries and Leading Yourself with Sara McCabe, Leadership Coach
Today on the podcast, we welcome Sara McCabe, business coach, consultant, box-breaker, and not-so-secret dancer. After spending over a decade leading and developing teams across North America, she left the corporate world to help creative entrepreneurs work and lead in a way that actually works for them. Sara is Mitzi’s personal business coach or, as Mitzi likes to say, her ‘business therapist’ and, in this episode, she shares some of her business consulting strategies, coaching skills, and advice for creative entrepreneurs who are ready to start building the business they want. We discuss the antidote to your unhealthy relationship with work, how to set boundaries and create space for creativity, as well as intrinsic motivation and how that translates to your values as a person and a business leader. Anyone who works within a team or leads a team will gain immense value from this episode, but everyone will benefit from Sara’s specific brand of candid insight, goofy anecdotes, and practical advice. After all, it’s not just about leading a team; it’s also about leading yourself. Tune in today!
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to Sara McCabe and how she found coaching by asking ‘why?’
- Why Sara’s definition of coaching involves treating the people she works with as the experts.
- How she empowers her clients to redefine leadership for themselves through collaboration.
- Making an ethos tangible by shaping systems and structures around it.
- Hear the story of when Sara decided to pursue leadership coaching full-time.
- Why you can’t lead a team or a business if you don’t truly understand yourself.
- Learn about her digital presence and why she chose to represent herself candidly.
- What she has learned about boundaries; the antidote to an unhealthy relationship with work.
- Hear about some of her personal boundaries, including keeping her work laptop in her office.
- Find out why she suggests checking in with yourself before engaging with content.
- Sara shares how she uses a Notion dashboard to plan her TikTok content.
- Some deeper insight into her TikTok content strategy, including how she scripts’ the hook’.
- TikTok versus Instagram communities and why Sara prefers the intimacy of Instagram.
- Where Sara has seen the best ROI in her marketing strategy; TikTok for growth, Instagram for building relationships, newsletters for launching.
- How she remains consistent in her offerings by redefining what ‘consistency’ mean to her.
- Sara elaborates on the importance of building systems that are conducive with who you are and what you want to create.
- Why clearly defining your values is key to help you make decisions and build your business.
- Intrinsic motivation and how it translates to your values as a person and a business leader.
- Defining your values as a business versus as a team; shaping company culture at scale.
- Who is making waves and why: Lillian ‘FlexMami’ Ahenkan and Maceo Paisley.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
Next Episode
S04 E09: Committing to Culture & Staying in Beta with Franke Rodriguez, Partner at Anomaly
For the final episode of our fourth season, we are joined by Franke Rodriguez, Partner and CEO of Anomaly, a global strategic and creative marketing agency. Franke’s desire to take Anomaly to new heights made him the perfect fit for his role as the youngest-ever CEO of their New York and Toronto offices, and he has worked with major blue-chip brands such as Nike, Budweiser, Captain Morgan, Carnival Cruises, and Google in their marketing missions. In today’s episode, he nerds out with us about staying hungry, being humble, and always being in “beta,” walking us through what that looks like practically for his teams at Anomaly. We discuss what the future of agency work looks like in a post-COVID world, how to preserve your team and culture as you grow, the value of investing in your people, and the ins and outs of creating a Super Bowl commercial. We also touch on creating the company you want to build by working backwards from a very specific vision, and talk about the power of a single impact brand moment versus broader social awareness, making this conversation equal parts inspirational and practical. Tune in today to learn more from Franke Rodriguez, a true ‘anomaly’ in the industry!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Find out what Franke has been up to recently and how he is prioritizing work-life balance.
- Some of the ways that moving to a fully remote model changed the way he does business.
- What it means to Franke to be a leader during COVID: finding new ways to help people cope.
- His predictions for what Anomaly’s hybrid approach to work will look like post-COVID.
- The importance of having a vision, starting with the end in mind, and working back from there.
- Find out how Franke preserves team and company culture by focusing on joy.
- What an Anomaly holiday party looks like and what Franke means when he says, “What you celebrate, you duplicate.”
- How Franke nurtures Anomaly’s corporate values and the maxim: stay hungry, stay humble.
- Franke reflects on what ‘always in beta' looks like at Anomaly and how they keep innovating.
- The process of creating a Super Bowl commercial from someone who has created nearly 30.
- Franke on whether or not Super Bowl campaigns are still effective and how they’ve evolved.
- The benefits of the single impact moment versus broader social awareness for brands.
- Some of the brands Anomaly has produced and why they have taken that approach.
- Learn more about Anomaly’s Funded program, which is like their own version of Shark Tank.
- Franke highlights the power of investing in your people by rewarding entrepreneurial spirit.
- Why committing to the culture means feeding it, nurturing it, and helping it grow.
- Franke on who is making waves right now and why: triple threat, Anthony Ramos.
- Final words of wisdom from Franke: creative storytellers are the ones that people will look to when the going gets tough.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).
For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/big-things-podcast-173457/s04-s08-looking-inward-and-going-global-with-sophie-gray-founder-of-di-16882271"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to s04 s08: looking inward and going global with sophie gray, founder of divethru on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy