#110 Why businesses who do good do better with James Routledge

"I wish everybody could get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer." Jim Carrey

On the surface it's easy to think that becoming an entrepreneur is the ultimate gateway to happiness, fame and success.

It's no surprise then that Visa Europe found that one in three people dream of starting their own business. But in reality, only one in ten actually take the leap.

If you've seen my TEDx talk then you'll know how I feel about the need for us to change the way we talk about the reality of starting and growing a business.

Especially when you know that according to Dr Michael A. Freeman from the University of California, one in three entrepreneurs suffer from mental health issues.

We're being sold this story that if you want to be happy and successful then you need to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk or Sara Blekely. That your sole mission should be to launch the next WhatsApp / Instagram / Snapchat, raise a ton of cash, and retire at 30.

But what if you went down that road, only to realise that it was everything but what you hoped it to be?

From rags to riches, how a University drop out launched a tech startup, raised $1 million and lived the dream. So could have gone the narrative of today's guest, if it weren't for the fact that James Routledge woke up one day having panic attacks and realising that the company he had built was a soulless shell.

It was time to hit the reset button.

Thanks to a 99pee notebook, the courage to open up and a religious journaling practice, a mental-health revolution was born.

That's right, this week I sit down with James Routledge, founder of Sanctus, a mental-health startup on a mission to change the perception of mental health who want to put the first mental health gym on the high-street.

This is an incredible story of how someone managed to turn their pain into their purpose, and their purpose into their profession. All while inspiring a new generation of game changes to join his mission.

If you enjoyed today's conversation, make sure to tag James and I over on social media. You can find James over on Instagram under @jroutledge and I'm under @markleruste.

And of course, make sure to go vive Sanctus a follow @sanctus.

Enjoy our powerful conversation!

Hugs,

Mark