Episode 37: Mental Health Struggles as Catalyst into Entrepreneurship with Seven Jacobs

Hi everyone! Thanks for tuning-in today for a new episode of Entrepreneur Mindset-Reset.

In today’s episode, I’m speaking with the deep and wonderfully vulnerable Seven Jacobs, a social entrepreneur, mental health awareness advocate, and host of “Lost and Searching” podcast.

I’ve got to tell you, our conversation today is exactly why I wanted to start this podcast. I wanted to create an equitable space where anyone can listen and learn about the entrepreneurial journey, and feel seen, heard and understood. Seven and I talked about our internal dialogue, language we use, the thoughts we think, and habits we can practice to support us in our quest for success on our own terms as entrepreneurs. We didn’t hold back, as you’ll hear, and this episode is so rich in mindset-reset opportunities and support, that I’m sure you’ll want to listen more than once and take notes.

Seven’s journey from spending the first 12 years of his life in L.A. to coming of age and kind of “really” growing up in London, while struggling with his mental health, anger, anxiety, feeling lost, scared, and depressed, is something we all need to hear and talk about. Everyone struggles, and we all have something we need to work on to learn to work with or overcome, and Seven’s story is a reminder that we are all humans, living our experiences, and that we get to choose what to do with our experiences and choose the direction we want to take our lives. 

A pivotal moment came for him when he spent three months in Nepal living in a village, WAY out of his comfort zone. That experience helped shift his thinking and dig deep spiritually to change his life forever. During his time in Nepal, he was introduced to a book called “WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make a Living and Change the World,” and suddenly everything began to make sense to him about his potential to have a career that sustained him while changing the world. This is when he realized he wanted to become a social entrepreneur. 

As you listen, you’ll notice we didn’t talk shop much because we spent so much time discussing the mindset necessary to be a successful entrepreneur. Pay close attention to how we distinguish the difference between manager versus leader, and and self-employed versus entrepreneur. One of his mentors taught him that in order to be an entrepreneur, one must be a leader, which, in my mind, presents a fantastic challenge: do we want to be self-employed, or are we looking to be a leader in our space? There’s no wrong answer, but answering this question can change everything about how you choose to do your business, and can set you free to achieve what you really want.

I tell you, I am excited to listen back to this episode many times to keep learning from this incredible human’s insights and wisdom. You want to know and remember Seven.

So, grab a beverage or a snack and settle-in to listen to Seven and his amazing journey.

Seven’s Bio:

Seven is a young social entrepreneur, speaker, and advocate for mental health. As well as being the Founder and CEO of an entrepreneurship education start-up called StartrHub and the host of a mental health podcast for young leaders called Lost and Searching, he has helped build startups in music, tech, and consulting, and is training as a coach.

Seven was born in Los Angeles (USA) but moved to London (UK) at the age of 12 to live with his family there, after experiencing various financial, mental, and emotional difficulties in his childhood that impacted his opportunities and his mental health. He now highly values the power of listening and empathy to solve problems and make the world a better place. Seven is at his happiest when he’s with other people who are truly, deeply happy, and through social entrepreneurship he strives to create meaningful change in the world through great work. He very much follows what excites him, and wants to encourage joy and discovery through positive work and a positive attitude!

Seven began his career by coaching young people and being a youth consultant for some of the biggest UK brands, from AKQA to Nando’s. He worked on community projects, became an experienced facilitator, and developed entrepreneurial skills and a love for social entrepreneurship. In 2019 he was brought on board to help build a fashion tech organisation called The House of TAG in which he is now a director, and in 2020 he was asked to help build a new record label in London called Just Entertainment.

All of Seven's work now aims to support that mission of creating opportunities for discovery, and Seven uses his social enterprises, mental health content, and speaking to help achieve that aim!

Find Seven:

Instagram: @seven.jacobs

Podcast: lostandsearching.simplecast.com

Free Startup Resources: startrhub.com