Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in mental health care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dr. Srini Pillay, Co-Founder of Reulay, located in New York, NY, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Reulay is an app that offers on-demand mindset resets to improve anxiety, emotional distress, and focus in 1.5, 5, or 10 minutes using video that can be viewed on a mobile device, desktop computer, or virtual reality headset. Reulay also offers a feed every day. This feed includes relaxing videos, inspirational ideas, and brain-based tips to help you get through your day. You can also measure your improvements and track your analytics. We serve corporations, sports teams, and first responders, such as law enforcement agencies.

Tell us about yourself

I am a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, brain researcher, and biotechnology consultant across medicine. I ran the Outpatient Anxiety Disorders Program at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Stress and anxiety are only increasing, and 31% of people will develop an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Yet, 70% of people have no access to mental health care, and current offerings for anxiety help only 50% of people at best. Even though video is the most consumed medium, there are no video-based solutions to help decrease anxiety, and although audio apps offer meditative practices, only 10% of the world meditates.

So, I, with my co-founders, felt that we had to help people have access to research-based mental resets that could help them with stress, anxiety, and stress-related physical diseases. What motivates me is the fact that we are disrupting the industry by combining art, science, and technology to impact emotions, bodies, and longevity, and I enjoy this immensely. Having graduated at the top of my medical school class and residency in psychiatry, I have a solid understanding of medicine and how the brain and body are connected. Having a practical, affordable, and accessible means to offer this is very exciting.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

We completed two research trials, the last at Mayo Clinic, that showed that our intervention could improve anxiety, emotional distress, and focus. We received NPS scores of 91 and 97 at a corporation, indicating that these research findings can translate into the real world. I was recently invited to talk about how we can solve the mental health crisis in the metaverse at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and I entered through the metaverse. Our customers are really enjoying the product, and it is helping them.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

When you have a radical idea that could transform the quality and duration of life, people are risk averse and hesitant to believe or invest, even when the preliminary research is positive. Finding the right mission-aligned investor who believes is challenging. Also, despite depression and anxiety costing the world $1 trillion in lost productivity, when the WHO interviewed 169 countries, only 2% of the health expenditure was on mental health. We need to get the world to understand that mental health contributes to cancer, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. It is not in a category of its own. The cost is much greater, and I think we need to invest in it much more. It isn't easy to get people to see this.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Love what you do because you'll be spending a long time doing it.
  2. Listen to others, but follow your own heart and strategy.
  3. Never give up, but course-correct, and be agile as you move forward.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.reulay.com/
Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/SriniPillayMD/
Facebook (Company): https://www.facebook.com/NBGCorporate/
Facebook (Company): https://www.facebook.com/NeuroBusinessGroup/
Instagram (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/drsrinipillay/
Instagram (Company): https://www.instagram.com/reulay/
Twitter (Personal): https://twitter.com/srinipillay
Twitter (Company): https://twitter.com/reulayinc
LinkedIn (Personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsrinipillay/
LinkedIn (Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/reulayxr/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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