Vicar’s daughter. Accidental entrepreneur. Published author. Founder. Award winner. Disruptor.
There are plenty of ways to describe myHappymind CEO Laura Earnshaw but ‘in demand’ world be another.
She’s also the guest in the latest episode of the Naked Founder podcast.
Last year, 16 different investors wanted to back myHappymind before she eventually opted for LDC.
She started the business after seeing friends and family struggle with their mental health and fail to get the support they needed.
Now she’s on a mission to equip every child with the mental health skills they need to thrive.
But it wasn’t meant to be this way. Before launching the business, the self-confessed ‘corporate girl’ had enjoyed a stellar career at Accenture, AstraZeneca and PwC, including a spell in Sydney, Australia.
“I never planned to be an entrepreneur,” she said. “I’m an accidental entrepreneur.
“In our society mental health is known to be one of the biggest challenges we face yet all the funding, all of the resources and all of the conversation is around fixing the problem, not preventing it.”
In 2016, she decided to do something about it by launching myHappymind, spending the first six years working from her kitchen table with only her dog Max for company.
Earnshaw initially piloted myHappymind’s software in two schools. Today, it’s impacted more than 1,000,000 children, teachers and parents.
Key milestones have included securing NHS endorsement, receiving a King’s Award and publishing a myHappymind book, which became an Amazon bestseller. And just last month, publishing an independent evaluation by the Centre for Mental Health.
She moved into her first office in 2021 and her husband Tim joined the business as COO.
Last year, Earnshaw shot to prominence when she won the Judges’ Award at the Northern Tech Awards in Liverpool, and the Kings Award for Enterprise and the BETT award for Transformational Impact.
“I think there’s always an element of winging it,” she said. “I think, even today, there’s an element of winging it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably not being honest. I should say it was not only me. This one (Max the dog) has been by my side since day one at the kitchen table.
“Having a purpose-driven business has always been front and centre for us,” she said.
“Never take advice from someone who has not done what you are trying to do.
“I had so many people around me who were saying ‘this seems like really hard work, why don’t you go back to being head of global HR again?’
“Being focussed on your mission and not losing sight of that, alongside resilience, are two really important things.”
The episode was sponsored by Financielle and can be listened to here.