About my co-founder...

This past Thursday, Motivo hosted a one-day summit in Washington, D.C.

The goal was to discuss the nationwide shortage of therapists - and what we can do about it.

As a company, we’ve never hosted anything like this, and I was so nervous about it - but it truly could not have gone better.

At the event, a friend told me about a startup idea focused on men’s health.

When he explained his idea, he mentioned a research study I hadn’t heard of before.

The study aimed to determine the impact of social support on a person’s perception of climbing a steep hill.

Interestingly, the study concluded that “participants accompanied by a friend estimated a hill to be less steep when compared to participants who were alone.”

Isn’t that wild?

The same size hill is viewed as less steep when you walk it with a friend, versus when you walk it alone.

I read the study, and I found it so fascinating. (You can find it here).

As I was reflecting on the findings, I immediately began to think about my co-founder, Mike.

Me and Mike

If you’ve been following Motivo for a while, you probably know I started the company to solve a problem I experienced on my own road to licensure - which was lack of access to a clinical supervisor.

In the early days, I was a solo founder - fumbling around, trying to figure out the world of tech startups on my own.

I certainly would have liked to have had a co-founder in those days - particularly someone who could help me build the platform - but I didn’t know any software engineers.

So, I created my own little “solution” - using a Shopify template, uploading several supervisor profiles, and then matching people together manually on an Excel spreadsheet.

It was enough to get us started - but it definitely (like, definitely) wasn’t scalable.

Everything was manual. Everything was hard.

We hobbled along like that for a couple of years.

And I cried a lot.

Then, in 2020, I met Mike through a colleague named Sarah.

Mike joined Motivo as a fractional consultant - mostly because he felt sorry for me. He could tell I was overwhelmed, and he wanted to help.

He didn’t want to join full time, but he was willing to lend a hand.

What he didn’t know is that I’m very persuasive.

And charming.

And humble.

After a few months, I convinced Mike to join the company as my Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder.

And I made him promise to stay until he died.

When Mike joined the company, everything changed - in the best possible ways.

We used to process the credit card of every single supervisee one session at a time (thanks Julie!).

Mike automated our billing.

We used to create a PDF of each supervisor’s sessions and email it to them monthly.

Mike built hour tracking into the platform.

We used to receive a request from a supervisee to meet with a supervisor. Then, we manually emailed the supervisor and supervisee several times to find a time that would work for all parties.

Mike replaced this with one-click scheduling in the platform.

These upgrades revolutionized the company - and helped us serve our supervisors and supervisees better and faster.

However, to be totally honest, most software engineers could have done what Mike and his team did.

I could have just made him the CTO and left it at that.

But, I was actually looking for a partner.

I was looking for someone who would climb the hill with me.

Someone who would make it seem less steep.

In the early days of Motivo, I experienced an emotional toil that was even more difficult than the long hours in front of my laptop.

This emotional toil lived inside me - keeping me up at night and causing me to question if I was making the right decisions for the company.

When I asked Mike to be my co-founder, I was essentially saying, “Will you take on some of this burden? Will you climb this hill with me?”

And he said yes.

(Cause, remember, I’m charming)

From that day forward, Mike became a trustworthy sounding board for my thoughts, ideas, and fears.

He shows me what problems technology can solve for us.

He ensures we build a team that represents the world around us.

He makes thoughtful decisions and is a respected leader.

He helps me envision the future of the company.

In short, Motivo wouldn’t be what it is today without Mike Chen.

I’m curious, does this bring to mind anyone in your personal or professional life who has been a fellow traveler?

Someone who helps the hill seem less steep?

Of course, this is certainly an analogy that can be used to describe the relationship between a therapist and client.

While there are therapy models that position the therapist as the “expert in the room,” the modalities I’ve always been more drawn to are ones where therapists and clients look at a problem together, side-by-side.

If there is anyone who has provided this sort of help on your journey, I’d love to hear about them.

And to Mike, my fellow traveler on this Motivo journey, I’m forever grateful for the countless ways you show up for me on this climb, every single day.

Remember, you’ll be here till you die.

Warmly,

Rachel

Rachel McCrickard, LMFT
CEO/Co-Founder, Motivo
rachel@motivohealth.com