"The biggest challenge that we’re faced with now is focused on tackling the current mental health crisis"
Matthew West is a psychologist and well-being tech founder at boom journal. Raised in Los Angeles, in a small town called Palmdale, Matt West took a path of college and obtained two masters in psychology by the age of 24.
This path has not only allowed him to help Millennials deal with stress but also aid millennials on the path of personal growth. Matt West currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.
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We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Matthew West: I am a psychologist and well-being tech founder at Boom Journal. Raised in Los Angeles, in a small town called Palmdale, I took a path of college and obtained two masters in psychology by the age of 24. This path has not only allowed me to help Millennials deal with stress but also aid millennials on the path of personal growth. I currently reside in Los Angeles, CA.
How I started my journey… It’s in November 2000. I was a junior in high school excited about playing in the up-and-coming soccer season. It’s the night before tryouts, and I have a sharp pain in my knee.
Not thinking about it much, I continued to push myself through the pain during the early part of the season, and the increased frustration led to a doctor’s visit, which resulted in the diagnosis of Osgood-Schlatter disease (OSD) and lead to being forced to sit out the remainder of the season. In hindsight, it was a blessing because it resulted in seeking a new passion, mindfulness.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Matthew West: In 2018, after a series of major life events, I was looking in the mirror and decided to take back control over my life and take care of my emotional, physical, and mental well-being. I decided it was time to create a morning and night routine; improve my eating habits, sleeping habits, and add a fitness routine. I started waking up early and working out at home; two months later, I was laid out on the floor from exhaustion.
There was always an underlying voice nagging, “You should be doing something more. Something better. Something different.” But then I would become distracted by the illusion of social media and forget all about just being my authentic self. There was nothing intentional about the way I was spending my time and energy. And those things added up to an unproductive, unhappy life and feeling the effects of burnout.
I would occasionally attempt to turn off autopilot and take control of my life, by joining a gym and never adhering to the workout routine I established, creating countless business ideas that I would dream about the success that it would bring, but failure after failure, I kept going. Our cause…. Through mindfulness journaling, I started to slowly notice shifts in my thoughts and how I responded to the challenges I faced in life. It was like I started to rediscover who I really was.
There was a truth that I realized that I wanted to share with others to empower other millennials to feel inspired, energized, and joyful. I still reflect on creating a lifestyle of healthy emotional habits. At the beginning of 2019, no results, no change. None of that mattered. It took me months to finally figure out how to build emotional habits.
Figuring out how motivation works, how to build the habit of mindfulness, how to set a night and morning routine, stop procrastinating, and take action toward my vision, the steps seemed endless. After months of reading and reiterating, I finally started to notice the benefits of developing healthy emotional habits. That moment was the beginning of everything. It led me to build a well-being tech-focused startup called Boom Journal.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Matthew West: My mission is to empower millennials to feel inspired, energized, and joyful. I believe life and business are rooted in the relationship we build together and our ability to manage our emotions. My aim is to help you feel empowered, live freely and authentically, thrive in your relationships with yourself and others, and uncover meaningful work in your life and business.
I received my undergraduate degree in BA. in Psychology from Cal State Northridge University and hold a Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. I also hold another Masters of Science in Educational Psychology from Cal State Northridge University.
My area of expertise is to focus on mindfulness, neuro cognitive-behavioral approaches that are grounded in neuroscience. My passion is in the area of understanding the limitless potential of the human brain, and understanding what drives people to take action.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Matthew West: Health Organization estimates approximately 1 billion people are living with a mental disorder, and that the vast majority of those in low- and middle-income countries where mental, neurological and substance abuse disorders receive no treatment at all.
The supply-demand imbalance for mental health care surged since the Covid-19 pandemic. One Lancet study estimated that 53 million additional cases of major depressive disorders and 76 million additional cases of anxiety disorders globally in 2020.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Matthew West: Scaling during the pandemic was a test of adaptability
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Matthew West: The company said demand for its services increased substantially during the pandemic, but as the scale of the mental health-care issue has grown, the start-ups tackling it have had to scale, too. Late in 2021, Boom merged with an app-based business with many people looking for some calm during Covid.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Matthew West: A few hours a day
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Matthew West: You heavily use instagram to share content that is valuable.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Matthew West: The biggest challenge that we’re faced with now is focused on tackling the current mental health crisis.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Matthew West: We’re most interested in learning about NFT and integrating it seamlessly into our app.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Matthew West: Providing individuals the opportunity to feel empowered to be part of the mission.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Matthew West: Our business superpower is the ability to adapt to change.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Matthew West: There continues to be a trend within the digital healthcare space and movement by disparate health tech businesses to roll up a full suite of services under a model known as value-based care, and we are excited about being a part of that growth with the plan to provide our support through direct-to-consumer business and enterprise and health plan partners.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Matthew West for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Matthew West or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
