Meet the Co-Founders, Lisa & Marisa Birnbaum, partners in business & in life.
We’ve worked alongside Leaders & their Direct Reports -- in the contexts of therapy, coaching, & consulting -- for the past two decades. We launched Strengths Squared in 2021, as a direct response to the lack of support & skills being given specifically, to Startup Founders & their Teams.
What started as research on what Direct Reports want most from their Leaders led to an overarching theme about our workplaces: mental health & wellbeing needed to be skillfully & sustainably, prioritized. We utilized this research with Direct Reports & their Leaders -- along with our own lived experiences as both Direct Reports & Leaders -- to equip them with skills to foster sustainable, mentally healthy work cultures of collective care, collective accountability, & intentional work-life integration.
During this work, we were particularly drawn to the experiences of Startup Founders & their Teams. We quickly learned -- and experienced first hand -- how Startup Founders & their Teams are significantly more likely to experience mental health concerns & burnout than the general public. We also saw how stigmatized these concerns were among this group & the accompanying feelings of shame that were ever present. We were especially surprised (& admittedly, quite disheartened) when the stigmatization & accompanying feelings of shame were confirmed, even by Startup Founders & their Teams working directly within the Tech-Mental Health space.
We want you to know we see you. We hear you.
You are very much not alone.
Let’s work to destigmatize this. Let us support you & equip you with the skills you need.