#80 - Lyra's VP of Partnerships (early employee) - Sean McBride

Stigma Podcast - Mental Health

Sean McBride, VP Partnerships at Lyra Health joins us in this episode to talk about Lyra, behavioral health care broadly, and he experience working to reform the healthcare system throughout his career. Sean was the first employee at Lyra Health and shares with us about how the Company has scaled into a unicorn over the last 6 years. Lyra Health is focused on making behavioral health care more accessible and easier to find. Prior to Lyra, Sean worked at Castlight Health, The White House’s National Economic Council, and The Brookings Institution’s Health Care Reform Center among other positions.

You can connect with Sean here: LinkedIn

What If Fellowship: https://whatif.vc/fellowship

HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT:

1. Sean shares his background in the healthcare industry, how it led him to Lyra Health, and his personal struggles with mental health.
2. We discuss what Sean thinks is the thing keeping employees from using the tools that their employer provides and what an employer can do to create a supportive culture in the workplace.
3. We talk about value-based care, what it is, and if we are moving in that direction in our system.
4. We discuss the need to get our society to focus on our mental health and make it more of a priority like our physical health.
5. Sean shares about Lyra Health, who they are, what they do for companies that they work with, and what benefits the employees get from an employer who works with Lyra.
6. We discuss what Lyra Health looked like in the early days and how the objective of the company remains the same since then.
7. Sean shares what he thinks is the ideal partner or customer for Lyra and what their marketing strategy looks like to reach this ideal audience.
8. Finally, Sean gives his opinion on where he sees the most opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs who are just starting out in this space and where the problems that need to be fixed are.

Connect with the Stigma Podcast in the following ways: What If Fellowship, Patreon, Website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Email

Connect with host Stephen Hays here: Stephen Hays Personal Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, What If Ventures (Mental Health Venture Fund)