It’s the beginning of September, Labor Day has passed, the children have returned to school, the temperature is still very nice and most of us are diving back into work. I hope you were able to take some time off this summer to recharge your batteries and take care of your mental health.
In this regard, I’m thinking in particular of life science entrepreneurs, who are the people most at risk in our sector of developing symptoms of mental health disorders. According to a recent BDC study, more than a third of them (38%) have experienced a mental health problem or need care and around 60% experience symptoms such as fatigue and lack of energy. Additionally, entrepreneurs who operate a smaller or not-yet-established business are more likely to report mental health issues, which just describes the profile of the majority of entrepreneurs in the sector. Of course, all other members of our ecosystem are also prone to these issues.
I believe it’s important to take the time to question our practices within our organizations and to think about the well-being of our colleagues and partners. A benevolent approach will always be what we want to embody within the Montreal InVivo team.
For me, a great way to keep a good mental state is by getting out of home and meeting people. Meeting my team at the office two or three days a week makes me feel very good. Reconnecting through networking opportunities with other members of the ecosystem is also one of the great pleasures that my work allows me. Networking feels good, but it’s also essential to develop our network and, by extension, the business opportunities of our organizations.
This summer, the MIV team got involved in a “SME offensive strategy” which aimed to speak to as many business leaders as possible in order to better understand their current and future needs, which lead to very rich learnings. A constant conclusion emerged from these encounters: the collective need to network with peers, potential partners, clients, etc. Therefore, this fall, we will get to work and notably relaunch the series of “Ask an expert with GENAIZ” events starting this October, and in attendance this time. We also have a series of online webinars which promise to be incredibly interesting, but we will first analyze which are the best presential activities to create, all in complementarity and in collaboration with other partners of the ecosystem.
If you have any suggestions for these types of projects, do not hesitate to contact us to discuss them.
Welcome back to you all!