Seth Hickerson, Founder of My Steady Mind, is no stranger to high-pressure situations. A two-branch Military Veteran, Hickerson served five years in the US Navy, stationed in Tokyo, Japan, Rota, and Spain, and four years in the Air Force Reserve at Langley AFB in Virginia. Hickerson's passion is to use his military training and experiences to help individuals incorporate mindfulness and resiliency training into their everyday lives. His timing could not be better as there is a renewed sense of importance and awareness on mental wellness and the feelings of burnout, stress, and mental fatigue exacerbated by the impacts of COVID-19.
The Journey to a Steady Mind
Hickerson was not always the inwardly attuned individual he is today. Dating back to high school, he suffered from anxiety, depression, and self-sabotaging behaviors. A student-athlete, he lost out on scholarship opportunities in high school due to bad decisions. While stationed in Tokyo, he was exposed to contemplative practice, mindfulness, and meditation. He learned tools and techniques for staying present, which lead to an increased sense of confidence and happiness. He realized that mental wellness is all about training.
So, after the military, he pursued a degree in Health and Physical Education followed by a Master's in Sport Psychology, and then a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. He started to put his education, training, and passion for mental wellness to work through his first company, Boost Mental Toughness & Leadership.
"I have always been a coach and my differentiator was teaching people how to train mentally,” Hickerson said. “How to create habits and routines to live in the zone or flow state. I had mostly worked with high-performing people that needed to learn how to be Calm in Chaos. In particular, professional athletes and military special operations personnel (mostly SEALS). My entrepreneurial vision was to bring this type of mindfulness and emotional intelligence training to the rest of the world.”
The world changed in 2020 with the impact of COVID-19, and the need for people to manage emotions and stressors effectively has become even more apparent. Having found a home for himself and his business at Groundswell Startups, he was in a better position than ever to meet the needs of the masses, and My Steady Mind launched in January of 2021.
“At My Steady Mind our goal is to cut through the noise of the mindfulness industry,” Hickerson said. “People are searching for ways to reduce stress, be more mindful, present, and confident. And they are mostly consuming information such as books, podcasts, influencers, watching videos, etc. hoping something will "stick.". We don't want to see people wasting time and money on things that don't work.”
To help with that waste, Hickerson and his team, created a simple formula, a shortcut to becoming more mindful and emotionally intelligent. And it requires training.
“We offer a 9-module online course, supported with live coaching from our expert instructors to help train people how to acquire their own personal Steady Mind formula,” Hickerson said. “The course shows you the entire "mental gym" so you can try everything out. This is mental health training, not treatment. And it's fun, effective, and affordable. Business and organizations can do it as well as individuals.”
My Steady Mind has everything a company needs for a complete plug-and-play mental wellness training and education platform from an organizational level. Post-Covid businesses are scrambling to find ways to build out their wellness portfolios to provide employees with tools to manage stress. These wellness portfolios should consist of treatment AND training options. My Steady Mind offers all the training options they need.
Hickerson has been able to tap into a number of our resources at Groundswell to bring My Steady Mind to life.
- Camberlion, a Design and Marketing Studio founded by long-term Groundswell Mentor Keith Nugent, played a critical role in building out My Steady Mind's e-commerce website, LMS, and procedures for onboarding customers, and it provided critical strategic guidance along the way.
- Matt Mayer, Founder of Studio Lossy, created the brand's identity, including the logo and all design work you will find on the website, t-shirts, email templates, and other promotional material.
- Eric Castillo, Founder of Caveman Spaceman Productions, filmed all of My Steady Mind's training and promotional videos available as part of the 9-module online course.
- Mindstamp, an interactive video platform created by Brett Lindenberg, enabled My Steady Mind to add interactive questions directly into the video, driving engagement and creating the ability to measure student understanding and collect unique data that helps them improve future content.
Being able to connect with professionals and vetted resources within the Groundswell ecosystem has helped My Steady Mind accelerate its growth.
"Groundswell has been absolutely amazing,” Hickerson said. “By far the best resource, incubator, and co-working space I have ever been to. With the launch of our new business, everything was done completely with talent from Groundswell. Our website, branding, copywriting, videos, video production, video interaction, LMS, and course design were all done within the walls of Groundswell.”
Hickerson attributes the success of My Steady Mind to the talent level of everyone who has been of aid, along with the positive working relationships of everyone involved.
“Additionally, the leadership at Groundswell has been instrumental in providing us with strategic advice on how to best position ourselves in specific markets and also helping to make connections and generating leads," said Hickerson.
My Steady Mind Team
My Steady Mind is off to a great start, establishing partnerships with hospital systems, medical schools, and universities. Hickerson has also started to work with NASA and is gaining traction with law enforcement agencies in Austin, Oklahoma City, and Michigan. The team is also working with brokerages and real estate agents.
Over the next six months, My Stead Mind is building out additional courses on Nutritional Health, Physical Health, and Spiritual Health. The team is working to form new partnerships and expand its reach with corporate partners.
"Millennials and Gen Z are looking for these types of mental wellness training platforms from the companies that they want to work for,” Hickerson said. “A steady mind is a resilient, present, confident, focused, grateful, and emotionally intelligent mind, and that's what we want to teach people how to acquire."
To learn more about My Steady Mind please visit: https://mysteadymind.com/
To learn more about Groundswell Startups and their high-tech incubator and working space please visit: https://swellstartups.com/
