“The way you do business reflects the way you live”
Alejandra Sambonino and her team are working on Emotional Guidance Guru (EGG), an app that helps people become more aware of their emotions.
“What inspired me most was the knowledge that if people could learn how to process their emotions in a healthy way, individuals would not become so ‘stressed’. Which is only a buzz word for the result of not handling emotions healthily. So when people learn how to do this, they become naturally happier people, it’s amazing! Emotions can serve you, instead of block you, and this can benefit all areas of your life: health, work, carrier and relationships.
This main question drove my curiosity and triggered me to try to find out how we could solve this puzzle.
Handling emotions
“I used to organize a lot of social meetups in The Hague. We talked a lot about this with friends and thought: why don’t we do anything with this? Our app teaches people how to handle emotions. There are four steps. The first one is defining how you feel: frustrated, sad… and then indicate how strong you feel this emotion. Based on which emotion you feel, the app gives you quick and simple exercises that you can do that help yourself to feel better. After that, you can indicate again how you feel, and track if you actually feel better.”
“We use mindfulness based cognitive behavioral therapy, combined with meditation exercises. Depending on how you feel, the all will help you reframe your emotions. What triggered your frustration, did someone not meet your expectations? Was your expectation too high? What does this frustration teach you? We give you small suggestions and exercises you can do to make you feel better. Disclaimer though, if you feel really, really bad, please look for medical advice.”
Helping people
“I was 14 years old when my dad said: ‘Study international relations, you’re good with people and you can sell anything.’ I thought why not? But I realized I wanted to help people. What would be the quickest way to help the most people? Psychology is incredibly scientific. Not very innovative, quite dry, and it couldn’t answer all the questions I had. This drove me to start Emotional Guidance Guru, and fulfill my passion to see people happier and healthier. So many people are lost in drugs, alcohol and depression. It would be easier to solve the issue if people would understand what drives this and how they can help themselves solve it”.
“If we get EGG up and running, at the end I would like to exit and have someone else run it. Where I would like to go is completely different. I want to create an emotional healing center in South America. It would be a physical center, a retreat center in South America on the beach side, where the weather is amazing. It would be a modern one, which works with e-health and data acquisition, but would also have an old school beach design.”
Feeling at home
“I heard about HealthInc via Menno Kok and the network of people in the startup world. He said to me on the phone that I needed a program that’s health oriented, since I target stress. It can be difficult to explain why stress is important to the general public, so a program that is health focused would be helpful in my field. I love the perspective that they have here at AHTI to create a community of support. That’s what got me into choosing HealthInc over other programs in Berlin, for example. I’m really happy with my choice, although you can see it’s still a beginning program. There is a lot of trial and error. But the mentors we have, really care. I’m really grateful. This place feels like home to me. Other places focus on money and profit. Not AHTI.”
It’s about the journey
“I love what I’m doing, so I’m fine with whatever happens. I have a lot of passions overall that I can pursue: dancing, sports, singing, but I decided to focus on this company. Because I think it’s the quickest way to create value and impact in the world. And we also need money if we want to make an impact. What I run it’s a conscious business: the way you do business is your way of living. They are not exclusive of one another. It’s a fulfilling occupation, you make money with something that adds value in the world. Everyone in the team gets treated with care and respect. It’s not only about the end product, it’s about the whole journey of getting there.” That’s important to keep in mind. I am open to why will come out of this process knowing that I’m happy to do this every single day.”
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