GO p l c : Mindbeat helps you improve skills by 25 percent

What if we say that we know an app that helps you improve skills by 25%, reduce stress by 18% and increase productivity by 16% ? We talked to Elisa, co-founder of Mindbeat, a local based startup. We are so thrilled that we could be a part of that brilliant project. Here is what Elisa had to say about Mindbeat and her experience.

1. Hi Elisa, can you introduce our audience to Mindbeat?

Mindbeat's mission is to help to empower professionals to build the skills and mindsets they need to be themselves, at their very best. The way we work and the jobs and skills needed are constantly changing, so companies today are under greater pressure than ever before to re-skill and retain people. And for most people working in organisations, the pressure to adapt, work differently and grow or re-shape can often feel overwhelming. On top of that, the pandemic has taken its toll on emotional wellbeing, and so when you put all this together it can feel stretching and get in the way of our productivity and wellbeing. Coaching has been proven to be one of the most effective ways of helping people navigate change, build new skills, step into new roles and reduce stress - however for many years it has been expensive and therefore 'reserved' for the most senior executives. We exist to 'democratise' coaching and to enable more people, earlier in their careers, to access executive quality coaching through an online platform. Being online makes it accessible for leaders anywhere in the world. We are currently servicing clients in multiple countries working with 500 coaches in 35 countries coaching in 32 languages.

2. What/Who inspired you to create Mindbeat?

Our clients, and seeing how truly transformational coaching can be for individuals and teams. Being in the field of Business Psychology, and having spent 20 years advising and coaching senior leaders and teams around the world has taught me how personal and unique each person's context and the story is. Often, what can hold us back from being at our best has to do with our mindset, and our ability to influence people and opportunities around us. Because coaching is so highly personalised, and because it creates ongoing accountability, focus and support, it can be a significant catalyst to unlocking people's fuller potential. Coaching lifts the hood and gets behind the issues that are showing up enabling the coachee to experience significant shifts in confidence, productivity and happiness in just a handful of sessions. Having seen this first-hand through our clients and our members has been, and continues to be, a huge source of inspiration for me, for my co-founder Jo and for all of us at Mindbeat. As female co-founders, we also feel strongly about inspiring other female entrepreneurs to lead the charge in their field.

3. Can people from all walks of life access this platform for career coaching?

Right now Mindbeat is offering executive-level coaching for individuals and groups of professionals working in companies, from any function or industry at very affordable prices. We can create packages to suit most budgets and every journey starts with a deep dive into the problem you are looking to solve. Typically Mindbeat members use coaching to help them work on mindsets and skills to support their personal effectiveness (for example, how I manage my time, how I navigate change and so on), or their leadership and managerial skills. We also support teams looking to dial up their performance or improve how they relate and work together.

4. What are Mindbeat's core values?

We feel very passionate at Mindbeat about our core values and how they impact our decisions, strategy and behaviour. Our values help us to challenge each other and also to celebrate behaviours rather than just achievements. Our value are: Impactful - truly delivering world class outcomes that matter to our members and our clients; Human - partnering and building long term relationships with our clients and coaches; Playful - bringing our full selves to work, including our quirks, and having fun; Pioneering - experimenting and pushing ourselves to test our assumptions in pursuit of continually evolving a better, digitally augmented, human learning experience; Passionate - going the extra mile and caring deeply about all our stakeholders and each other; Agile - being prepared to adapt and hustle to move quickly.

5. What's your favourite part of your job?

Seeing the impact of our coaching programmes on individuals and companies. It's incredibly rewarding to be able to play a role in helping people be themselves, at their best - and helping teams connect in a better way and thrive.

6. How is GO helping Mindbeat grow?

Nikhil and Paul have been strong partners who bring support and healthy challenge (in equal measure!) to help us think through our milestones, goals and routes to growing. I value the fact they have different skills to ours and are a helpful sounding board on 'live challenges'. We have also discovered true partners in the wonderful HR team who have brought Mindbeat in for GO employees and help us continually improve the offering by brainstorming with us, sharing feedback and ideas on areas such as client onboarding and the user experience.

7. What is the biggest challenge in running Mindbeat?

Running a startup is like having a baby while doing five jobs, all wrapped into one, so as exhilarating and purposeful as it is it's sometime super challenging to cut through 'all the things we could be doing' to 'the most important ones' and balancing that with the resources and skills we have is probably the biggest one for us at the moment!

8. What advice would you give to a budding entrepreneurs?

My top tips would be to stay close to your 'market' when you're following your passion and your idea - make sure it can 'work' and meets a genuine need, and really obsess about your target client and what problem you are trying to solve. Secondly, surround yourself with great people you like to work with and trust - in your co-founding team, or if you're a solo-preneur, then 'build your virtual team around you. They keep you going when the going gets tough! And (not that I'm biased!) work with a coach! The right coach will help you to take the space you need for reflection and will help you to focus on the things that will keep driving the needle forward. This is easier said than done without the right guidance and support.