I am very excited to be part of the founding class of UNLEASH innovation lab which brings together 1,000 SDG talents to create solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals. While here I choose to work on the HEALTH theme and sub-theme #MentalHealth.

Goal 3 of the SDGs is to: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. I believe to be able to effectively tackle the SDG’s the health of the world needs to be the hot topic; the major benefits for body composition, as well as physical and mental health will kick start productivity in other areas.

As a psychologist I understand too well how our emotions transcend cultures and provides a powerful lens through which we experience everything around us. How we relate to our emotions directly influences our judgment, decision-making, cognition, and ability to connect with others.

Mental Health can strike anyone at any time. The behavioral disorders like they say do not discriminate. From CEO’s of fortune 500 companies to young mothers in rural Kenya. It can strike anyone. Mental healthcare services are often not available or are under-utilized, particularly in developing countries.

What are we doing to be part of the solution?

As a new graduate psychologist I had a burning to be like ELON. This brought me to Amani Institute, an Education organization preparing next-generation talent to tackle global challenges through social innovation.

As a Fellow I started a new venture that explored how millions of Kenyan’s suffer from mental illness but lack the care they deserve. Where even among those who can afford to pay for it, lack to recognize its importance. My target for the last eighteen month’s has been to work with schools and organizations. We discovered that, with over 35,000 schools in Kenya, private and public. Only 15 of the schools had a full time psychologist or access to one. Large corporate organizations hardly ever use services of psychologists in their day to day activities.

With no covers for mental health, this is part of a larger development related problem. Depression and stress disorders adversely affect people’s ability to work. Mental illness creates a potential burden on families and generally leads to greater poverty. It therefore has a significant economic impact upon the rest of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The main questions I have been exploring being;

1. How might we get health professionals and a variety of intervention to mental health cases to the developing world?

2. How might we help organization understand that improving the psychological well-being of their workforce brings benefits for both the individual employees and the organization as a whole?

I have to agree networking and connection points are a great area to start. This is why am excited about #UNLEASHLAB2017. Collaboration brings great perspectives to finding new solutions. See you in Denmark.

Let’s not forget, “human race has never had it so good”.

Mental Health and SDG’s? I guess the Apple Doesn’t Fall far From the Tree! was originally published in UNLEASH Lab on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

“Kenyan’s are Creators, Producers and Manufacturers.” James Mworia

“Kenya gives you one of the biggest markets in the world” Chris Kirubi

“Opportunities aren’t Only at the Top, There is Growth For Everyone” Ahmed Mady CocaCola

“Kenya is Africa’s Silicon “Savannah”( term used to refer to the technology ecosystem in Kenya)”

“Over Sixty-percent of our population are millennials” Charles Murito

“Kenya has the best educated population” Corine Nana

“Emerging Middle-class, Highly bankable population” Jeremy Awuori

“Open door policy for investments” Najib Balala

“There is wealth in our Soils, Our fruits and vegetables feed Europe”

“Without Kenya, there is no love in Europe” Stephen Musyoka

#TheFutureIsKenya #SimbaNiMoja #TheMountainIsOurs

During a conversation with Anne Miltenburg, I asked her if people in the social sector really need branding. Her answer was short. “ If people don’t know you, they wont buy your vision for change, buy your service, product or know about the change you want to create.”

Anne founded Brandling which creates tool-kits that empowers change-makers to increase their impact through branding. As a founder of a social enterprise myself I realize as much as we are attuned to the unique benefit of allowing our biggest fans and clients buy into our ideas with some stories we tell ourselves. The truth is, we are now faced with an ever-increasing number of corporate companies doing the exact same thing through the corporate social responsibility or sustainability.

I think sharing our stories alone will not get us there. In the words of Brandling “Strong brands are crystal clear on what drives them and what they want to be recognized for by others. They radiate what they stand for through every single interaction their audience has with them.”

Knowing who your best customers are and how to get your message in front of them is the key to being heard. I am lucky to be offered a toolkit from Brandling which has lots of knowledge resources that provide change makers like myself with the knowledge and skills they need to build their brand.

Brandling inspiration is to see a world where a family starting a lemonade factory in Sierra Leone has access to as much knowledge on the branding process as a company like Coca Cola.

As I look into how to let people understand how Mental health is such a limited resource in the developing world ; this including among those who can afford to pay for it but who lack to recognize its importance. I have to agree networking and connection points are a great idea. Meeting Anne through Amani Institute and the one on one conversation we shared this evening that led me to be equipped.

Never forget, human-to-human connections are the heart and soul of business. Always look forward to the next one.

If you are looking for employment and busy preparing for an upcoming Job interview, you know your life is going to change somehow, and your heartbeat will be making somersaults. Behind all the anxiety, the only question on your mind is always!

How am I going to let my personality shine through and how will I show the world what I can bring to the table during the interview process.

The truth is, you will either end up having one of the most dreadful mornings and afternoons ever or it could be the best day of your life. This article is for those who will not be feeling soo good afterwards.

I care about you, if you are still reading that is.

Because in Job interviews the feedback you will get and how you perceive these incidences will throw you off track. You will be intimidated. You will be asked awkward questions you didn’t prepare for, you will be forced to give cringeworthy responses, lie, or make gaffes such as spilling drinks on yourself, swearing by accident, going red, sweating profusely or saying some stories you didn’t plan to. They could kill your dreams, and hopes of ever wanting to be employed again!

A tell of my own, just so 8 months ago. A Job that i was so proud of, I happened to be interviewed three times in a span of 5 months. I

Surprised! Yes, five months, first interview, second interview after two months, third interview. After the 3rd interview I thought I should give up, they had forgotten about me. Five months and the Job was still mine, story for another day. I later resigned.

This specific incidence is important, in November 2013, as I was awaiting to graduate from Kenyatta University with a Bsc in psychology, I happened to be called to a Job interview I had applied for at Upper Hill Medical Centre (this is a building that house different medical doctor’s offices from dentists, gynecologists to psychiatrists whom I am well on familiar terms with).

My appointment was booked at 3pm. I was being interviewed by one of the personal psychologists of a well known and respected psychiatrist here in Kenya. We started off on a good note, she asked, “tell me about yourself, why do you want to work here as a counseling psychologist?”I answered each and every one of them.

What i was thinking, at least I had prepared for this. She made me able to chill a bit, it made me feel comfortable, wait until, when she asked where I grew up, my family history, blah! blah! blah!. In fact the opposite was true. As I narrated my growing up, my mother, my sisters, grandmother, and my dad. Tension continued to build up, the fact that I had not planned for this, the fact that am stable, I had father issues and talking about mushy stuff was not going well. I feel for women it’s easier to dissect the emotional things in their life, for us men saying things require a huge effort. The fact that someone wanted me to talk about it didn’t go well with me.

I felt exposed. To cut the long story short, that interview lasted about 1hour 45min, the longest I have ever been to, just you and the interviewer. Of course I didn’t get the job.

It’s important for you to know most recruitment agencies, HR’s and whoever is on the interviewing panel have one thing in common and this is always on their mind when you step in to that office to be interviewed; The question is always does s/he has what it takes to do the job, are they likeable and good to be around with, are they passionate and highly skilled. So they will intimidate you, step on you, toss you around like a hot potato..Etc and it’s very easy to be disqualified from this basis.

“Interviewing is pretty tricky, in some ways it’s a crapshoot. It could depend on the interviewer’s mood throughout the day; it could be they have more in common with other candidates, things that are completely out of your control. I would say there are ways to make you more valuable on an interview than other candidates or others will find you are completely nothing, you think you are intelligent and something. Wait until you get to an interviewing panel.

Some jobs will go as far as asking you when you are available to go for a second interview or even orientation to get the hiring process rolling. They ask questions as “when are you available to start” “Are you interviewing with other people?” and when you leave some managers will say “we will get back to you by the end of today, latest tomorrow or this week” Which you will find out not to be true. It’s not your job yet. Okay to hate yes!

The biggest lesson over this now that am working on my own startup organization and having been able to interview a few people myself; during job interviews the skill level required to be hired depends on the job and expectations of the employers and whoever is able to row the panelists boat.

You may never leave a job interview with the JOB OFFER but for those hours it will leave you well aware of the setting you are in as a person, if you got it or not. If you are really a peoples person, honest, truthful, or just a lie. In job interviews you will get new perspectives that will help put your life in order. I thank “Her” for interviewing me that day she taught me how to share my story.

To conclude for any Job interview, apart from being passionate, visionary and experienced and boasting about people skills, just so you know before you can achieve closeness with others, make sure you are comfortable with yourselves, and you are comfortable telling your story. Something i greatly learned as a fellow at Amani Institute and from our instructor Robert from THNK.

We tend to run from ourselves every chance we get, our stories are based on others, and you don’t want to get exposed during interviews. Sharpen up your interpersonal life issues, the fears, hate, things you can’t stand. But this is really not sufficient to make your day a successful one. Don’t lie in a job interview, honesty outsmarts the interviewer.

If you don’t get hired, don’t hold grudges and curse, sometimes you just have to let go. It is out of your control. Hiring managers may choose to ask bizarre questions to test how well you can relate and handle stress in the workplace. Keep your cool, Be Confident; ask for water if you can. You are the boss at that time, not them. That’s why they called you. The main thing behind waking up is not just to leave your bed and start your day, but is to have new thoughts, hopes, and dreams and so are Job Interviews.

Be the king of your heart. Have few new thoughts, dreams. Be reminded that it’s not being the best it’s about being better than you were yesterday

Meanwhile Keep all those C.V’s going out!!

Confrey is a Psychologist, Fellow at Amani Institute and founder at Kenya Counsellors , a revolutionary social enterprise that connects prospective therapy clients with professional psychologists. As a budding entrepreneur, a research & tech-enthusiast, aspiring writer, and mentor. His goal is to make young professionals, new graduates, students and all the interesting people achieve their full potential by doing interesting things