‘Removing the stigma of mental health, one mask at a time’ - In the company of Unmasked Mental Health

Why did you start your business in the first place?: We started Unmasked Mental Health to spread awareness around mental health, break down the stigma and tell our stories to the world. All of us at Unmasked have been through different stages of mental health, and we hoped that by telling our stories it will give people the confidence to do the same. Mental health is an incredibly important issue right now, impacting families and friends across the country. We felt like we had to do anything we could to help.

What is your business motto?: ‘Removing the stigma of mental health, one mask at a time.’

What advice would you give to anyone starting their own business?: Starting your own business is incredibly hard. Even with the support of business partners, it’s going to be hard, and there’s no two ways around that. You will have to deal with a lot of challenges you’ve never faced before and work harder than you ever have. With that being said, a lot of things in life are hard, but if you have the passion and determination to take that first step and grab it by the horns, anything is possible. Often taking that first step is the most challenging, but if you can do that you can keep going.

What was the biggest challenge you faced starting your business?: For us, one of the hardest things we were faced with is understanding some of the terminology used in the business world. Neither of us have a background in business or studied it in any form. Unmasked was founded to help as many people as possible, never to be something corporate, so we’ve had to play catch up on a few things.

What do you enjoy most about being self-employed?: We both enjoy having a real passion for helping people. We now wake up in a morning, ready for a day’s work and enjoy having a focus. Working on such an important issue that has real impacts on people’s lives gives you a lot of satisfaction, even if you’ve got to put in a lot of hours!

What do you enjoy least about being self-employed?: Until your business is standing on its own feet, the scariest thing would be living hand to mouth, not knowing if you can give yourself a wage this month. But if you are dedicated and passionate about what you do, things will get easier.

Which business figure do you most admire and why?

Doug: I would say the person I most admire is Richard Branson. His whole work ethic and really pushing a working environment of happy staff, happy gaff. One of his saying is “if you look after your staff, your staff will look after your business”, this really resonates with me because this is exactly what we are trying to promote with Unmasked Mental Health.

Logan: She’s not what you’d call a prominent business figure, but I admire my wife the most. She’s stood by me throughout this whole journey and backed me 100%. She has given me the drive to do what I do. Whether it’s just telling me to keep going or giving me new ideas and projects to work on. Having someone by your side through thick and thin makes a whole world of difference.

What achievement in your career are you most proud of?: In our short time of becoming a business we have also set up the charity, Unmasked Mental Health, were we run mixed peer to peer support hubs on a Thursday evening across Calderdale. Collectively at Unmasked we can all agree that the biggest achievement so far is being nominated for ‘breakthrough of the year’ in the Community Spirit Awards. Any recognition for the work you do is terrific, but to receive it from colleagues and friends in your sector is doubly so.

Where do you see your business going in the next five years?: We want to take Unmasked Mental Health international, as mental health isn’t a problem unique to the UK. Within the next five years, we hope to be delivering talks in other countries helping to tackle the stigma.

If you could invent one new product, what would it be?: Our app has been a huge success, helping adults openly talk about mental health and gain the support they need. Our next goal is to produce something for children and teenagers that offers the same support. Being open and honest about mental health at an early age can have huge beneficial effects as you grow older, we can help protect the next generation by launching something like this.