My first boss: Sherry Rais, co-founder, CEO of psychedelic medicines company Enthea
Sherry Rais is CEO of Enthea, a US-based company on a mission to expedite health plan coverage for psychedelic-assisted therapy. Rais was previously a consultant on poverty alleviation for over 10 years for the United Nations and the World Bank.
I describe Dick Simon as the kindest CEO that I have known and I try to embody what I learned from him in my role today.
His style is endearing as he exudes so much love in his emails. He uses lots of words of affirmation in capped letters, such as ‘You were AMAZING!’. But it’s so genuine and you can see the positivity coming out of him.
Dick is a successful philanthropist and entrepreneur and lives his life with purpose and mission. I started working with him about five years ago, at a point where he was formally retired and focused on philanthropy.
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I was helping him project manage the different initiatives he was involved in. He was passionate about psychedelics and it was part of my introduction into this space. I was inspired by how much time and energy he put into spreading information, making people more aware, connecting people and the potential for psychedelic medicines to go mainstream.
Watching Dick, I learned how he ran a company with integrity and passion. Even when he transitioned from philanthropy to launching a for profit biotech start-up, he didn’t compromise this and make it all about returns.
He has a messy but efficient system of following up with contacts. He will collect everyone’s business cards at conferences he attends and take notes on the back to describe each person he meets. On the plane home he will then write to each one as a follow up. That has certainly been hard to replicate.
Dick hasn’t been shy to share his personal story and connection to psychedelics and mental health. I learned from him that it’s better to be open. That’s a hard thing to do as you have to be vulnerable to share those kinds of stories. As psychedelics aren't Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved yet, there is also another layer of sensitivity around sharing these stories.
He is so open and welcoming and often takes me into his home. I have been working remotely as a nomad across the globe for the last 15 years. Dick is like family now and this has created a stronger working relationship. I try and replicate this with my team. I take time to get to know them personally.
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When I first started working with Dick in the psychedelics space in 2018 there was so much stigma, but gradually people are coming around. There have been positive stories in the media about the benefits of therapeutic psychedelics, there have been Netflix specials, more data on clinical trials, more centres of excellence in universities studying it, and attitudes have improved.
More people are now looking for solutions to their mental health issues following Covid. People are open to trying anything.
In the US, most people get their health benefits and insurance through their employers, who we work with to enable employees get the extra benefit of ketamine-assisted therapy and eventually other psychedelics as well when they are approved.
With our very first customer we showed that people with PTSD, after doing this treatment, had an 86% reduction in symptoms, which is unheard of with any other treatment. Those with depression and anxiety also had 67% and 65 % reduction in symptoms. As we collect more data with these additional employees it creates a domino effect to gain more customers.
Meeting Dick changed the trajectory of my life. I was inspired by the potential of psychedelics at a time when I frustrated by the work I was doing before. What I found toughest about working with the UN and World Bank was seeing the effects of poverty and mental health issues first hand and not having solutions.
Seeing Dick’s desire to drastically improve people's mental health through psychedelic medicine took me over the line to change careers and he continues to advise and support me in the work that I do.
Sherry Rais was speaking at 2023 Web Summit in Lisbon
