We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ken Hunt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ken, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Although in the early stages, my mission for a company I am calling Innergiving is, “to facilitate transparent and sustainable giving that fuels mental health & well-being nonprofits with the exposure and funding needed to bring their visions forward.”

The motivation behind this business model can be attributed to my own lifelong journey. I have spent the better part of 30 years in the financial services industry, building and creating from the ground up. What I wasn’t conscious of during that time was the reason behind the chase for status, money, possessions, and a pursuit to feel valued. This was all a function of early childhood trauma and conditioning, and ultimately came to a point in my life where I questioned what it was all about. What is the chase all about and why isn’t it creating the happiness I desire. I was attaining a lot of the “success” I was chasing, yet I wasn’t feeling fulfilled or happy. Till one Monday morning when I woke up to a voice that I couldn’t ignore that said I needed to step away from the unhealthy chase, and instead start a journey inward to identify the conditioning and heal the wounds within that were driving the behaviors. A scary point in time where I chose to go against all that I was conditioned to believe and pursue, to explore something that I had no idea how to find the answers to.

So, the journey began regardless of the not knowing. I became an avid reader of everything I could get my hands on (some of my favorites being The Untethered Soul and The Myth of Normal). I spent more time in nature. I took up yoga and meditation. I explored deep wounds and buried childhood trauma. I stepped outside my comfort zone into therapy and coaching. As with everything we do in our lives, it is a growth progression that takes time. But what this inner exploration taught me was how to connect mind, body, and soul and gave me the awareness that I needed to navigate what was coming next. About one and half years after that Monday morning voice, I went to a family doctor to discuss some unusual sensations I was feeling, mostly when doing physical activities. That was a Tuesday morning, and by Friday of the same week I was on the operating table having open heart surgery and a triple bypass.

Although challenging, the experience was a beautiful opportunity for growth. The inner journey only went deeper post-surgery and beyond. Moving forward another couple years and here comes a pandemic, and the world now seems to be nudged towards an inner journey of their own. I feel like my experience prepared me in so many ways for the pandemic and the awareness that was required to navigate that.

Corporate America has changed, and therefore the leadership that is required to lead us forward is also changing. I have been immersed in emotional intelligence, mindful leadership, conscious leadership, and more.

All of this a long way of saying my journey has led me to a profound realization that mental health & well-being (which requires a whole new conversation to remove the stigma attached) is the driving force behind a world that functions in a way that we all long for yet are too unconscious to fully understand. Just like our physical well-being, there is an equally important emphasis that needs to be placed on our mental well-being, from a personal experience as well as a societal or community experience. Becoming aware of what it is that truly drives our behavior and healing the wounds or barriers that keep us from being the best version of ourselves. And there isn’t one person on this planet that isn’t impacted in one way or another from this often-avoided topic of mental health & well-being.

With the challenges of social media, and our attachment to devices, comes a whole new troubling problem with our younger generations and mental health concerns.

There are so many organizations out there today that offer powerful solutions to combat our growing mental health crisis. Yet they are struggling to get the funding they need to impact as many as they would like. Combining my financial services background, experience building from the ground up, personal challenges with trauma and early conditioning, and a bird’s eye view of how nonprofits struggle to get funding, has all added up to my why and motivation behind the mission of Innergiving.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am senior entrepreneurial leader with a long track record of superior achievements in growing successful businesses, operationalizing vision, building infrastructure, mindful leadership, championing innovation, facilitating timely change, building high-performing teams, and delivering critical organizational results. A unique and powerful combination of mindful leadership, operations, astute financial acumen, and technical expertise.

Innergiving is all about collective philanthropy, awareness, transparency and impact…

Why Now: The state of youth mental health in the United States is a pressing concern that demands urgent attention. Today’s generation of young people is grappling with unprecedented challenges, contributing to a significant rise in mental health issues.

Opportunity: To safeguard the well-being of our youth, concerted efforts must be made on multiple fronts. Increased funding is crucial to improve mental health infrastructure, ensuring accessible and comprehensive services nationwide. Promoting mental health education and awareness in schools and communities is essential to destigmatize mental illness and encourage early intervention.

Problem: There is a growing gap between those who can impact a shift in mental health & well-being and the financial resources needed to advance their vision.

Solution: A philanthropic app dedicated to supporting a carefully curated pool of nonprofits that provide mental health & well-being solutions. An innovative model that fuels impact leaders with the exposure and funding needed to bring their visions forward. A fully transparent model that illustrates impact, facilitates trust and spreads value to all stakeholders.

Our authentic intention is to build a community of value-aligned donors that are committed to solving one of our most critical challenges in the world today, youth mental health & well-being. Through emotional connection and a collective approach, we will shine a light on and fund those nonprofit organizations providing the most valuable solutions.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I have shared some of this earlier in the story, but there is some deep influential conditioning from my early years that unconsciously contributed to preventing me from pursuing my dreams and desires, one of them being creating a business of my own. If I hadn’t listened to the prompt to take the inner journey, the awareness and eventual healing would not have occurred. And the same influences or barriers that kept me from being the best version would have persisted. But I chose differently and took the courageous path towards healing those wounds and now pursuing a business, and one that can create significant impact in the world.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

This entire story is all about a major “pivot” in my life. A change from conditioned pursuits based on unconscious beliefs, to one of awareness, freedom, and fulfillment. My definition of “success” has changed from material and labels, to one of inner peace and happiness. The relationship we choose to establish with our mind influences the way in which our reality unfolds. This takes awareness, healing limiting beliefs, courageous action, and conscious choice. Pivoting in this direction changes your life in profound ways, I know it has mine.