Cam & Leo's Emotion School

Imagine in we lived in an Emotionally Intelligent world, where people's interactions with one another were consistently purposeful, respectful, and empathy-led. Mental and emotional health and wellbeing is the necessary precursor to success in all areas of life: social, professional, and personal. Unfortunately, we don't all inherit emotional skillsets and current interventions - therapy, books, apps - are either unaffordable or ultimately, ineffective. Emotion School offers households an affordable therapeutic educational alternative that effectively raises their level of emotional functioning in a way that is fun, hands-on, and strengthens the household unit. It was founded from a wish to democratize access to therapeutic support for non-clinical emotional dysfunction, empowering households to gain core emotional competencies. Benefits of this novel format include: affordability, accessibility, privacy, actionability, democracy of education (all learners learn together), and the establishment of a productive and wholesome routine of face-to-face interaction between household members.

Mental health has captured much of the spotlight, post-COVID 19. Before the pandemic, the number of people experiencing mental health issues was ALREADY high – in Canada 1 in 5 - and now it’s even higher (46% higher). The isolation and job loss that have resulted from COVID-19 have contributed to increased rates of domestic abuse, child abuse, drug use, suicide. This has been acknowledged by all leading public health organizations: the CDC, World Health Organization, and the United Nations. 

Families are struggling, emotionally, and COVID has made it worse. Of parents with kids <18 at home:

23% are having more conflicts with their children
17% are yelling or shouting more
17% are disciplining their children more
12% are worried about being safe from physical or emotional domestic violence
11% are using harsh words more often
(Canadian Mental Health Association)

In response to this reality, we have seen huge growth of the global mental wellness market – now estimated at US$4.5T. A segment of this market is Emotion School’s current TAM (North American families with kids age 6-14, with at least one adult who has accessed mental health support in the past, indicating a propensity to seek support for their children/family). Approx.176,000 families across NA.

Cam & Leo’s Emotion provides affordable, effective, actionable therapeutic educational interventions to individuals and households via a unique format of hands-on, self-led programs (curricula + materials + video guides).

The company’s flagship program (which takes the company’s name) is a self-led educational/therapeutic program designed for parents to do with their children that teaches emotional literacy, self-awareness, social awareness, emotional regulation, emotional intelligence, and ultimately, emotional resilience. It consists of 30 mini-lessons (broken down into 6 educational modules that arrive boxed, in sequence, as the family graduates through the program). Through video guides and hands-on visual materials, Cam & Leo’s Emotion School introduces participants to a series of complex psychological, social, and emotional concepts, and solidifies these concepts through the hands-on practice of new skills. Each lesson includes the delineation of information, hands-on game/activity, and leading discussion questions.

While the program pulls together several schools of psychological, social, and cultural thought, the backbone consists in psychoanalytic theory - specifically, the theory and principles of Psychic Masochism, as defined by Dr. Edmund Bergler.

The target population is households with children that struggle with emotional regulation and functioning - i.e. every household with children. :) 

There are a plethora of solutions out there to address this population, including therapy, parenting coaches, mental wellness apps, and books. This is great. BUT – all of these solutions have their drawbacks: Therapy is the gold standard for emotional help, but it is expensive, can be difficult to access, difficult to schedule (especially family therapy), it can be challenging to find the right fit/compatibility, can seem like “too much” for average, non-clinical dysfunction, and can carry a stigma. Same with parenting courses and social-skills courses for kids (and many of these are geared exclusively to kids on the spectrum). Mental wellness apps can be great but when they are closed, they are closed (and all of us get enough screen-time). In-school courses are great but made less effective by inconsistency - lack of carry-through at home and teacher churn. Self-help books are fantastic and affordable, but not actionable. Online support groups can be helpful, but in an ad-hoc, non-comprehensive way. Most significantly - None of the solutions that are currently out there effectively address the issue of run-of-the-mill tension and mental wellness from a pan-household perspective. Solutions are geared to parents OR to kids, but, with rare (and expensive) exception, don’t tackle emotional issues from a family unit perspective.

Emotion School with Cam & Leo is an actionable mental health/educational resource offering families a unique, fun, hands-on “middle” alternative or companion to formal therapy and books. It's affordable. It's private. Self-led (with support). And most importantly, solves emotional dysfunction of the household unit in a non-threatening, democratic way, with household members of all ages learning and growing TOGETHER and creating accountability through EACH OTHER (as opposed to an external source, such as a therapist). It is a uniquely effective delivery format.

We have seen it in action - Emotion School helps household units evolve to a healthier, more emotionally functioning place. It changes the way household members interact with other people and the world around them, boosting both their capabilities and happiness, and ultimately changing the world by changing themselves.

Mental and emotional health and wellbeing is the necessary precursor to success in all areas of life: social, professional, personal, and academic. A child cannot succeed in the classroom - or outside of it - if he is struggling to control his emotions, or not interacting well with others and the world. Yet, mental/emotional health supports are not universally accessible. They are for the wealthy. If we want to raise the world's EQ, we have to make the next generation's access to emotional education and mental health support, equitable.

We are currently in the midst of finalizing the program's content, with input from an on-board psychologist and professional educator, and preparing all of the hands-on materials and video guides. In July, we are slated to commence pilot testing the product with a select group of families in Toronto (approx. 50 tester families + 50 control group families), to test the efficacy of the program, and to gather feedback to update the market-ready alpha version, via a formal academic research study to be led by RMIT University in Australia.

Cam & Leo's Emotion School is enabled by technology - it is led by a series of video guides, and will utilize a password-protected platform to access them. The program will also rely on existing technology for marketing and the dissemination of the program. 

But, the intervention's innovation is in its essential "throw-back" model, which prizes the reintegration of a wholesome weekly routine of face-to-face interaction between household members, engaged in deep, aspirational learning activities aimed ultimately at improving the emotional functioning of each individual and elevating the household as a unit. Unlike other solutions on the market, Cam & Leo's Emotion School:

1. Tackles household tension from a pan-household perspective and accountability is created by the household unit (as opposed to an external third party);

2. It normalizes run-of-the-mill dysfunction by making it a subject addressable by education as opposed to therapy;

3. It encourages the institution of a wholesome, face-to-face interactive routine between household members.

4. Empathizes with the need for kids to interact off-screen and through tactile, visual materials that have a continuous visual presence (the intervention involves "sacrificing" one wall of the house for the household's Wall of Fame, which the family adds visual materials to as they go through the program - it grows as they grow - and this visual showcase creates a constant reminder and presence of the ongoing learning.

The solution is currently in early stages, and has attracted over 100 pilot testers from unpaid grassroots online marketing over a 3-week period. In its first year, Emotion School aims to serve under 100 families (in addition to the 100 pilot tester families), and will develop exponentially after that time, to serve any number of families (we intend to print on demand). Each family who engages with Emotion School will be directly affected and will directly effect and uplift the world around them, as Emotion School will change the way people interact not only within their families, but the way they interact with others and the world, in general.

The number of customers who purchase our flagship product will serve as testament to the accessibility of the mental/emotional health intervention.We intend to measure our progress toward the goal of supplying an accessible, affordable alternative approach to mental/emotional health through the dissemination of ongoing feedback-gathering (mixed method) studies of pilot test customers through a university-sponsored study at various points in time. 

1 x Fulltime founder

2 x Psychology consultants

1 x Educational consultant

4 x video guide team members (actress, script writer, video editor, sound editor)

1 x Principal investigator (in charge of university research study) + 4 Psychology students interns

2 x graphic artist/website developer (Wix)

1 x social media/marketing specialist

Since I started this entrepreneurial journey 7 months ago, I have encountered blessing after blessing. Not least of which has been meeting and assembling what has grown to become a global team of superstars who share a passion for Cam & Leo's mission: to raise the world's Emotional Intelligence (EQ) by equipping families with an educational resource that has the power to create deep, lasting change. This is a lofty goal and it is THIS core group that is making it happen. I am honoured and thrilled to work with all of them.

Our research team consists of 3 consulting clinical psychologists, a consulting research associate and 4 students of psychology. We have an amazing educational consultant who specializes in curriculum development and has really upped the entertainment/fun factor of the program, as well as honed the educational delivery of the program. Our video guide team consists of a wonderful actress/children's show host, script writer, video editor and sound editor. Finally, we have an extremely talented graphics team and web support team member in place. No member of the team is currently taking a salary/stipend. They are all working on the project because they believe in its mission, the amazing uniqueness and depth of its content, and their unwavering belief in this fledgling solution.

Leadership team members hail from all around the world (Australia, U.S. and Canada) and come from all different walks of life and educational backgrounds. Among us are successful professionals, academicians, and students. We have members of all religions and sexes, including one transgendered member. Leaders were chosen based on their talent and their passion for the company's mission; we are bound by a universal belief in the importance of mental and emotional health support, and accessibility to high-value mental and emotional health support. We all believe that the unique intervention that is Cam & Leo's Emotion School has incredible potential to change people's lives.

I am SO excited about the prospect of joining together with other passionate, dedicated entrepreneurs like myself - so the community is a huge factor. I have been so fortunate to receive excellent guidance and expertise along this journey, and it excites me to be able to access more guidance and experts through this program. I need tons of help and am open to learning and pivoting (have already done so several times). Becoming a Solver would also be a huge boon in terms of marketing/positioning of my wonderful start-up - it would serve to draw some much-needed attention to my solution, as I push to get it to market. Specifically, I need help working out the company's financial picture. I need online marketing expertise. These are the 2 main areas that need expertise, more learning, and growth.

I have cursory understanding of the relevant financial plan factors, but am not sure how to bring them all together into one clear picture/projection. I could use financial expertise to create accurate financial model including cash-flow projection, P&L, Assets & Liabilities, etc. I have marketing/advertising content expertise, but not a familiarity with social media/marketing/advertising. I would also be happy to learn more, beyond the basic Google + Mailchimp analytics. And although we have not yet fulfilled any orders (soon, I hope!), I anticipate that this - fulfillment, shipping, etc. - is something that I will need to learn, as well.

I would like to partner with MIT Solve to help propel my solution forward on the aforementioned fronts (so many of them). I am also interested to partner with a grant provider interested to help test our novel approach on pilot tester families - I a thinking CAMH or an equivalent mental health organization in the U.S. that sponsors studies on mental health/education/family wellness. Their sponsorship of the study would provide an important additional source of endorsement. I am also considering a partnership with Clearbanc, which will provide start-up funds and assist with online marketing expertise for a % of profits (rather than an equity share). But I do need to show some revenue before re-engaging them.

Emotional literacy and capability is the precursor to success in all areas of life - academic, professional, and personal. Emotional education should be universally accessible, as a precursor to the universal accessibility of STEM education. My team and I would use the GM Prize to further equitable access to mental and emotional health and wellness education by ensuring that those who are unable to afford Cam & Leo's Emotion School, receive it in any case. Money should not be a barrier to accessing this important and unique resource.

Cam & Leo's Emotion School is targeted primarily to Women - mothers - in need of an effective solution to the emotional chaos of their household. Moms are, universally, the ones going out into the world in search of tools and resources to improve the emotional functioning of their families, and to raise children with higher levels of Emotional Intelligence, ultimately creating a better tomorrow and a better world. This unique solution empowers moms, primarily, to change and improve the functioning of their families, their children, and themselves, THEMSELVES, and not necessarily requiring external resources that are either prohibitively expensive or don't impact deep, lasting, forever change.

Emotional literacy and capability is the precursor to success in all areas of life - academic, professional, and personal. Emotional education should be universally accessible, as a precursor to the universal accessibility of STEM education. My team and I would use the GSR prize to further equitable access to mental and emotional health and wellness education by ensuring that those who are unable to afford Cam & Leo's Emotion School, receive it in any case. Money should not be a barrier to accessing this important and unique resource.