Game-Changer: One Founder's Mission to Support Struggling Teens

In this episode, we sit down with Anusha Samani, founder of Mindzen, a dual-purpose mental health app designed to support young people's emotional growth while helping social workers detect mental health risks early. Anusha shares how watching youth labeled as "disruptive" go unseen — and her own experience of emotional struggle as a teen — inspired her to build something different.  We explore the Mindzen app's gamified approach to social-emotional learning, featuring an avatar named Koala, and how evidence-based tools work quietly in the background to flag students who may need support. Anusha also speaks candidly about the mental health stigma in her home country of Pakistan and why she sees global accessibility as central to Mindzen's mission. Plus, Anusha gets real about burnout, boundaries, and why rest isn't something to be ashamed of — a message that resonates far beyond the app itself.

Learn more about Mindzen at www.mymindzen.com