Never Forget

I love what I get to do. I love it!

Aaron Robin
Sep 4, 2018 · 3 min read

What attracted me to technology 15 years ago was the creation that took place. The production that was immediate, within a of couple hours you could build something that changed the way someone interacted with the world.

I fell in love with the on-demand economy. The idea of bridging two worlds, that once had a cumbersome process to create a new reality that simplified the process was what got my blood flowing. I found it fascinating, I studied, observed and read everything I could get my hands on.

Then came the idea for iExhale, wouldn’t it be nice if anyone, anywhere had access to a qualified Mental Health Professional at the touch of a button? I thought I had figured it out.

I set out to conquer the world, and I was going to build the leading Telehealth care company that affected everyone it touched. Individuals that didn’t have access to the help they needed now did.

I killed myself trying to make this dream a reality, and for the most part, I succeeded. Did iExhale become the big company I had hoped for? No, but I did get the opportunity to help tens of the thousands of individuals. It was beautiful and at the same time completely ironic.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that while my passion lay in providing services that could be accessed instantly, what I had built created minimal immediate benefit for our clients.

Therapy as a service doesn’t typically provide immediate benefits. It’s a long road that requires work. I had essentially created something beautiful that oddly enough was the exact opposite of why I had fallen in love with technology all those years before.

I want to say that I realized this revelation much earlier than I did, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. I didn’t know this until I was in the AppliedVR offices going through a Virtual Reality experience. I was in an experience that had consumed my entire reality. While I knew where my physical body was located, my brain was telling me something different. I experienced emotions that were remarkably different than what I felt before I put on that headset. I was immediately transported to a new place.

Without knowing it, I had just experienced the realization of an idea that had sparked my imagination years before. It was a breath of fresh air that hit me like a brick to the side of the head.

It had been a while since I felt that kind of impact.

While I’m not sure entirely why I’m sharing this story, what I do know is that in my past I have learned a lot from other people’s successes and failures. The stories that I read, the way that I understand them, have a substantial impact on how I observe, work and lead.

Never forget to remember why you’re doing what you do.

Aaron Robin

Written by

Working on new ways of helping people “Hacking Happiness” — VP of Product at @appliedVR — Formerly CEO @iExhale

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