The Be More You Story
Be More You was formed around World Mental Health Day in October 2018, after founding members Rob Ellis and Sha Hussain had a conversation about their mental wellbeing one Thursday evening after a track session at Mile End stadium. They both run with the bustling Track East running community in East London, and it is tradition to end up at the Rusty Bike pub in Mile End for drinks and a meal after track session.
Sha had been managing his mental health for the past two years. He'd been going through a tough time with bouts of anxiety, stress, and depression, which he had kept hidden from friends and family for fear of judgment. However, it was around this time that he decided to share his experience after an enlightening business encounter with breath coach Richie Bostock at the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch. Richie and Sha met up to discuss an opportunity to work together. As they got acquainted Richie asked Sha what the word happiness meant to him. Sha was at a loss with how to reply. It suddenly struck him at that moment that he wasn't happy. This brought Sha’s predicament into sharp focus and proved to be the catalyst for him to share his experience with his family and close friends.
On World Mental Health Day in October 2018, Sha saw that Rob Ellis had shared a story on Instagram with the words to the effect of 'It's okay not to be okay’ and ‘Sometimes I struggle with my mental health’. This prompted Sha to speak to Rob about his own experience and after their conversation, the seeds were sown and Be More You was born. They statistically realised there were other runners in the community that was struggling with their mental health. So, they decided that it would be a good idea to create a safe space for runners to come and share how they were feeling, in a safe space free of judgment.
They immediately recruited 4 more runners from the community, they were Sarah Curtis, Lindsay Rosenthal, Annabel Lake, and Onder Doner. They collectively kicked off the initiative with weekly check-in sessions at Cafe 1001 (just off Brick Lane) every Tuesday between 6.00pm-6.45pm. Here they would share how their past week had gone and how they were feeling at the present moment. It didn't take long before they introduced some ice breakers, including their signature wellbeing index exercise and a wordplay game. They went on to create different topics each week, helping to improve their mental wellbeing and outlook on life.
After a few weeks, word started to get around and the weekly sessions became popular with more runners joining the sessions each week.
In their short history, they have visited several London running communities, participated in shakeout runs, and organised talks (in-person and online), workshops, and events to raise mental health awareness both at home in the UK and abroad in cities including New York, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Stockholm.
They are wholly passionate about engendering a spirit of equality for women, racial justice, saving the planet, and the creation of a thriving community through good mental wellbeing and equal opportunities for all.
If you would like to learn more or support the Be More You mission - please get in touch here