In this emotional and eye-opening episode of What It Takes: Business Owners Tell All, host Jamie Seeker sits down with Derek Du Chesne, co-founder and CEO of Better U, a telehealth company offering at-home psychedelic therapy. Derek shares his deeply personal journey—from achieving outward success to hitting rock bottom after a mental health crisis. He opens up about how a single ketamine therapy session saved his life, shifted his inner dialogue, and inspired him to start a mission-driven company focused on making mental health treatment more accessible, affordable, and holistic.
Listeners will hear firsthand about Derek’s transformation, how Better U was born, and why he's committed to disrupting the current mental health care model. The conversation offers hope, insight, and a candid look at what it really takes to create something that matters.
📝 Show Notes / Key Moments & Takeaways
🧠 Derek’s Mental Health Crisis
- At the height of career success in cannabis and wellness industries, Derek faced a personal collapse: career severance, heartbreak, and deep depression.
- Despite financial security, he felt empty and experienced suicidal ideation.
- Traditional therapies (psychiatric meds, talk therapy, even seeing a shaman) weren’t helping.
💊 Ketamine Therapy as a Turning Point
- A friend intervened during Derek’s lowest point and introduced him to ketamine therapy.
- After one session, he experienced a profound mental “reset.”
- He describes the experience as the first time in months he could breathe and feel connected again.
💡 The Birth of Better U
- Inspired by his transformation and time spent with psychedelic researchers at Stanford, Derek felt a responsibility to help others.
- Noted barriers to ketamine therapy: stigma, cost ($1,500/session), and lack of aftercare.
- Launched Better U in 2021 with Dr. Sam Zand to offer more affordable, supported, at-home treatments.
🏗️ Building a Scalable Mental Health Platform
- Better U has now delivered 200,000+ sessions across 35 states.
- Leveraged telehealth innovations post-pandemic to offer oral ketamine therapy safely at home.
- Reduced cost to ~$100 per session—making it 10x more accessible.
🧘♂️ A Holistic Approach to Healing
- Better U now offers a broader platform including:
- Ketamine-assisted therapy
- Functional medicine
- Weight loss programs
- Sexual health
- Holistic psychiatry & soon, talk therapy
- Focused on helping patients find multiple tools for healing—not just a single pill.
💬 Derek’s “What It Takes” Insight
“Relentless commitment to the mission… and to your own self-love and mental health. You need to be able to live with yourself through the highs and the lows.”
📌 Great Quotes for Promotion or Show Notes
“Nobody takes their own life because they’re thinking clearly. It goes against everything in our nature—we’re wired to survive.”
“Ketamine therapy created space between me and my thoughts. It quieted that inner critic.”
“We started Better U to help prevent suicide. Now, we’re building a platform for full-spectrum mental wellness.”
“If it’s not your why, you’re not going to survive the lows that come with building something that matters.”
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