Why I’m in Alwa Health

I’d describe myself as a lawyer who is enthusiastic about technology and law, always has and always will be. Those very interests, law and technology, brought me to Cornell Tech, being an LLM student doing startup project at Cornell Tech’s Startup Studio.

Our startup team’s name is Alwa Health. We are innovating in the mental wellness space. Our product will allow people to improve their mental wellness through life coach.

You may wonder, technology and law? Makes sense. But, mental wellness, why? Here’s why.

I spent several years in Indonesia’s legal industry building my credential and expertise in law and technology. I started as an associate in an international law firm in Jakarta. Then, I moved to an e-commerce company as an in-house counsel. The journey was rewarding and challenging at same time. Challenging because career is not just about law. It’s also managing life, mental wellness, which a lawyer is not good at.

To give you some context, imagine working in a high-pressure environment almost every day — lots of deadlines, clients constantly chasing the deliverable, and long hours. Sometimes you must work in weekends too. How does one have the time to take care of one’s mental wellness? Difficult. That’s the reason why a lot of lawyers quit their job after some time in big firms. I was no exception.

Mind is a lawyer’s biggest asset. Yet, it’s often not taken care of, let alone being well taken care of. The reason? There’s no single right answer. Sometimes it is the lawyer. Sometimes, the boss. Sometimes, the work environment, and so on.

What makes dealing with it more difficult is lawyers don’t talk about their mental wellness often. Even if so, they frame it as a complaint about the boss, client or office. The solution at that time? Find a distraction that will boost your happiness, temporarily. FYI, it’s not a real solution to the problem.

Back home, lawyers don’t go to a therapist to deal with mental wellness. Maybe because of ego or stigma. I didn’t either. But at the same time, I didn’t have anyone with experience to guide me through the mental challenges. It was hard and still is difficult to find people you can trust to work with you in addressing your mental wellness challenges.

When Alwa Health came with the idea of improving with mental wellness through life coach, I was drawn immediately to it. The problem the team attempts to solve resonated with mine. The idea of improving mental wellness by working with experienced coaches could be a solution to those who don’t want to go to a therapist, like me.

To add, the team members also care deeply about mental wellness from various perspectives. They’re also great individuals. For these reasons, I decided to join Alwa Health and work together with them to improve mental wellness through life coach.