Why this persona fits the audience
She is running a telehealth intake startup focused on behavioral health clinics in New York. The company has three people total: her, one engineer, and one operations lead. She spends most days on compliance, customer meetings, and keeping clinic pilots moving.
- Age: 39
- Location: New York, New York, USA
- Occupation: Founder and COO
- Income: variable founder draw, about $110k/year
- Education: M.P.H.
- Company size: 3
- Years in role: 5
“We're not just building software; we're building bridges to better mental healthcare for people who need it most, and that means getting the details exactly right.”
Brandi Pollich, 39, is a dedicated healthtech founder and COO, deeply immersed in the New York behavioral health landscape. Her journey into this field was shaped by a profound personal experience witnessing a close family member struggle with untreated anxiety, which ignited a passion for improving access to care. After earning her Master of Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University, she spent several years working within the administrative side of a large hospital system, identifying systemic inefficiencies in patient intake and care coordination. This experience, coupled with her innate drive for innovation and a strong sense of accountability, led her to co-found her current startup. She recognized a critical gap in how behavioral health clinics managed patient onboarding – a process often manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors, leading to patient drop-off and administrative strain. Her company, a lean operation of three, focuses on developing a streamlined telehealth intake platform specifically tailored for these clinics in New York. Brandi’s days are a testament to her conscientiousness and strategic thinking, spent navigating complex compliance requirements, nurturing relationships with clinic partners through demanding customer meetings, and meticulously overseeing the progress of ongoing pilot programs. She operates on a variable founder's draw, reinvesting most of her income back into the business, a reflection of her commitment to its long-term vision. Her decision to focus on New York was strategic, leveraging her existing network and understanding of the state's unique healthcare policies. She recently made the difficult decision to delay the rollout of a new patient engagement feature to prioritize a critical compliance update, a choice driven by her unwavering commitment to data security and regulatory adherence, even at the cost of short-term feature velocity. Brandi views time as a precious, finite resource, constantly optimizing her schedule to maximize impact, and views financial stability not as a personal luxury, but as a necessary foundation for sustainable growth and public impact.
Background & daily life
A day in their life
Brandi's typical weekday starts before dawn with a run. After a quick breakfast and meditation, she’s at her laptop by 7:30 AM, reviewing overnight system alerts and responding to urgent emails. Her mornings are usually dominated by virtual meetings with clinic directors discussing pilot progress, addressing technical glitches, or demonstrating new features. Lunch is a hurried affair, often eaten at her desk while reviewing compliance documents or preparing for an afternoon pitch. The late afternoon is dedicated to strategic planning with her engineer and operations lead, followed by more client calls or investor outreach. She aims to log off by 7 PM, but often finds herself checking emails again before bed.
Lifestyle
Brandi lives in a compact but well-organized studio apartment in the West Village with her partner, a freelance graphic designer. Her mornings begin with a 5 AM run through a less-crowded Central Park, followed by a quick, healthy breakfast and a 15-minute meditation session. She’s meticulous about her finances, maintaining a lean budget to reinvest in the startup. Evenings are often spent catching up on industry news or attending virtual policy webinars. Weekends are a mix of catching up with friends over brunch, volunteering at a local community health clinic, and planning the week ahead.
Work life
Brandi's days are a whirlwind of strategic planning, operational execution, and relationship management. As the sole founder and COO of her telehealth intake startup, she's deeply involved in every facet of the business. Her calendar is packed with back-to-back virtual meetings with potential clinic partners in New York, compliance reviews with her legal counsel, and deep dives into product roadmaps with her engineer. She’s constantly juggling the demands of keeping three pilots operational while simultaneously refining the platform based on user feedback. The pressure to demonstrate traction and secure future funding is ever-present.
Relationships
Brandi is in a committed partnership with her boyfriend, who is supportive of her entrepreneurial journey. Her closest confidantes are her two co-founders, with whom she shares intense work challenges and small victories. She maintains strong ties with her MPH cohort, often seeking advice and sharing insights with them.
How they decide
Brandi is a research-heavy decision-maker, meticulously weighing data, potential risks, and long-term implications. She consults with her team and trusted advisors, but ultimately relies on her own analysis and strategic foresight. She is not impulsive but can act decisively once she has gathered sufficient information and feels confident in the path forward.
How they sound
Brandi speaks with a clear, articulate cadence, often using precise language. She avoids excessive jargon but is comfortable with industry-specific terms when discussing health policy or technology. Her tone is generally warm and empathetic, but she can become direct and assertive when discussing business strategy or critical issues. She tends to frame challenges in terms of solutions and opportunities for improvement.
Personality traits
- driven
- empathetic
- resourceful
- detail-oriented
- strategic
- warm
- assertive
- pragmatic
- visionary
Goals
- Scale the startup to serve 50 behavioral health clinics within two years.
- Develop a robust, compliant, and user-friendly platform that significantly reduces administrative burden for clinics.
- Contribute to improving access to mental healthcare in underserved New York communities.
- Achieve a sustainable founder's salary that allows for greater personal financial stability.
- Build a strong, mission-driven company culture.
Problems & frictions
- Navigating the complex and ever-changing regulatory landscape for telehealth in New York.
- Securing consistent pilot funding and demonstrating clear ROI to clinic administrators.
- Balancing the urgent needs of current pilots with long-term product development.
- The constant pressure of limited resources and the need to prioritize ruthlessly.
- Maintaining team morale and focus with a small, dedicated team.
- The emotional toll of working in the behavioral health space.
Values
- care
- accountability
- public impact
- innovation
- equity
Interests
- health policy
- running
- nonprofit volunteering
- urban planning
- mindfulness
Media habits
- The New York Times
- The Verge
- podcasts on behavioral health
- Axios Pro