The Journey Behind Open Dialogue AI - Meet Ed Blunderfield

Meet our newest Programs Sponsor and a Judge for this years Side Hustle Bootcamp 2021!

At the intersection of mental health and technology, you will find Open Dialogue AI. Learn more about Open Dialogue AI’s from founder, Ed Blunderfield, along with advice for finding your passions.

For our YWiB Community members that are not familiar with you or your ventures, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the step by step process that you went through to get yourself/your career to where it is today? What was the most impactful decision you made on this journey?

Hi there! My name is Ed Blunderfield. I was born and raised in Vancouver, and graduated from the UBC Sauder School of Business in 2012. Although I didn't have a specific vision for my career at the time, I knew I wanted a path that offered diversity, opportunity and a passionate peer group. I ultimately pursued management consulting and ended up at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Toronto.

The next ~3 years was a roller coaster—I experienced some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. The silver lining of my more difficult experiences, however, was the fascination I found I had for psychology, spirituality and personal development.

During this time, my father (a psychiatrist) sent me a software program from the 1990s that blended conversational A.I. with mental health learning modules. Think of an online course with a built-in chatbot. It was actually able to talk to you about how the course content related to your own life.

My conversations with this computer, believe it or not, helped spark a personal transformation. At this point it become clear to me that I wanted to take my career in a new direction—towards the intersection of mental health and technology.

I moved back to Vancouver and started working in the tech industry. Simultaneously, I began working with my father on a conversational A.I. app inspired by the 1990s computer program I mentioned earlier. We decided to call it Open Dialogue.

Neither of us had coding experience, but we were both inspired and determined. I started learning a niche programming language for chatbots and managed to create a working, offline prototype.

While my dad began using Open Dialogue with his patients, I realized that the need for greater self-awareness and mental health tools extended far beyond the clinical setting. It was clear to me that we all stand to benefit from a greater understanding of how our minds work.

Around this time I met a talented software engineer who was interested in contributing to our project. He helped make Open Dialogue accessible over the internet, and we began sharing the app more broadly. 

During this process I found myself having more and more conversations with people about their ambitions and their challenges. I discovered that I had a great capacity and passion for coaching other people, and this quickly became a service that I was able to offer in addition to the Open Dialogue A.I.

Today I believe that my purpose is to guide people to deep personal insights that allow them create what they want in life with less stress and struggle than ever before. The Open Dialogue A.I. is part of that, as well as the other interactive resources I have created and the 1-on-1 professional coaching I do with people.

Looking back on my journey, one of the most impactful decisions I made was leaving my job at a startup in 2018 to work full-time on my own business. Doing this allowed me to put all of my time and energy into what I was most passionate about. It also challenged me in so many ways. A new level of discipline, persistence and self-awareness was required in order to keep the dream alive, so to speak.

For individuals that are either in the industry, or looking to enter the industry, what is some of the advice you have been given that you wish you had when you first started out? Is there anything that you would have done differently when you were starting out?

The most powerful advice I received was from my mom, 2 months after I started my company. I was lying on my parents' living room floor, crying, because I was so unsure of myself and the decision I had made to start this company. I felt lost, overwhelmed, and was considering quitting.

My mom sat across from me listening as I tried to explain what was going on for me. Then the room went quiet as she looked straight into my eyes with what might have even been a slight grin.

"You're not done yet," she said, calmly.

Having gone through university feeling a certain amount of pressure to follow a much more conventional career path, these words shocked me. I thought she was going to tell me to forget this dream and just get a 'normal' job. 

They also resonated, because they were true. 

I wasn't done yet.

It's a difficult thing to analyze—when to quit and when to persist. But it was so clear that deep down I had a vision, as well as the resources and the experience to continue with it. I just needed to keep working at it.

All that being said, if there was one thing I'd do differently when starting out, it would be to take a longer-term perspective on my career. It's easy to put a lot of pressure and weight on yourself when you're not seeing tangible results—income, impact, etc.—in the early weeks and months.

But it may help to consider that most people accomplish more than they ever thought they would in 10 years, and a less than they thought they would in a single year!

How has the environment that you and your business operate in evolved relative to the onset of COVID-19? Are there any changes that you made that you wish you made earlier?

On the coaching side of the business, the biggest evolution has been the migration from in-person to virtual sessions. It's been fascinating to work within these constraints, though, and some powerful new ways of serving clients have emerged, thanks to technology like Zoom. 

As an organization that operates on a national scale, we have chapters and members that are working their way through university and post-secondary programs. Are there any key pieces of advice that you would give an individual in this position ready to graduate and enter the “real world”?

Find out what you love to do.

This is something that is missing from our education system, that often gets lost in the shadow of other ideals like financial success and even the desire to have an impact on the world.

There is nothing wrong, of course, with pursuing financial abundance and social impact. There are just so many ways to achieve those aims that may be hard to imagine or understand given your current stage in life and perspective.

Finding out what you love and giving yourself to it will infuse your career and your entire life with a sense of meaning, fulfilment and beauty that will inevitably impact those around you. It will probably bring you all the money you need, too.

Tell us about the Solo treat package you are donating to the Side Hustle Bootcamp. What does the package include?

The Solo Retreat Kit is a video-based program to help you create your own 3-day personal wellness retreat. I collaborated with one of my closest friends, Stuart Clark, and it includes guided yoga, meditation and self-reflection exercises.

All you need to do is find a space where you won't be distracted and can host your retreat. I recommend renting an Airbnb, but it could even be done in your own home with some conscious planning.

There has never been a better time to step outside of your day-to-day routines, interactions and commitments to get to know yourself on a deeper level.

The Solo Retreat Kit is the perfect resource for anyone who wants to get more clarity on their goals or vision, cultivate greater self-awareness and mindfulness, or simply relax and restore their energy.

I'm excited to guide some of you through your own solo retreat!

To learn more about Open Dialogue AI and the Solo Retreat Package, connect with Ed here - Website