2022 Fellow Focus: Melissa Cesarano + Affectifi Inc. (ThinkHumanTV)
Professor, comedic actor, lifelong learner…2022 Fellow Melissa Cesarano of Affectifi Inc. (ThinkHumanTV) shares more about their #RuthlessForGood journey.
What propelled you into the entrepreneurial space? And what do you enjoy most about being a founder?
I’ve always had big feelings, especially as a kid. I was extremely sensitive and emotions often felt overwhelming. I found solace, however, in stories– Disney movies, Harry Potter books, late-night cartoons, and Broadway musicals. I not only memorized the lines and lyrics of my favorite narratives, but I also deeply related to characters as they navigated emotional challenges. I found myself especially resonating with female protagonists that possessed magical powers like Matilda, Sara Crewe from A Little Princess, and of course, Hermione Granger.
Later in life, inspired by these formative stories and beloved characters, I began actively exploring my emotions through theater, comedy, dance, poetry, and by studying psychology and cognitive science. The more I dug into myself through these artistic and scientific means, the more I realized that when we allow space for our emotions to speak to us and become non-judgmentally curious about them, they actually serve as an epistemic compass. They give us access to crucial information about our internal and external worlds, orienting us and anchoring us into reality. Without emotions, art wouldn’t move us. Without emotions, we wouldn’t learn from our experiences. And without emotions, we certainly wouldn’t be able to connect meaningfully with other humans. Even basic decision making would be impossible. After years of self discovery through both science and art, I decided to dedicate myself to understanding the nature of emotions and enrolled in a cognitive science Ph.D. program at Columbia University.
At Columbia, I fortuitously met my incredible research partner (and current cofounder), Ilya Lyashevsky, and together we worked to develop our own social-emotional learning (SEL) methodology, which focuses on teaching students the science of emotions. We found that this is an especially effective way to teach adolescents and young adults about their emotions, particularly when coupled with high-quality media. So, in 2019, we applied for and received a National Science Foundation SBIR grant to create a digital emotional literacy tool for adolescents and educators. Shortly thereafter, ThinkHumanTV was born.
ThinkHuman is a social-emotional learning technology that leverages streaming services (such as Disney+, Netflix, and Peacock) to promote emotional awareness and resilience. By using Hollywood's best stories and by tapping into young people's existing streaming habits, we've created a science-backed emotion learning experience and skills assessment tool. Given the current youth mental health crisis, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, it has never been more evident that adolescents and young adults are in desperate need of authentic, fun, and culturally-relevant ways to learn about their emotions. We built ThinkHuman to meet young people right where they are (on streaming sites) to help address this need.
What do you enjoy most about being a founder?
I’ve loved witnessing our arguably esoteric doctoral research become a tangible technological tool with real-world impact. As ThinkHuman evolves, I hope that it will continue to be a learning solution that not only works, but also delights and inspires. Furthermore, being a founder has granted me the freedom to integrate all of my art-meets-science passions in service of encouraging emotional awareness. I am truly lucky to be able to binge Schitt’s Creek on Netflix and call that ‘work.’
What is one piece of advice that has been the most impactful to your journey as an entrepreneur so far?
During one of our Camelback sessions an alumni said, “you have to get through your first hundred or maybe even thousand ‘no’s’ to get closer to your first ‘yes’.” As an entrepreneur you will face rejection constantly, especially when it comes to fundraising and sales. But if you can learn to accept this and not take rejection too personally, you might just make it to your first ‘yes’. My personal advice to fellow and future entrepreneurs (especially women and minority entrepreneurs) is to find a tribe of like-minded founders who hype you up (thank you Camelback!). Also, seek out ways to cultivate joy and lightheartedness in the process of creating your venture. That joy will seep its way into your product or service, thus making it more desirable.
Tell us about an experience you had as an entrepreneur or in starting your company that exemplified one of Camelback's core values: "Belief in Mission + Vision"; "Unafraid of Failure"; "Constant Learner"; "Humble + Hungry"; and "Give First."
Our customer discovery interviews, studies, and pilots have confirmed the pains that exist for educators and students today. Young people are suffering and need solutions that match their tech savviness and discerning media taste, while educators need wellness tools that seamlessly integrate into their classrooms. Thankfully, Ilya and I have spent the last decade researching various SEL pedagogies and witnessing the undeniable psychological and behavioral benefits of properly executed SEL interventions. So despite the challenges of trying to sell such a unique solution in a notoriously difficult market, we are driven by our “belief in mission + vision”. We see a future where ThinkHuman is in every school and accessible to every student.
As a social innovator, what legacy do you hope to leave behind for future generations?
That technology and entertainment media can be leveraged to design educational experiences that connect us with the deepest parts of our own humanity. Especially when the tech is science-driven and built by diverse thinkers who care about social impact.
What's your favorite book or podcast that you draw entrepreneurial inspiration from?
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. You might think that poets are very different from entrepreneurs, but they're not. Creating art and launching a successful venture both require imagination, intuition, and grit. Most importantly, they require you to embrace and even romanticize uncertainty. Here's my favorite quote from the book. ''Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
To help others embrace their emotions and their most authentic selves by simply being in their presence. Also, I wish I could instantly show up anywhere on Earth whenever I wanted. Traveling is deeply important for my soul (but I admittedly have severe flying anxiety).
Anything else you want to share about yourself and/or your Camelback Fellowship journey?
I'm beyond honored to be a part of the Camelback Family. The last few years have been especially difficult for humanity, and my fellow Fellows have given me not just a renewed sense of hope for the world, but genuine excitement and joy when thinking about the future that we're creating.
You can learn more about ➡ Melissa Cesarano of Affectifi Inc. (ThinkHumanTV).
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