SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The CEO of BetterUp Inc. said on Wednesday that he hired Prince Harry as an executive because of his tenacious defense of the type of mental health services his company offers, and the publicity brought by the change is just a privilege.
Chief Executive Alexi Robichaux spoke to the Associated Press the day after the announcement that the Duke of Sussex will play the specially created role of impact director for San Francisco-based BetterUp, which sells employee training and health care. mental for companies.
“Prince Harry has been one of the fiercest advocates of mental well-being or mental fitness for many years,” said Robichaux, citing Harry’s work for organizations like Head Fit, a service he launched in partnership with the Ministry of Defense. from UK. “This has been a big part of your personal life journey and your personal life mission.”
It doesn’t matter, he admitted, that Harry is among the most famous men in the world, who seems to be constantly making news with his wife, Meghan Markle.
“It is incredible. I mean, look, we are going to take the press, certainly help,” he said. But he was quick to add: “That is not the driving motivation here”.
Robichaux said the paper came after months of conversations that he and Harry had after they were introduced by an unidentified mutual friend who rightly thought they both thought the same way.
“There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm on both sides around this mission of how we could use technology, how we could use science, how we could use human experts to help people go through a journey of personal growth and transformation?” Robichaux said. “And so it was the beginning.”
The pandemic prevented him from meeting Harry in person, however, and that may not happen soon. The company, whose job is to help employees through text and video conferencing, is naturally friendly to work remotely, even under normal circumstances, and that is what Harry will do primarily.
The Duke of Sussex will not have an office at the company’s San Francisco headquarters or employees who report directly to him, said Robichaux.
“He will enter offices and attend company events, as long as it is safe and things reopen,” said Robichaux.
He said he is not concerned with the practicalities of having a prince wandering the halls or attending meetings, and that he will not use any real title.
“In the workplace, he prefers to be called Harry,” said the CEO. “So we call him Harry. It is extremely accessible and accessible, and it is certainly very imposing and dignified. But I think one of the coolest things is that he likes to roll up his sleeves and be useful and very focused on adding value. “
And he said that although he is technically Harry’s boss, he will avoid this approach to the relationship.
“It’s funny, I never thought about it until this week, when reporters asked me how it feels,” he said. “I don’t think that way. I really think of him as a partner. “
Prince Harry got another new role on Wednesday, this one on a think tank committee to combat misinformation.
The Aspen Institute, based in Washington DC, has announced that Harry will be one of 18 members of its Information Disorder Commission.
The Duke of Sussex said in a statement that the current “avalanche of disinformation” should be addressed as “a humanitarian issue – and, as such, requires a response from multiple stakeholders from defense voices, members of the media, academic researchers and both government and civil society leaders. ”
Harry’s new shows are among several that he and Meghan have taken on since moving to California. They signed an agreement to create content for Netflix and are creating podcasts for Spotify.
Last year, the two worked to disengage their lives from the British royal family, a separation that was exacerbated by an interview she gave Oprah Winfrey on March 7..
Also on Wednesday, Lifetime TV announced that it will focus on the royal couple’s disillusionment and break with Buckingham Palace in their third film about them. “Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace” is scheduled to air on the US cable channel this fall. It follows “Harry & Meghan” 2018 and “Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal” 2019.