One of the highlights of my recent trip to Toronto wasn't a conference or a scheduled business meeting. It was reconnecting with someone I first met years ago at Burning Man.
Julie Barasevic is a registered psychotherapist whose work focuses on helping people navigate anxiety, trauma, relationships, and personal growth. Although we come from very different professional backgrounds, our conversation reminded me that many of the challenges founders face are human challenges, not technical ones.
Building a business often pushes us to obsess over products, growth, fundraising, and distribution. Yet some of the most important decisions hinge on emotional resilience, communication, trust, and the quality of our relationships.
Over dinner, we talked about life after Burning Man, career paths, Toronto, travel, and the different ways people build meaningful work. Those conversations reinforced something I've been thinking about for a while: entrepreneurs benefit enormously from spending time with people outside the startup ecosystem.
Psychologists, artists, healthcare professionals, educators, and creators all approach problems from different angles. Those perspectives help challenge the assumptions that turn invisible when we only talk to people in our own industry.
For Yowlapro, that lesson is especially relevant. Our work sits at the intersection of technology, content, and people. Understanding human behavior isn't just interesting. It directly shapes how products are designed, how stories are told, and how communities are built.
The Toronto trip reminded me that business development isn't always about pitching ideas or closing partnerships. Sometimes it's about investing in relationships, learning from people with different expertise, and coming home with a broader perspective on the problems you're trying to solve.
The best trips don't just change your location. They change the questions you ask when you get back.