Prince Harry Opens up About His New Job

Ever since stepping down as an active member of the British Royal Family alongside Meghan Markle, Prince Harry has had to find new ways to earn money. On top of writing a memoir and snagging a lucrative partnership with Netflix, Prince Harry also announced that he would be working as the chief impact officer of BetterUp, a fast-growing employee coaching and mental health Silicon Valley startup. Founded in 2013, the firm matches clients with its network of more than 2,000 coaches. The company is valued at $1.73 billion.

In a new interview with Fast Company, Prince Harry opened up about his work at BetterUp and how it’s in line with his passion for improving mental health treatment around the world. “When I first started with BetterUp, there were [some] key areas I was focused on: driving advocacy and awareness for mental fitness, guiding BetterUp’s social mission and impact, influencing the vision of BetterUp’s platform, community, and member experience, [and] expanding BetterUp’s global community of thought leadership, coaches, customers, and members through outreach and strategic planning,” Harry said. “The goals and mission of my work have not changed, but on the day-to-day, at BetterUp we’ve been able to be louder about the mission, reach more people, and generally share with more of the world why doing the work associated with mental fitness is so important, and how helping others reach their peak performance positively impacts the whole world.”

Harry also opened up about the recent Great Resignation, with more people leaving their jobs in 2021 than ever before, and how mental health factors into that phenomenon. “While on the surface it looks like these last couple of years brought all these issues to the foreground, the reality is these struggles and issues have been brewing for quite some time,” Harry explained. “We’re just at the beginning of the mental health awakening. This work has never been more important because people are finally paying attention, and a big component of this mission is building awareness and continuing to pioneer the conversation.”

“I’ve actually discovered recently, courtesy of a chat with [BetterUp science board member] Adam Grant, that a lot of the job resignations you mention aren’t all bad. In fact, it is a sign that with self-awareness comes the need for change,” Harry continued. “Many people around the world have been stuck in jobs that didn’t bring them joy, and now they’re putting their mental health and happiness first. This is something to be celebrated.” If anyone knows about leaving a job that doesn’t bring them joy, it’s Harry. However, not everyone has an inheritance to fall back on.