When I sat down with Carm Huntress, I knew he had a meaningful story to share.
But nothing could have prepared me for the conversation that followed.
When he was seven years old, Carm lost his dad to cancer. That’s something that no child should have to go through.
But then his mom got cancer, too. He lost her when he was 15.
I can’t imagine how it must feel to be alone in the world at such a young age. A child simply doesn’t have the capacity to handle that kind of grief.
So at 15, he threw himself into entrepreneurship. Building was a welcome distraction from the tragedy that struck his young life.
He’d spend the next three decades building companies.
By 45, he had founded two $100M+ healthcare startups.
He threw himself into the work. He set out to prove to the world that that losing his parents wouldn’t define him. That he wasn’t damaged. That he was worthy.
In the world of entrepreneurship, we lionize the founders who put it all on the line. The ones who give everything to win.
At a particularly deep moment, Carm said something that every founder I’ve ever worked with has felt, but few have been willing to admit:
“I would’ve, at that time, done anything to make those people happy. To please them.”
He was talking about his investors. The people he poured every ounce of himself into impressing. The ones he didn’t want to disappoint.
Because, deep down, he was still trying to earn the love he lost when his parents died.
That line stayed with me. Because what he revealed in that moment wasn’t just a strategic misstep or a phase of burnout. It was a lifelong pattern, rooted in grief, absence, and the desperate hope that if he just achieved enough, someone would finally say:
You did it. You’re worthy. You’re safe now.
In his words: “I could get the affection I lost from my parents through entrepreneurship and showing to the world how good I was, how complete I was.”
And for 30 years, he did just that. Startup after startup, all driven by the need to be seen, to be affirmed, to be enough.
This is what we miss when we talk about hustle. While we pedestalize the founders who win at all costs, we miss the hidden drive behind the success: the child who never got to grieve becomes the adult who will do anything to prove that they are worthy.
And when you run your business from that place, the line between excellence and self-erasure blurs fast. Carm gave everything to succeed: his money, his health, his marriage.
He named it honestly: “I was willing to people please to the nth degree… and it ruined my life.”
That’s the shadow side of success we rarely name. And it’s exactly why this story matters so much.
But the very thing that nearly destroyed him eventually became the doorway to something deeper. The choice to stop performing. The courage to build for himself.
His fire used to be fueled by pain. Now, he’s rebuilt his edge. Instead of building to outrun the darkness, now he gets to build from a place of wholeness.
That’s the moment transformation begins. Not when you raise another round. Not when you exit.
But when you realize you don’t need to earn your place anymore.
When you realize, finally, that you’re already enough.
This conversation touched me in a profound way that I’ll carry for the rest of my life.
If you’ve ever been left feeling empty despite your success…
If some part of you is still desperately waiting to be seen…
If you’ve ever wondered when it will ever be enough…
Listen to the full episode here.
It’s why I started the podcast.
It’s why I keep showing up every day doing this work.
And it’s why I hope you’ll listen.
— mb
