Some of the most impactful healthcare and education innovations do not begin in boardrooms. They begin in living rooms, NICUs, and late-night moments of fear and uncertainty.
Season 2 kicks off with a powerful theme: three founders share how personal experiences as parents revealed gaps in mental health access, literacy support, and neonatal care, and how they chose to build solutions rather than accept those gaps.
Hafeezah Muhammad opens up about the moment she realized how inaccessible pediatric mental health care truly was, especially for families navigating Medicaid and cultural stigma. Backpack Healthcare was built to ensure parents never feel alone between therapy sessions and that care is available quickly, affordably, and with empathy.
Carla Small brings the lens of early learning and literacy, explaining why waiting until third grade to diagnose dyslexia is too late. With Sprout Labs, she combines neuroscience, AI, and evidence-based instruction to help children rewire their learning pathways before frustration turns into shame.
Phil Martie shares a deeply moving NICU story that reshaped his understanding of patient empowerment. Nicolette transforms raw hospital data into understandable, actionable information, helping parents become confident participants in their child’s care from day one.
This episode is a reminder that early support changes outcomes, and that parents, when given the right tools, can be powerful partners in care.
Key Topics Discussed:
- Pediatric mental health access and early intervention
- Supporting children as young as four with therapy and psychiatry
- Family-centered care models that include parents and caregivers
- Dyslexia, ADHD, and the science of early reading intervention
- AI as a tool for personalized learning and mental health support
- The emotional and informational gaps faced by NICU parents
- Making complex health data understandable and actionable
- Building technology with empathy, not just efficiency
About Hafeezah Muhammad:
Hafeezah Muhammad is an extraordinary mompreneur, passionate about leveraging technology to address critical societal issues. With an extensive background in leadership and a profound understanding of the transformative power of A.I. and technology, she embarked on a mission to revolutionize mental health support for children. Her visionary leadership has catapulted her company to the forefront of the industry, setting new standards and paving the way for a more accessible and inclusive approach to mental wellness. Hafeezah’s leadership extends beyond the realms of technological innovation. She has cultivated a company culture of empathy, collaboration, and personal growth. By prioritizing her team’s well-being and professional development, she has fostered a collective spirit of excellence and unwavering dedication. Hafeezah understands that authentic leadership is not just about creating groundbreaking products but also about inspiring others to achieve their full potential.
About Carla Small:
Carla builds products and companies that leverage technology and cutting-edge science to solve our nation’s reading crisis. Fueled by her frustration with the fact that 70% of our 4th graders are not reading on grade level, yet we have the science to prevent this, and driven by her passion as a mom to a child with dyslexia, Carla launched Sprout Labs to provide families the “one-stop shop’ to get children back on track.
Sprout Labs’ is an AI-powered Family Reading System proven to teach struggling readers how to read. Recognizing that over 80% of the children Sprout Labs works with have ADHD, the Sprout Labs proprietary Reading Roadmap System personalizes instruction for the whole child, beginning with a comprehensive assessment that shapes the data/analytics technology, science-based instruction, interactive speech games, and parent guidance.
Sprout Labs grew out of EarlyBird Education, where Carla was CEO and co-founder. Sold in 2024 to Imagine Learning, the largest digital edtech publisher, the EarlyBird screener (now Imagine Learning Plus), is used today in districts in half the states nationwide where it is transforming the early literacy assessment experience for children and teachers alike. A software game that’s engaging, predictive of reading risk, comprehensive and based on brain research and recent scientific discoveries, and developed by leading scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Florida Center for Reading Research (FSU), the screener leverages science and technology to predict risks for reading, including dyslexia.
Prior to launching these companies, Carla was Executive Director of the Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children’s Hospital, and worked as a consultant in health care. She holds her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Dartmouth College.
About Phil Martie:
After a brief flirtation with screenwriting and film production, I was a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) executive for over 15 years. My outsourcing career has been deeply rewarding; it is the only industry where a non-core, yet essential, support function can be transformed by transferring operating ownership. The customer’s cost center becomes the provider’s profit center, enabling greater investment in innovation through technology, process improvement, and change management. Throughout my time in the space, I had the privilege of serving in operational delivery, analytics, and sales roles. The engagements I was fortunate to participate in provided tremendous value to clients in a variety of industries and was very fulfilling for me.
I am now focused on empowering healthcare patients. In December of 2014, my wife and I welcomed twins into the world. They were 15 weeks premature, however, and the many health issues associated with prematurity left me feeling helpless for the first time. The three-month NICU journey taught me much about the importance of personal empowerment, a topic I thought I was an expert on. The reality is I wasn’t even close to understanding the importance of it until I faced the most critical situation and had no personal expertise to rely on.
This experience has inspired me to launch Nicolette. Our mission is to empower patients by making complex health data consumable for the layperson. Our first product is called NicoBoard, a personal dashboard for NICU parents. I am proud and honored to have the opportunity to empower new parents to be strong advocates for their children’s health.
