Your Brain on Entrepreneurship: Running on Empty. The Fine Line Between Grit and Breakdown.
Your Brain on Entrepreneurship - Session One
Running on Empty - The Fine Line Between Grit and Breakdown
The conversation founders only have privately, held in public.
Every founder eventually hits the same private question: is this just what building something feels like, or is something actually wrong? And behind it, the one nobody says out loud: keep going, or stop?
That decision is one of the most consequential a person makes, and it is almost always made alone.
Your Brain on Entrepreneurship brings it into the open. Each session brings together researchers, clinicians, scientists and practitioners who hold the conversation to what is actually known. One question. Three perspectives. No easy answers, and no consensus required.
Founders are in the audience, never on the panel. The rule is science-backed claims only.
A note from your host - Sacha Awwa
As a marketer, I was hired to build brands, launch products, and grow revenue. Somewhere along the way, I became something I was never trained to be: an unqualified therapist. Strategy calls turned into late-night conversations about whether to keep going. Founders trusted me with the parts of building a company they couldn't say out loud to their investors, their teams, or sometimes even their families.
When I wrote Empower Your Marketing, I thought I was writing a book about marketing with clarity. Then I discovered the undertone running through all of it. Every framework, every decision, every piece of guidance was really about one thing: helping founders survive, not just their business, but themselves.
Founders deserve better than a marketer doing her best in a role she was never qualified for. They deserve real science, real experts, and a room where the hardest parts of building a company can finally be spoken out loud. This is that room.
Sacha Awwa
Founder, SAMG Marketing | Author, Empower Your Marketing
The panel
Marcelo Bigliassi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychophysiology, Florida International University
Director, Graduate Program in Kinesiology | Associate Editor, Psychology of Sport and Exercise
Dr. Bigliassi has more than 15 years of experience in psychophysiology and neuroscience, studying how the brain responds to stress, effort, and fatigue. He earned his Ph.D. from Brunel University London in the UK, where he studied the brain mechanisms behind dissociative techniques in exercise. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, he became a professor at Florida International University in the USA and has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Pavia in Italy.
He has published over 90 articles in prestigious journals and is known for guest lectures at national and international conferences. He currently advises organizations such as the Antifragile Academy and MNLY, and serves as an Associate Editor for the prestigious journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise. Supported by grants from international organizations, private companies, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he continues to lead scientific innovation.
The panel
Carmen Teresa Ramirez, M.D., M.Sc., M.B.A.
Board-Certified Neurologist and Physician Executive
Chief Medical Officer, Wellness Tech Biodistribution | Former Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology, Texas A&M University
Dr. Ramirez has more than two decades of experience in clinical neurology, specializing in stroke, traumatic brain injury, and brain health. She earned her M.D. and an M.Sc. in Pharmacology from the University of Ottawa, completed her neurology residency at the University of Miami / Jackson Memorial Hospital, and later added an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas. She has directed hospital stroke and neurology programs across Florida and Texas, including serving as Medical Stroke Director at Baylor Irving Hospital, and has served as a principal investigator on sponsored clinical trials and a sub-investigator on the POINT stroke trial. Board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, she currently practices tele-neurology and intraoperative neuromonitoring nationally.
Additional panelists announcing soon.
The evening
6:00 PM · Registration, drinks, food, and networking
6:50 PM · Panel conversation
8:00 PM · Drinks, food, and networking
9:00 PM · Close
Who should attend
Founders, operators, and early investors who want an honest, evidence-based conversation about the mind behind the business.
The venue
Mana Tech, Downtown Miami's hub for international founders, home to more than 180 tech events and a community of startups from 22 countries. Loft 10 is on the tenth floor of 21 SE 1st Ave.
Your Brain on Entrepreneurship runs every other month. Supported by the Miami Chamber of Commerce - Dubai.
Space is limited, and registration requires approval.
Support: Miami Chamber of Commerce - Dubai, Manatech, and ExV Agency