# HIBT Lab! The Confess Project: Lorenzo Lewis

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2023-03-02
- Length: 36m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis

## Summary

Lorenzo Lewis, founder of The Confess Project, explains how he transformed his personal history of incarceration and trauma into a social enterprise that trains barbers in predominantly Black neighborhoods to act as frontline mental health advocates. He details the evolution from a small library focus group to a scalable four-tier curriculum teaching active listening and stigma reduction, noting that the program has trained over 2,000 barbers across 28 states. Lewis also discusses the organization's strategic pivot from a grant-dependent nonprofit to a sustainable healthcare model by partnering with insurance companies to bill for care coordination services.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=0) Introduction: Lorenzo Lewis and The Confess Project
- [2:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=130) Lewis's Early Life and Incarceration
- [8:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=526) Working with At-Risk Youth and Mental Health Gaps
- [12:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=729) Pivoting to Barbershops as Mental Health Hubs
- [20:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=1250) The Four-Tier Barber Training Curriculum
- [23:20](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=1400) Crisis Intervention and Real-Life Examples
- [29:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=1755) Historical Context of the Black Barbershop
- [31:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=1875) Scaling to 2,000 Barbers and Insurance Partnerships
- [34:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2023-03-02-hibt-lab-the-confess-project-lorenzo-lewis#t=2082) Future Vision: A Thriving Health Ecosystem

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Growth, exits & acquisitions](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/growth-exits-and-acquisitions)
- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- The Confess Project (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)
- Goodfellas Barbershop (company)
- Harvard University (company)
- Georgia State University (company)
- Gillette (company)
- Realist Foundations (company)

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- [S2E13 Relentless Empathy & Going Deep On Understanding The Problem | Ryan Eder](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-03-19-s2e13-relentless-empathy-going-deep-on-understanding-the-problem-ryan-eder) (Being an Engineer)
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