You don’t have to do it alone

Connect with like-minded founders for group support

Apply To Pod

Welcome to your safe space

This is not your typical Slack channel, executive coaching program, or accelerator.

Founder Pod is a first-of-its-kind coaching experience that blends strategic growth with emotional resilience

Co-led by an executive coach and a licensed therapist, each pod brings together a small, curated group of founders for a structured yet deeply personal space. In our Pods, leadership challenges meet emotional processing, creating a unique environment where business strategy and personal well-being are finally equally prioritized.

Through our guided conversations, real-time coaching, and peer-driven insight, you’ll sharpen your decision-making, shed the weight of siloed pressures, find strength in your community, and learn to navigate more moments without losing yourself in the process.

This is more than a professional development group. Founder Pod helps you regulate stress, process the emotional toll of leadership, and build the resilience you need to sustain your vision. May your fuel tank always be full.



Why Founder Pod

Being a founder means making high-stakes decisions, managing financial uncertainty, and balancing the demands of business and personal life. It’s managing a team while navigating personal relationships, handling rejection while pushing forward, and carrying the weight of ambition alongside the reality of burnout. We know being a Founder is for the emotionally brave. This is why we want to give you a safe and intimate space to let your ‘inner guards’ rest.

Our Founder Pod program is designed to: 

  • Create a judgment-free group space to process your challenges, strengthen relationships, and connect with like-minded founders

  • Engage in honest conversations around navigating relationships, shared experiences, and deep peer-to-peer learning

  • Speak with expert mentors for tailored advice and Q&A on business challenges like finances, operations, and scaling

  • Receive strategic coaching on branding, partnerships, leadership, communication, and team-building

  • Integrate a therapist's expertise to help founders navigate the emotional weight of leadership, regulate stress, prevent burnout, and maintain the clarity and stamina needed to lead effectively

This is Founder Pod
Launching April 17th, 2025

Apply Now

Applications now open for E-Commerce/Consumer Founders in NYC

Meet your Guides

The Pods will be co-led by sisters, Alysha Malik an Executive Coach, and Alaina Malik, LMHC, an Attachment Therapist.

About Alysha Malik

Alysha Malik is known as the energy that connects. Since 2016, she has had a deep curiosity for understanding the founder's psyche and their emotional journey. This was embraced by the launch of her blog, Radiche, featuring over 150+ early-stage founders and humanizing storytelling. 

Since then, Alysha has sat on every end of the table from being an angel investor to Head of Platform in Venture, 2x founder, and a Techstars mentor.  Alysha is also clinically trained in IMAGO relationship therapy, and ICF coaching from Coach U, with experience in attending the Hoffman Process and Atlas Project for emotional growth. Alysha brings an essence of playfulness and positivity into every room.

About Alaina Malik, LMHC

Alaina Malik, LMHC cultivates spaces for deep transformation to take place. Since 2015, she has been invested in understanding the psychological and relational patterns that shape high-performing leaders. As a trained attachment, sex, and trauma therapist with advanced training in AEDP, she helps founders navigate the emotional weight of leadership and growth. Her approach blends somatic tracking, psychodynamic insight, and an intuitive read of subconscious patterns to break through emotional bottlenecks affecting decision-making, relationships, and self-trust.

With a background of working with collectivistic cultures, Alaina understands the importance of identity, legacy, and ambition in business leadership. She has led transformative group experiences that go beyond surface-level mindset shifts, equipping founders with the resilience and emotional agility to find fulfillment in their lives.

 FAQs

  • Founder Pod is a  a group coaching and support program designed for entrepreneurs. Co-led by a licensed therapist and an executive coach, each session provides a structured space to process challenges, gain clarity, and explore leadership dynamics in a supportive environment.

    While this program integrates therapeutic insight and coaching strategies, it is not a substitute for individual therapy. Instead, it provides founders with a professionally guided space to refine their emotional resilience and decision-making, and foster meaningful connections with like-minded peers.

  • Each Founder Pod is carefully curated with entrepreneurs from similar industries and growth stages, creating a tight-knit, supportive space. Sessions are co-led by a licensed therapist and executive coach, giving you a mix of deep processing, real-time leadership growth, and peer connection.


    We also bring in top business mentors (with $50M+ ARR) to share insights and answer the tough, unfiltered questions. And because no founder should go it alone, you’ll be custom-matched with a Playmate, a trusted group member who’s in your corner, cheering you on and helping you go the distance, both emotionally and operationally.

  • We vet for low egos and big hearts—only 2% of applicants make the cut.

    Each pod is a ‘closed-group’ with 8 founders max, from similar industries and growth stages, creating space for shared challenges and real conversations. To keep trust high, we avoid placing direct competitors together.

    And because deep connection takes time, commitment to showing up matters. This is a space to build meaningful, lasting relationships.

  • Consumer/E-Commerce Pod kicks off April 17, 2025.

    We meet every Tuesday from 7:00–8:30 PM EST online via SimplePractice for 8 weeks. Our journey begins with an in-person Kick-off Dinner in Williamsburg, NY (7:00–9:00 PM) to set the stage for deep connection, and we wrap up with a Close-Out Dinner to celebrate the experience.

    Full Schedule:

    📍 April 17 – Session 1: Kick-off Dinner (7:00–9:00 PM, Williamsburg, NY)
    💻 April 22 – Session 2 (Online)
    💻 April 29 – Session 3 (Online)
    💻 May 6 – Session 4 (Online)
    💻 May 13 – Session 5 (Online)
    💻 May 20 – Session 6 (Online)
    💻 May 27 – Session 7 (Online)
    📍 June 5 – Session 8: Close-Out Dinner (7:00–9:00 PM, Williamsburg, NY)

  • Expect to feel more confident in your decisions, less alone in leadership, and more in control of your stress. You’ll gain the security and grounding to navigate tough relationships, the clarity to lead with conviction, and the support of a trusted community that truly understands your journey — with the opportunity for lasting support and camaraderie.

  • Good news! This can be a business expense (because your emotional well-being deserves a budget line, too).

    Payment Options:

    💳 $388 per session (charged for virtual sessions via SimplePractice)
    💰 $3,100 upfront

    No cancellations or refunds.
    Payments are securely processed through Stripe.

  • Founder Pod is a coaching program that blends leadership strategy with emotional insight.

    While a licensed therapist co-leads sessions, this is not therapy. Founder Pod is designed to give founders the tools, perspective, and support to navigate challenges, make stronger decisions, and sustain their energy—all within a structured, peer-driven space.

  • Confidentiality is a core value of Founder Pods, and all members are required to sign an NDA to protect the privacy of their podmates. While this helps create a secure space, participants should still share only what they feel comfortable discussing in a group setting.

    Your facilitators follow ethical and legal guidelines according to NYS law to maintain a safe environment, and any breaches of confidentiality will result in removal from the program to uphold the integrity and trust of the group.