As co-founder of Joyous, Sharon has helped build the largest psychedelic medicine company in history, treating over 84,000 patients with a revolutionary approach to mental health that combines cutting-edge neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and a radically reimagined business model that's disrupting the entire psychiatric industry.

While traditional antidepressants struggle to achieve 30% response rates, Joyous delivers 68% response rates for depression with effect sizes exceeding 2.0. They've achieved this while maintaining zero serious adverse events across their massive patient population, creating what may be the best risk-reward profile ever documented in mental healthcare.

Sharon brings a unique cognitive science perspective on why this works, having developed a theory that combines trauma processing, nervous system regulation, consciousness studies, and predictive processing. Her framework explains how daily low-dose ketamine creates a "psycholytic" state - a partial dissociation that allows patients to fully experience the nervous system sensations associated with anxiety, depression, and trauma while maintaining a phenomenological experience of spaciousness. Instead of being overwhelmed by these sensations, patients can finally feel and release them from a place of safety. The brain's predictive processing mechanisms, normally locked in loops of threat detection and negative prediction, get a chance to update their models. It's like being able to feel the storm while standing in the eye of the hurricane - present with the experience but not consumed by it. The neuroplasticity inherent to ketamine and the new synaptic pathways established promote long-lasting benefits.

The AI component amplifies this therapeutic effect. Joyous has collected over 3 million data points from patient experiences, feeding sophisticated algorithms that personalize treatment in real-time. The system doesn't just track symptoms - it predicts optimal dosing adjustments, identifies early warning signs of non-response, and recognizes patterns that human clinicians might miss. Every patient interaction teaches the system, continuously improving its ability to match individuals with their ideal treatment protocol.

From a business perspective, Sharon's journey represents a masterclass in scaling complexity. Healthcare startups usually fail because they underestimate regulatory hurdles, but Joyous navigated FDA regulations, DEA requirements, state medical boards, and insurance complexities while growing from zero to 84,000 patients. They built a vertically integrated system spanning telemedicine, pharmacy operations, patient monitoring, and clinical protocols - all while maintaining startup agility. Instead of building expensive clinics, they went directly to patients' homes, slashing costs by 93% while actually improving outcomes.

The scaling story defies Silicon Valley wisdom. Rather than "move fast and break things," Joyous had to move fast while breaking nothing - people's lives were at stake. They grew 50-fold in two years while maintaining exceptional safety records. Sharon can share how they solved the classic chicken-and-egg problem of needing data to prove efficacy but needing efficacy to get patients, ultimately building the largest real-world evidence base in psychedelic medicine.

The human impact drives everything. Behind those 84,000 patients are stories of parents who can finally engage with their children, professionals who've reclaimed their careers, and individuals who describe it as "getting their life back." The treatment costs just $129 per month - less than many people spend on coffee - democratizing access to breakthrough mental healthcare.

As an engaging conversationalist who's been there from inception, Sharon brings both scientific depth and compelling storytelling to every interview. She can discuss the challenges of convincing investors to back psychedelics, the ethical considerations of scaling consciousness-altering medicine, and the future implications as mental healthcare shifts from symptom management to actual neurological transformation.

This story sits at the intersection of neuroscience breakthroughs, AI innovation, business disruption, and social justice - offering listeners a window into how technology and compassion can combine to solve one of humanity's greatest challenges. Sharon's unique ability to weave together complex science with accessible explanations and real human stories makes her an ideal guest for exploring this paradigm shift in mental health.