This is our third straight week featuring guest bloggers, and we are especially excited this week to nourish entrepreneurship and highlight the story of Nyad, recent winners of Alabama Launchpad. Mary Ila is a Launchpad Advisor, and watching the people behind these startups grow and nourish their new businesses is a thrill for our whole team. So, without further ado, Nourishing Nyad! 

Building a startup is a test of resilience, vision, and leadership. At Nyad, we’re learning that the key to success isn’t just having a great idea, it’s about how you nurture it, how you develop the people around you, and how you foster a culture that sustains both innovation and impact.

As co-founders, Chris and I started Nyad to tackle one of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges: polluted water. But beyond the technology we’re developing, our focus has been on nourishing the leadership, talent, and culture that will allow our company to thrive.

This year, as Horizon Point focuses on the theme of Nourish, we’re reflecting on what it means to nourish an idea, nourish ourselves as leaders, and nourish the communities we aim to serve.

Nourishing an idea from concept to reality

Many founders believe that success is about coming up with a breakthrough idea. But in reality ideas are everywhere, and the best ideas often fail, not because they aren’t good, but because they aren’t properly nurtured.

For us, the journey started with a simple observation: wastewater treatment is outdated, inefficient, and heavily reliant on manual processes. We saw an opportunity to bring today’s technology into this space, using artificial intelligence to optimise microbial management. But our ‘why’ runs deeper than that. Chris and I are keen swimmers and scuba divers, we’ve spent years in and around the water, and we’ve seen firsthand how pollution threatens the places we love. We couldn’t shake the feeling that if we had the skills to help fix this, we had a responsibility to try. But having an idea wasn’t enough. We had to test it, refine it, and prove that it could work in real-world industrial settings.

This meant listening, really listening, to the people who manage wastewater every day and experience the problem we’re trying to solve. It meant adapting our approach based on customer feedback, learning from industry veterans, and being willing to change direction when necessary. The process of nourishing an idea requires patience, adaptability, and a deep commitment to continuous learning.

Nourishing leadership and talent development in a startup

A startup is only as strong as its people, and it takes a village.

One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that leadership isn’t a title, it’s a practice. As founders, we’re constantly stepping into new roles: pitching customers and investors, negotiating with industry partners, and navigating the technical and regulatory challenges of wastewater treatment. We’ve had to develop skills we never anticipated needing and handling setbacks with resilience.

We’ve learned that leadership isn’t always about having all the answers, it’s about creating an environment where you can find the answers together. We commit to our vision, hold ourselves accountable, and make sure we stay balanced and motivated through the ups and downs of early-stage entrepreneurship.

We’ve found that nourishing leadership in ourselves means:

— Prioritizing learning by seeking mentorship, reading, and surrounding ourselves with people who challenge our thinking.

— Building discipline by establishing routines that keep us focused, from structured work blocks to regular reflection on progress.

— Staying grounded in purpose by remembering why we started Nyad and making sure our decisions align with our long-term vision.

Nourishing communities beyond the office

Leadership doesn’t stop at the workplace. One of the most rewarding aspects of building Nyad has been the opportunity to engage with the broader community, engaging with other entrepreneurs, collaborating with industry leaders, and contributing to initiatives that drive sustainable innovation.

Our journey has been deeply shaped by the support of the Birmingham Alabama startup ecosystem, organizations like the Innovation Depot, the EDPA’s Alabama Launchpad, and the mentors who have helped us grow. Now, we see it as our responsibility to pay that forward. Whether it’s through hiring locally, sharing our knowledge, or supporting initiatives in clean technology, we believe that nourishing a company also means nourishing the community around it.

Final thoughts: leadership as a practice of nourishment

The theme of “Nourish” resonates deeply with us, not just in the environmental sense, but in the way we lead, build, and grow. Whether it’s an idea, a team, a culture, or a community, true leadership is about fostering growth in ways that are sustainable and meaningful.

As Nyad continues to evolve, we remain committed to this principle. Our mission is to transform wastewater treatment, but our success will ultimately be measured by the people we empower, the culture we cultivate, and the impact we create.

Nyad Founders

Virginia & Chris are WaterTech entrepreneurs from London, UK who previously founded a successful Covid diagnostics startup together.

Virginia Szepietowski, Co-Founder & CEO, has experience in corporate and startup growth & strategy, and is a qualified attorney.

Chris Braithwaite, Co-Founder & COO, is a mechanical engineer with a background in corporate finance.