Meet Jamie Price and Julie Campistron of MyLife
Interviewed by Diane Cyr
Click here to signup for the MyLife App. 2 months free with the code skgmylife22020
Editor’s note
The timing couldn’t be better for the MyLife app, the brainchild of founders Jamie Price and Julie Campistron. Formerly known as Stop, Breathe & Think, MyLife provides an easy on-ramp to mindfulness and meditation for kids, teens, students, executives--anyone caught up with the stressors of these challenging times. The two founders know firsthand the power of restorative practices, having previously burned out on their high-stress careers as an investment banker (Jamie) and tech executive (Julie). Five years ago they paired up to create an app that would not only offer the tools of serenity but make them simple, digestible, and even, yes, fun. Winner of several Best App awards, MyLife is a fuzzy blanket in a hard-wired world, featuring approachable design, how-are-you-doing check-ins, and the kinds of short, targeted practices that can turn even a wait at Starbucks into a mental-health break. Here, Jamie talks about developing and growing this innovative app.
Jamie Price & Julie Campistron
How did you and Julie first begin this journey into spreading mindfulness?
I was in investment banking, working 80 hours a week, and I wouldn’t even see the light of day.
When I met my mentor who taught me how to meditate, the impact was transformative. I was like, ‘Ah, okay, I wish I had had these tools earlier in life,’ and I felt inspired to spread it. I started my nonprofit, Tools for Peace, and began teaching emotional intelligence workshops in schools and businesses. I then created the app Stop, Breathe & Think as part of my nonprofit, and it grew so quickly that I called one of my husband’s friends, who was in tech, and asked, ‘What would you do with this?’ He said, ‘I’d talk to my wife.’ That was Julie! She had been looking at apps like Headspace and Calm and was interested in learning a lot more about it. We met for lunch and decided to partner then and there.
When you started in 2015, the market was already supporting a number of meditation and mindfulness apps. What was different about Stop, Breathe & Think?
Other apps at that time were much more about professional achievement—in crushing goals and gaining high performance. We were looking much more at holistic health and wellness and what tools will support wellbeing and regulate one’s nervous system. Our foundation was, and is, about cultivating kindness and compassion. Our app was also very user-friendly and accessible, and people responded to the fact that it was speaking to emotional experience and had delightful design--it wasn’t heavy or hardcore. It grew largely by word of mouth from teachers and counselors who were using it.
Why change the name to MyLife?
We found people had a hard time remembering Stop, Breathe & Think! And when we were acquired by Meredith, which is an enormous publication company, we had an opportunity to broaden our approach to total wellness instead of maintaining a specific focus on mindfulness. Total health comes from different avenues, including nutrition and movement, and as we incorporate more information like that going forward, the name MyLife has the capacity to be an umbrella for this holistic approach.
So what other changes are taking place?
We’ve added a “Journals” feature because journaling supports cognition in working with emotional challenges. And we’ve added a “Journeys” feature, which includes multi-day programs developed in collaboration with experts for working with specific challenges, like anxiety and ADHD. Our latest journey is Mindful Parent, Mindful Child, a 30-day parenting program crafted by Susan Kaiser Greenland, a founding faculty member of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center’s facility training curriculum. We’ll soon be adding another for chronic pain.
Has your user demographic changed with the pandemic? Are you reaching more schools, more kids, more executives?
We’ve recently released a web-based MyLife for Schools because teachers want to make this accessible in the classroom. They’re finding that an emotional check-in is a great tool for seeing where students are at every day, which is enormously helpful to them right now, and they can use our tools to provide solutions to support them. Right now we’re in 15 schools and the need is just growing.
In the business world, everyone is looking to provide solutions and support to this almost unprecedented stress in the workforce. We’re continuing to discover how helpful mindfulness is in businesses, and we’re going to see it growing. We’ve discovered that when you provide a platform for people to share and express their emotions when they haven’t been in the habit of doing so, it provides fertile ground for being supported. You see people start deepening their practices over time, evolving into using longer meditations and using the meditation timer, which has no guided instructions.
Are certain users more open to these practices than others?
Most of our users are women aged 25-plus. I think women, especially moms, are often early adopters. And we’ve found with teens, once we introduce them to these practices, are like sponges. There really isn’t any resistance; it’s more about providing them with opportunity. Adults are more challenging: The habits of busyness are so strong, and they often have this false sense of ‘I have no time.’
What do you suggest for getting through those barriers?
You can’t force it; you just have to keep providing the opportunities and creative approaches. You don’t have to sit on a cushion and remove yourself from what you’re doing in order to just start. It’s critical to keep it simple and low pressure. Stepping outside, placing a hand over your heart, and taking a few quiet breaths. It’s not hard to do, and it’s a great starting point.