Wearable Mindfulness: The Ring Revolutionizing Leader Wellbeing

Johan Matton, creator of the Pulse Mindfulness Ring, talks about his journey from filmmaking to building a wearable that helps people take mindful pauses throughout the day using quiet haptic vibrations instead of apps or data tracking. Emily Sander, a former Chief of Staff and early investor, shares how the ring helped her be more present, cut down autopilot habits, and manage stress. They discuss the science behind micro-pauses, the choice not to include biometrics, and upcoming features like synchronized vibrations for groups.

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Pulse Mindfulness Website

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Who Am I?

If we haven’t met before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.

Time Stamps:
00:25 Disclosure Pulse Investment

01:13 Meet Johan and Pulse

02:02 Johann Before Pulse

02:52 Origin Story of the Ring

06:10 Building the Team and Tech

08:32 Why No Biometrics

11:29 Science Behind Micro Pauses

15:18 How the Ring Modes Work

35:38 Roadmap and Closing

Transcript

0:06

Welcome back to Leveraging Leadership, where we unpack the art of business leadership. I'm your host, Emily Sander, chief of staff to an executive leadership coach. This show is all about finding your points of greatest influence and leveraging them to better serve those around you.

Disclosure Pulse Investment

emily-sander_2_07-15-2026_085650 0:25

Before we jump into today's conversation, one quick disclosure. I'm an investor in Pulse, in the Pulse mindfulness ring. I was a customer first. I was one of their pilot customers. And after several months of using it, and I actually got a s- chance to speak with Johann a couple times, I decided to invest because I believed in what Johann and team are building. So you will hear genuine enthusiasm from me today about how much I love the ring because it has changed my life for the better, but I wanted to be transparent about that upfront. My job in this podcast is to bring you ideas and tools that I genuinely believe will make you a better leader. And in this case, I believed in the ring so much I became an investor. So I wanted to let you know that going in. But without further ado, here is the conversation with Johann

Meet Johan and Pulse

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 1:13

Welcome back to Leveraging Leadership. have a very special guest today. People hear mindfulness, and they often think of candles and meditation retreats out in nature, and what they are missing is of the fundamental ways to be a more effective leader. Here to talk to us today is a very special guest, Johann Mattan, creator and founder of the Pulse mindfulness ring. Welcome, Johann.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 1:40

Thank you so much, Emily. Appreciate it.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 1:42

a pleasure to have you on. It's good to be talking to you all the way over in Sweden. Beautiful country. I've been there. And, uh, I have my Pulse mindfulness ring on right now, and I love it. I wear it every day, as do you. And I'm so glad to be a pilot customer, and we will talk all about the ring itself and how it works.

Johann Before Pulse

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 2:02

But, uh, to start out with, can you just talk us through what you were doing before the Pulse mindfulness ring entered your life?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 2:11

Yeah, absolutely. Uh, before this I was a filmmaker and a film producer, and I started that about 22 years ago when I was 19. So very early I was both acting and, and writing content for film. Uh, moved to New York and, and ended up spending time producing more than acting, and then eventually, uh, started a production company and was doing documentaries and narratives. So very much in the field of storytelling and yeah, um, providing content for companies but also directors, uh, for yeah, 20 years, two decades

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 2:44

Very cool. All right, so in terms of storytelling, what, uh, when did the idea of The Ring first come to you?

Origin Story of the Ring

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 2:52

Yeah, so M-maybe I backtrack a little bit. So I was always intrigued by self-development and growth because I had a lot of anxiety and stress in my life and, and just in my body. Someone that struggled with just overthinking. And I turned to the two things that were available to me at the time, which was yoga and meditation. I read The Power of Now, uh, twenty-two years ago, and back then eight million people have read that book wanting to be present, and I also wanted to be more conscious and present. So I started meditating almost every day and, uh, even visited meditation retreat camps in Tibet and Burma, went all over Asia for a couple of years. And after that, moving to New York. And then I realized now two decade had passed, and I realized but even with my meditation practice, I was as lost in thoughts as everybody else, and I forgot to do the work. So I asked my therapist what to do, and he recommended a mindfulness course about taking pauses throughout the day. So he taught me to every time I walked into a new room or every time I start a new activity on my computer or every time I wash my hands, I took this pause, a deep breath and recentered myself. Just became aware of my thoughts, what science called metacognition, what I called mindfulness or what the spiritual community calls awareness, right? Becoming aware. And I felt really good. I felt it felt like a miracle. I just started becoming calm, more centered, observing thoughts of anxiety and stress in a way that made me disconnect from it. But then after the eight-week course was done and my accountability buddy, my therapist, uh, was, was done with this, I forgot to do the work. And I, I asked, uh, my, my therapist and he said, "Well, the thing with mindfulness is there's endless meta studies and white papers on this, that mindfulness works. The problem with mindfulness is that we forget to do it." And that's when I realized that-- that's when I started playing with phones and smartwatches to send reminders on screen devices, which didn't work because screen devices are pulling you in, right? They're, they're the enemy sort of, the distraction. They-- You see more notifications and it's even been proven by science that a mindfulness notification on the phone causes more stress than without it because it, it pulls you into more screen time, right? So it wasn't until a couple of years later, I had quit filmmaking. I took two years off because I had almost burned out, and I was at an event in Berlin. Full disclosure, it was an event of, um, psychedelics. Uh, and the day after, people were extremely present and conscious, and I was thinking, what if they can be like this all the time? What if I can be like this all the time? What if there was a reminder for them to b-- stay present, conscious throughout the day? And I was once again thinking about what electronic is there to support us. And I, I was thinking if they all would use their phone and take up a screen device and look at it, it would look idiotic if these two hundred people in front of me staring into screens. So I thought It must be something else. And then I thought, what if there's a secret subtle helper? And, and that's when the idea of a ring came to me, that what if they had a vibrating ring that could help me and could help o- other people to stay present and conscious? And then, yeah, the rest was building the company, basically.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 6:09

Yeah, basically.

Building the Team and Tech

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 6:10

And you have the, uh, is it the CTO from Oura Ring or is

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 6:16

Yeah, so that's how it started. So, uh, I, I reached out, uh, for consultant help and mentorship from Tommy, uh, who, uh, was the founding member of Oura Ring and, um, uh, COO, chief operating officer at Oura for sev- for seven years. But we didn't need a CEO because my co-founder is our CEO. Uh, I needed a CTO, and Tommy as the CEO of Oura said like, uh, he was pretty much like covering all grounds of the manufacturing of, of something so small as a ring. So I flew over to meet him because I believe that's how you actually make connections today. You, you're not asking for a Google Meet. You actually ask where they go for a coffee on a regular day. These busy people don't have time for another Google Meet, so. But if you offer to come to them, they, they can't say no, right? So this is one of the sweetest people on the planet, a fantastic human being, and he, he sat down with, uh, with me for eight hours and just, uh, and said, "I can help you. I can-- I would love to come on board and help you guys." And then because of him and my co-founder, who is a, an engineer as well, we managed to build something that sounds simple, but a vibrating ring is like, would've been easier to replicate a Tesla car. It was re-re-really hard and took us three years with his expertise and experience. Would've taken probably five years without him, but his connections and resources and vendors and, yeah. We-- Him, he came on board very early and, and thanks to him it went very fast, I would say.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 7:41

Well, one of the things I love about the ring is it's designed so beautifully. It's, it's simple, it's minimalist, but it's elegant. It's not some clunky thing you have to kind of carry around on, on your hand to remind yourself to be present. So I think the engineering has, uh, has come through in a, in a positive way. Um, and I really like it because it's, it's a, it's a wearable. You're obviously wearing it, uh, as jewelry, but it's not like any other wearable you have. It's not you scores or telling you to stop stressing out or telling you to sleep more. It's literally just these subtle haptic vibrations that are calming. It's not like a ding, ding, ding, ding, ding notification on your phone. It's very like, oh, almost look forward to when it, uh, when it gives you that pulse vibration.

Why No Biometrics

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 8:32

So, um, w- was there an intentional decision to not make it like every other wearable where it's tracking things and there's biometric data? You just wanted something simple?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 8:44

So the, the differentiation for me, great question by the way. The, the differentiation for me, uh, came, uh, post, uh, production because I never thought about the other wearables. I wasn't in that space of longevity or biohacking. I, I started to become compared to them because all the investors were comparing to them. I never thought about it as a competition to other smart ring. I knew that Oura had the same form factor, but I never thought about Oura just because their form factor is a ring. They're having sensors, and we have a vibrational motor. You, you can't have both. It doesn't fit, right? So, uh, I just wanted to have technology in the ring, and therefore I, I asked the team at Oura to help me. But the com-competition I saw was meditation apps and yoga and, and meditation cushions, and a world where the pain point is becoming calm, becoming present, while everybody else in the wearable space was focusing on data trackers and sensors and more dashboards of information and overwhelming amounts of data. And we were always pioneering a different direction, away from all the noise, I like to call it. And, uh, it's nothing wrong with data. I, I track myself at the gym too to run and with the right heart rate. But data doesn't necessarily make us feel better. I always wanted to create a well-being company, not a wellness tracker. Uh, I always believe that life is also meant to be lived, not just measured. And today we're, we're simply measuring each other all the time, and we get stressed by it. So, but all the investors, every VC and, and angel investor almost asked me the same question: "Why don't you add biometrics to it? Why don't you add trackers? Why don't you add sensors?" And I, I try to explain that less is more and, uh, and, and the few investors that come on board really understood this, and that's really beautiful to see. But the amounts of no I got because we didn't have trackers and sensor, they, they simply didn't understand the pain point we were trying to solve. It was, uh, an interruption of autopilot in an overstimulated world to not create more overstimulation. That's eighty-five percent of American is overstimulated today. Hundred and twenty-five million Americans are so stressed that they don't wanna go to work, and here we are trying to help them with more tracking and data. Like, no, I felt like all those companies are doing a great job, uh, creating information, but we also need to know what to do with the data. We need to integrate the lessons and learnings into our everyday life, and that's what we're trying to help with. Um, sorry, that was a long answer, Emily, to your question.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 11:07

One of the things I love is, is it's, um, it's refreshing. It's not just more, like pack on more data, flashier dashboard. It's almost, um, contrarian to that whole movement in some ways, and I like that it l- literally, I c- I, I can't do anything with it besides just be more present, which is the point of wearing it.

Science Behind Micro Pauses

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 11:29

Um, and I do wanna get into some of the science, 'cause you've done some research and, on the studies about mindfulness and the benefits and how the brain works. And in terms of business leaders, and you've got high-powered executives who are very busy and they're running by their calendar and they're, have back-to-back, back meetings all day long, um, I think a lot of listeners will resonate with the words pressure and stress. Like, "Hey, the team is under a lot of pressure right now, and work is very stressful right now." seen a lot of smart people make poor decisions when they're stressed, so I'm thinking a, a understanding of the science might be a bit helpful, but is there anything you can share about the brain when it's under pressure or when it's stressed?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 12:16

Right. The, the, the science and the data we looked at for the product, because we were of course wanting to back up our claims with data, although we did see that most people didn't need the data to actually be interested in the product, which was interesting for us. Everyone who has practiced yoga, for example, uh, understood that coming back to the sensation of the breath multiple times a day will, will, will be quite revolutionary. Uh, but the-- to speak on the data, I just wanna give the caveat that I'm not a scientist. Uh, so that's the disclaimer here. Uh, the research we've been looking at is first, first foremost was, uh, mindfulness pauses. And we saw, uh, one study, for example, showcase that taking mindfulness pauses 10 times a day can be much more effective than a one-hour yoga or meditation session in the morning due to the fact that it's conditioning your mind towards change by repetition, or what, what science call conditioning, simple as that. Because we're doing something over and over again, and we create a new pattern and, and do habit stacking. And, um, just-- we also saw a bunch of studies on vibrations, the actual haptic feedback on the body, how that can be soothing and calming, because when you feel a sensation on the skin, on the body, you can't at full power with the brain, um, be thinking and feeling at 100% at the same time. So naturally, when it-- everything is so cerebral and when y- the haptic vibrations on, on the skin takes you out of your mind and into your body as a somatic experience, and science has proven this. So it does reduce, uh, stress level over time and the cortisol over time, and it's, it's super interesting to see how these interruptions of rumination of the past or stress about the future stops when we're starting to feel into vibrations on our body and take this pause and stop to, to... And then what we also recommend in the app that we have science on is what to do when the ring vibrates, because people ask, "Okay, so it's vibrating. What's my intention? Or what's the action?" And we're guiding people through our app that we're hoping people tune into maybe twice a month, not more than that. We built an app that doesn't scream for daily attention, but rather an app that you tune into to learn how to use the ring, and then you leave the app be. So we're teaching people about breathing, and the science behind breathing is endless. There's so many meta studies and, and, um, yeah, pe- peer reviewed studies on how the breath can, uh, regulate your nervous system and makes you more calm. So we are suggesting three deep breaths and box breathing as opportunities when the ring vibrates to simply pause and, uh, and, and breathe a bit deeper and do longer exhales and, and things like that that people can work with.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 14:56

And so as Johann mentioned, there is an app, but you can get the ring and literally just put it on and it starts working, and you don't have to do anything else. And as you mentioned, the app does have these kind of meditation tutorials or guided pieces or information about how to best use the, use the ring. Um, so I have the app on my phone, but I don't look at it regularly, honestly.

How the Ring Modes Work

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 15:18

I just have set this to, uh, let's talk about how the ring works. So there's haptic vibrations that go off at random times in the day, and you let, let folks know how you've kind of set this up

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 15:33

Right. Yeah, so there's, there's four main ways to use the ring, and the, the main cause and the reason most people are buying the ring and benefiting from it, including myself, is this mindfulness pauses. Personally, I set them to vibrate twice an hour.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 15:47

too. Yep

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 15:48

So, s- yeah, so it's at random twice an hour. You get this secret little helper almost like tapping on the shoulder. It's like, "Hey, Johan, calm down. Chill. Breathe, breathe, breathe for a moment. Look up from your computer and become aware." You don't have to have your clenched shoulders up, your clenched jaw, your shoulders up here. You can just relax your shoulders, feel the tension in your body for just five seconds if you have the time, and then, and keep working. So that's mindfulness mode. And people are also using that to remember to integrate lessons and learning i-into their life. It could be that they are remembering to straightening their back, drinking water, and stop biting their nails. It, it can be any habit change that they wish to acquire. So that's the main core functionality of the ring. You-- As you said, Emily, you just charge your ring, you put it on, and it's automatically in mindfulness mode. Many people are also using it because they struggle with ADHD and overthinking. They have told me that they are using something we call focus mode, which is a more frequent vibration every minute or every five minutes. I usually use them when I do a keynote presentation or public speaking to-- I'm someone who speaks very fast, so it reminds me to slow down my speech pattern and just look at the audience a-and things like that. And people can use that also to remember to focus on the task. If they're struggling with drifting away in thoughts, they can put it to vibrate every minute, and every time they have reached for their phone or distraction, they will remember, "Oh, right, I'm supposed to be working." Eh, I use that, for example, when I'm eating. I'm eating also very fast, and it remind me to put the fork and spoon down to eat more mindfully. I also used that when I was reading the other day because I kept just doing other things and thinking about the company and reaching for my phone, and I realized I love reading. I'm supposed to read. So every minute I got reminded to just keep reading. Um, the last two I wanna mention is one is, uh, meditation. You can actually meditate with the ring. So we have, of course, vibrational feedback for some... as meditation sessions that you can follow with your breath. And lastly, soothing mode to use the vibrations, uh, for three minutes to, as I mentioned before, take you out of your mind and into your body if you're having a stressful day, if you wanna wind down before bedtime to sleep better, or if you wanna, uh, cool your nervous system after a stressful meeting or something like that. So those are the main ways to control the vibrations, and of course, you can choose the vibrations that we have selected in the, in the app for a, a few different ones that we have, uh, added

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 18:11

And I think, you know, as chief of staff, and now as an entrepreneur, we're often in problem-solving mode. So, oh, there's a, there's a obstacle. I have to overcome that. Let me use my head to figure out how to, that. Which is, which is a good thing, which can be good things. But when you said you're on autopilot and the ring helps interrupt this, that resonates so strongly with me, because I've through an entire day sometimes, and you know that feeling when you've, you've driven somewhere and you're like, "Huh, how did I get here? I, I obviously drove here, 'cause I drove the car, but I don't have any recollection of the, of the journey." I, I got to the end of the day and I had that sensation and I was like, "Ooh, that's not a way to live life." And so these micro pauses throughout the day, literally five seconds, I take one deep breath and I'm just wherever I am. So whatever room I'm in,

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 19:10

Hmm

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 19:11

conversation I'm in. it's, it's random, so you're, it's, it's, uh, you're doing lots of different things when it goes off. And so you're just there. You're just in reality more, and I, and I love that

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 19:24

Yeah. I, I, I, that, it so sounds so simple, but by slowing down and becoming aware and becoming present and conscious, it, it almost feels like life is slowing down a little bit and we get to experience it more fully

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 19:36

It's also more real. I don't know, there's like this texture to it, this tone to it where I've moved from kind of, "What do I have now? What's my next call? What do I need to get out? How productive can I be?" To, "Oh, this is a really nice day, and I have so many good things happening and meeting so many cool people," and it's just a, a fundamentally different just again, tone and texture to the day. Um, I think a lot of people listening will resonate with overthinking 'cause especially chiefs of staff, they're, I mean, um, sometimes paid to just like think ahead. I'm thinking for myself, I'm thinking for my principal, I'm thinking for the entire executive team, and they're in like high velocity, bzz, their brain is buzzing. And to drop yourself into your body, uh, makes you more effective because you're, you're more creative. You can come up with creative solutions to problems, and you can see things for what they are and what they aren't. I've found that I have, um, you mentioned ruminating. I tell myself stories and I

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 20:39

Yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 20:39

about situations and about people, and I'm like, "Oh, that's actually not true." And so the ring helps me just come back down to, "What do I know about this situation for sure? What do I know for sure about this person, and what do I need to ask?" And so that's been a helpful piece for me.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 20:59

Yeah. Thanks for sharing that. And I, I, I, I say this often also that thoughts come at random to us, and we're stuck in these thoughts on, on autopilot as we speak about ruminating or, uh, stressing about the future. And these thoughts often create the emotions we have in our body, and then those emotions create the actions we take in life, and, uh, those actions determine actually who we are and who we are to become. So I always repeat this because it's a scary thought. If we're not in control of observing our thoughts, then we're reacting to life on autopilot instead of acting towards life with our true intention and values of who we are and who we wanna be. And I think if we're reacting to life, it will be more aggression naturally because we're reacting in, in the home. So I might take it as far to say potentially even more war in the world if you're just, uh, reacting on autopilot. But if you can act to life with true values and intention, it, it's so worth, uh, striving for that, I believe. And yeah, that, that's how we're-- one of the aspects of how it makes me, uh, how proud and happy that we have created something that can help people on that journey.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 22:01

And I think a lot of my clients come to me and say, "Emily, I do this thing at a team meeting. I, I don't know why, and I don't wanna do it, and I'm trying to avoid it, but I do it every time." Um, and so you can get stuck in these hidden loops almost, where it's like, "I don't know why I do that. I don't wanna do that, but I do that." And this is a way to interrupt that and say, "Okay, let me just come back down to the ground and be centered and truly be here," and then operate from that space, not from frantic panic ego. It's from the grounded, centered, anchored space that you're interacting with people, that you're making decisions, sometimes really important critical decisions for your company or your team. And so what, state of play are you bringing to your leadership? I mean, what type of leader are you? Are you operating out of fear and panic and productivity, or are you operating out of this calm, grounded, centered, uh, I'm aligned with my core values and I know what I'm about, uh, place? 'Cause I think those have very different experiences for how you feel going through them, and also very different outcomes.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 23:09

Exactly. And it was so important that the ring is a singular purpose of the vibrations being the intention for you and, and, uh, not the phone and not the smartwatch that vibrates for 100 different things a day. Because if you're already on autopilot and, and stuck on, on thoughts, and everything goes very fast, and you're overstimulated, and then there's another vibration from your screen device, it will immediately take you into more distraction and more overstimulation, and you just keep that loop happening. So the fact that it's a screen-free device that you don't have to look at what-- to see what is. Is it a text message? Is it a phone call? Is it a meeting? Oh, it's a mindfulness notification. It's already too late. My pulse is already raised, right? It's already heightened. So the, the fact that we will never vibrate for notifications was so important for us. People said, "Oh, you can vi- have it vibrate for important text messages." And we said, "No, we're n- that's not what we're about at all." It has to be this clear purpose of everything we do. We also have included, for example, a, a mindfulness alarm that we're gonna release that you can actually wake up from the ring with beautiful vibrations, which is, uh, nicer than, than the noise, right? For the brain to wake up more calmly. And also, you don't have to wake up... If you have a partner, you don't have to wake up each other. And then first we said no to it because okay, what if the vibrations become associated with something stressful, like, oh, I have to go to work, I have to get up. Uh, so we initially said, "That's not our North Star. Let's not do that." But then we came up with if those vibration are completely differentiated in style from the daily m-mindfulness reminders, then there will never be an association of like, "Oh, I have to get out of bed." So now we can do it. So what we do as a company, we always think one step of like, is this what we wanna do? Because with a, with an app and Bluetooth and a vibrating ring, there's so many opportunities and there's so many things I can tell you we have on the roadmap, uh, coming up this next six months. But that was one of them that we will release, that we decided on if we're doing it right, we can do it. And it's been really important for us to keep making the w- the users feel calm, present, and conscious, and not creating more distraction, noise, or stress, um, um, all the time. Yeah

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 25:09

one of the upcoming releases I'm looking forward to 'cause I would actually use

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 25:13

嗯， 嗯。

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 25:14

Um, so I think that's fantastic. And I know another one, you have a whole bunch of different releases coming out, but another one I'm really interested in is when, um, everyone who has a Pulse mindfulness ring gets a similar vibration, so it's a, it's a unique vibration pattern, and so you feel connected to people. And I think that's so lost in our world today, to just know that there's other people out there and you're connected to them in some, in some way, I think is huge. I mean, uh, I mean, not to get overly ph- philosophical here, but I think if everyone felt a little bit more connected and a little bit more present, the world is gonna be a different place, which is why I'm such a big believer in, in things like this. But, um, that's one of the other features that I was looking forward to.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 26:03

Yeah, we were, we were so happy when we came up with this. It started with something we call family mode, which we will release, where you can connect other users of the pulse ring in the app and be connected to them, so it vibrates for you and your family at the same time. And then we thought, so then everyone thinking of each other or doing a prayer for each other or just doing a gratitude exercise together. But it's really cute that they're all thinking about each other. And then we took it further that we can have a check-in point in the app that if you go to a retreat or on a festival or a conscious event in the mountains, and there's maybe only two thousand people there or two hundred people there, everyone has the pulse ring, then we'll have it vibrate at the same time. And you can do anything from giving each other a hug or, like, look at each other and smile, or just like close your eyes and breathe together, and it will be this feeling of connection. And then we took it to the global, uh, pace of like, okay, when time comes and we sold a few thousand rings, we're gonna actually allow people to choose if they want it to vibrate at the same time in, in their country or across the world at a time zone that works for everyone. And I think that will be really beautiful to know that, okay, everyone around the world who has a pulse ring has this vibration happening right now. And then we can maybe even give the people an intention that, um, l-let's, let's think about these people in the world that struggle right now, or let's be more grateful today for what we have, or l-let's say call our parents if they're still alive and say thank you for something or a friend. Uh, anything like that can create a little bit more connection and love, uh, towards the world. So there's a lot of this we're having the roadmap that, uh, that I think is gonna be really beautiful.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 27:29

And you have your first, uh, launch, first wave of users. I was one of the first ones, and I feel so grateful for that. What kind of feedback have you been getting? What's been surprising about the ring to a lot of users?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 27:44

Surprising for me has been to see how many different use cases, uh, the, the ring has. Like everyone, we have a WhatsApp group and we collect, uh, thoughts from people and to see that it's so individual. The, the product is so personal. It's your pulse ring with your intention, and it, it has been really cool to see that it wasn't just pulses throughout the day. People are using it for all kinds of things and remembering things and yeah, that, that's been really beautiful to see. And then, um, yeah, how they... people feel like there's a love in the company. I, I, I really noticed that there's almost like a little movement of people wanting to be more conscious and present and steer away from all the data and the noise that they almo- almost have created a little movement of people wanting to be less on their phones, less on their tablets, less on their screen, more in nature, more aware. Uh, so that's been really surprising and beautiful to see as well.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 28:36

What's one of the biggest misconceptions about mindfulness, would you say? I mean, you've been in this space, you've gone to Tibet and different places for actual retreats. What, what's one thing where you say mindfulness and someone automatically goes to this, like, "No, that's not, that's not actually 100% accurate." What's a misconception about mindfulness?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 28:57

I, I think one misconception is that people believe it's a spiritual thing and not based in science, but it's endless of, of science and studies on mindfulness pauses. And, uh, Harvard University even have a mindfulness department that they're studying. And so, uh, it, it's something that works. It's something that has been peer-reviewed. It's something that has thousands of, of people being a part of studies. So, uh, another misconception is that it's confined to a room. Many believe that you have to sit on a cushion or that you have to go to a monastery or a temple or do a Vipassana. But mindfulness pauses can take as little as ten seconds, just becoming aware and do them whatever you are. So in a way, we're a little bit like what Sony Walkman did for music. We-- music was also confined to a room. You had to sit at home and listening to your stereo, and then Sony Walkman brought it on the bus and on the train and when you were skateboarding. And we're a little bit bringing mindfulness micro-pauses with you moment to moment. And people don't really think about that opportunity and possibility that you can just sit at your desk at work, take ten seconds pause if you, if you can that hour, and if not, you can skip it and do it the next time the ring vibrates. And yeah, I think mindfulness and meditation has this bad connotation of people believing that you need to sit for an hour on a cushion, and it's gonna be painful, and it's gonna be... Uh, or some people also believe that it's-- when you do actually meditate or you're doing mindfulness practice, it isn't always easy. You see this, um, statues of Buddha with a smile, but it's mental fitness in a way. You're actually practicing. It, it's a practice rather than a, always a state. So practicing mindfulness, also returning back to yourself over and over again, it ta- it takes time to, to learn to be more present. Um, yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 30:30

this one quote that says, uh, meditation or mindfulness is like the gym for your brain. and similarly, once you do things over and over again, you get more reps in, it becomes easier and you get stronger. And so I think there's a, a practice to be made out of that. And I mean, similar to what you just said, for years and years and years, I've known that meditation is good for you. Like, I, I knew the studies were out there. I knew people had done this for thousands of years. There was no way I was going to sit on a pillow for 60 minutes. I mean, like, 20 minutes was, like, laughable to me. It was just not going to happen. But the ring like, bringing mindfulness to you almost. Like, it's... Y- you don't have to do any work. It just, it just goes off, then you take... I have a five-second vibration. I literally take one full breath. I am where I am, wherever I'm in the car, I'm in this room, I'm in the kitchen, I'm outside. And it just through the day in, in such a positive way. It's like, oh, I'm really here, and I'm really experiencing this conversation or this sensation. So, uh, I think, I think that's a big one. It's, it's have to sit on a, on a pillow for 60 minutes to get the benefits of mindfulness. It can come to you.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 31:50

Yeah, it can come to you. But, but I do wanna add that for some people to meditate for, for 10 minutes to start off the day, and then getting reminded to return to that calmness, for some, that- that's needed to have that start of the day. And then for some, it, it's impossible even with 10 minutes. And then, yeah, so whatever individually feels good for someone. But I, I... For myself, for me, the combination can be good to meditate for 20 minutes in the morning, and then get the reminders to come back to that sensation. Uh, my wife also when she does yoga in the morning, before the ring though, it didn't carry into the day at all. For me, one hour later, I was lost in thoughts and, uh, stressed, as stressed as everybody else, and there was no... n- not much afterglow at all, actually, from the morning meditation. And yeah, no,

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 32:35

I think, I

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 32:35

it's different

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 32:36

custom and tailor-make the program or whatever you wanna do, either practice for yourself. And I know a lot of people listening, um, like even 10 minutes is way too much for them, but I think it's something to work up to where, hey, you do the micro pauses throughout the day. after weeks and months of this, you're gonna get pretty familiar with that and pretty good, and then you're gonna start seeing the results of, "Oh, I didn't get as upset in that meeting. I normally would be irritable and get very angry," and I was like, "Oh, I was a little bit calmer." And you'll start to notice these things and want more and more, and then you might add, you know, five minutes in the morning, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and those types of things. But I love how, um, it's, it's practical in the sense that you can literally start with five seconds and,

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 33:21

Yeah. Yeah. No, exactly.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 33:24

Yeah. If, um, someone never buys the ring and you still wanna promote mindfulness in the world, what's one practice that you'd recommend?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 33:35

To try to remember to take pauses of becoming aware, metacognition, and that could be when you wash your hands or walk into a new room or when you step into your car, to take that moment of pause to, yeah, think about if there's tensions in the body, maybe return to your breath, what thoughts are coming right now. Try to think about your next thought. That's impossible, right? That next thought will just come or not. Uh, and see how you feel to see if that does something to accept the moment as is just becoming aware of the moment is just exactly how it's, it's meant to be and, and then continue on and return to it again and again. Yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 34:14

Yeah. Yeah, beautiful. Finish this sentence for me: mindfulness is dot dot dot

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 34:23

Oh, this is, this is, this is hard. This is too fast for me. Oh, yeah, mindfulness is a continuous practice, I would say

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 34:31

It's a continuous practice. Yeah, and it's like a lifetime of, uh, practice doesn't mean perfect. "Oh, no, I didn't do

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 34:38

Yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 34:38

"Oh, I skipped the vibration today," whatever. a

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 34:41

Yeah

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 34:42

I think to me, mindfulness is so refreshing. like drinking cool water after you've been on a really long hike in the sun, and you're just like, "I'm parched and I want some cool water." And it's that, oh, so refreshing feeling. You get that throughout the day.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 34:58

Yeah. Uh, i- it's awareness also for me. It's, it's this feeling of actually being aware and not being unconscious, if you It's being conscious, right?

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 35:07

A lot of

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 35:07

Yeah

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 35:08

for their lives, Johann. I mean, it's like I was, uh, I mean, sadly, there's probably like a decade of my life, decade plus, where I was just going through the motions and I was moving a million miles an hour and I wasn't there for it and for the people around me. So, um, that's

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 35:24

Yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 35:24

Yeah

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 35:26

the, this has studies as well. We saw one study saying, uh, science suggested that we're, uh, daydreaming, uh, up to two-thirds of the day we're lost in thoughts. Yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 35:35

I believe that though. I believe that. So

Roadmap and Closing

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 35:38

Yeah

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 35:38

uh, what is next for you and Pulse and the team?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 35:43

Um, there's so much on the roadmap we wanna develop. Because people are so distracted by their phones, we have this social media addiction mode that we wanna introduce that the ring vibrates when you've been on TikTok, Instagram, or social media apps for too long. Like a seatbelt warning, like swipe up and close the app, otherwise the ring will keep warning you, uh, more and more. So that's gonna be big for us to release to help Gen Zs and adults as well, of course, to get off the phone, uh, when they're getting stuck on YouTube or doom scrolling. Um, we... Yeah, there, there's so much focus right now on brand awareness for the world to know about us, so we're having a brand director that joined us just, uh, five days ago and will work closely with us to really help us shape this, uh, company and the brand and, and steer true to our values. And yeah, there's so much work to be done. We're working 10, 10, 12 hours a day, me and my co-founder, Elliot Bavarian, and yeah, it's, it, it's, uh, a lot of hard work to run a startup, and now it's a company. But now you're also dealing with an organization of people, so it's, it's a startup and management at the same time, which is,

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 36:45

Yep.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 36:46

even, even more complex. So th-there's a lot for us to do. Yeah.

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 36:49

an entrepreneur and the life of a founder. Yes, I know it, I know it well. I've been in startups before where just five people and you're a ragtag bunch of folks trying to change the world, and then you get larger and more mature, and it's like, "Oh, it's an actual company." But, um,

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 37:03

Yeah

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 37:04

and team are doing really important work, and so I just encourage you and, um, I think anyone listening, if you're interested in the ring or you know someone who's interested, maybe, maybe even just send them this episode or send them the link that's in the show notes, um, because I think it, it can, change... I mean, to be too cliched here, but it did change my life, so that's why I'm such a big proponent of it, and I think it can actually change people's lives and change the world. But, um, Johann, if people are interested in the ring or just to learn more about it, where is the best place for them to go?

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 37:41

The best place would be thepulsering.com. So thepulsering.com is the, where we s- where we're selling them, uh, right now, and, and where you can learn more as well on our website. Yeah

emily-sander_1_07-15-2026_080426 37:50

Well, I mean, if you're listening to this, we're doing this in, uh, July 2026, but if you're listening to this, um, soon, you can be one of the, one of the early adopters and kind of help carve this path. But, uh, Johann, thank you so much for coming on. Please give my thanks to Elliot and the rest of the team for all of their hard work, and I really appreciate what you are, are doing to bring into the world.

johan--he-_1_07-15-2026_170425 38:14

Thank you so much, Emily. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much.

38:19

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