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Companies Use iRewardHealth to Promote Employee Wellness
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As more employers realize the benefits of employee wellness, a number of solutions have popped up helping companies do things like host exercise competitions, offer nutritional tracking services and take part in other campaigns designed to promote healthy living.
The problem is that the people who gravitate toward self-tracking and fitness contests aren’t the people who stand to benefit from those kinds of things the most. For people who haven’t been living healthily, taking those first few steps toward lifestyle improvements can be intimidating, and actually sticking to those changes can seem practically impossible.
That’s why the team at iRewardHealth is taking a more informed approach to helping people get healthy. The founders of the company have merged behavioral science and medical expertise with machine learning to create a mobile app designed to build long term healthy habits personalized for each user.
Alexandra Brillaud, Creative Director at iRewardHealth
“We focus on three main areas: Weight control, nutrition and stress reduction,” Alexandra Brillaud, the Creative Director at iRewardHealth, explains. “It’s kind of like training wheels for developing a healthy habit.”
iRewardHealth starts by customizing a dashboard for companies based on their wellness goals. Then the business puts a certain amount of money into a program, and the app uses small payments to reward users as they make choices that move them toward a sustainable, healthy living routine.
The software establishes a baseline for each user as they log activities like meals, runs, yoga sessions, and even stress relievers like playing the guitar or meditating. Once the system identifies areas where a user can improve, a machine learning algorithm develops a personalized incentive structure using points that are directly tied to cash.
The points are rewarded at certain key times, like immediately after a run, to maximize the effectiveness of the incentive.
Rick McCartney, Co-Founder and CEO of iRewardHealth
“Our application uses extrinsic positive reinforcement to motivate people who are lacking sufficient intrinsic motivation to stay on track with healthy actions,” CEO and Co-Founder Rick McCartney, NP, says.
If a user develops a good habit but begins slacking in new areas, the algorithm adjusts itself accordingly. McCartney says it takes a person an average of 21 to 30 days to build a habit.
“The way the app works is you build a habit and you slowly stop being rewarded for it because you don’t need the extrinsic motivation, because now you have that intrinsic motivation and the habit is making you feel good by itself,” Brillaud says.
Employees can deposit the money earned through the app into their bank accounts whenever they want, and iRewardHealth takes 6% of all rewards cashed, meaning businesses only pay when the program is working.
McCartney and fellow co-founders Benjamin Silverman, MD, and Carmine DiChiara, PsyD, developed the idea while working together at a clinic helping patients struggling with problems like diabetes and obesity.
“One day [Benjamin] made a comment like ‘It would be great if we could just pay people to do this stuff and have a product that would help them associate those healthy behaviors with a good feeling, rather than something that’s hanging over their heads,’” Brillaud says.
The idea stuck as a promising way to make a difference in more people’s lives, and soon the team was developing a solution using research-backed reinforcement techniques to encourage healthy behaviors.
After receiving positive feedback from health insurance companies and a few large businesses, the founders officially launched the company in February of 2014. Since then the team has raised some seed money from friends, family members, and angel investors and gone through the Berlin, German-based accelerator Startupbootcamp.
“The incubator was excellent; there’s a lot of products in this space, so it helped us cut through the noise a little bit,” Brillaud says. “We met so many thought leaders in the industry and got tons of great feedback. It was also just fun to take on a new market and do things differently.”
Once the team got over the cultural and language hurdles, they secured partnerships with local businesses and two large insurance agencies they’ll work with on two pilot programs scheduled to begin in the next 18 months.
The team is also close to completing a clinical study showing the benefits of the app. A2010 Harvard research study showed medical costs fall about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs. McCartney thinks iRewardHealth can build on that.
“Average ROI is generally around 5x investment, as long as the investment is a reasonable amount,” Rick says. “Our belief is that if you spend $300 inefficiently, and get a 5x return on investment, that we can provide a 3x as efficient delivery method and provide 15x ROI.”
iRewardHealth is B2B at the moment, and the team is also working to secure partnerships with insurance companies and academic institutions. Sometime this winter, the app will allow people to incentivize friends and family members.
The team has also discussed the possibility of using the app for alternative goals like financial literacy or company loyalty, but the main goal of the company has always been to help people improve their health and wellness.
“There are all sorts of ways that we can structure it,” Brillaud says. “But right now our goal is to help people take the first steps to changing their lives and building healthier habits. That’ll always be our big vision.”
In our article published last week, First Computers - A Nostalgic Look Back From Boston Tech Leaders, we asked some of Boston's founders, investors, and executives about their first computers. But that's not all; we asked you too! Specifically, we wanted to know two key things from you:
What was your first computer?
What did you use it for?
We received too many answers to post them all, so we've curated a small selection of them for you to read below. Enjoy!
Comment: It weighed in at 35 pounds but was called a portable. Harvard Business School forced us all to buy it — we were the first class to be at all automated at the school.
Below is a photo of a truly portable laptop computer I designed in 1981. Way ahead of its time. Not even technically feasible, but I was a prescient industrial design student. That is a photo of me (a bit tongue in cheek) dressed up in my homemade “businesswoman” suit about to give my presentation in my studio class.
First Computer: IBM PCjr. My second computer was a 386sx/20 with 1MB of RAM, a 20MB hard drive, and a state-of-the-art CD-ROM (1x of course). It also came loaded with GeoWorks, which was a short-lived Windows competitor.
Used For: Mostly playing games loaded off 5 1/4" floppy disks. It didn't have a hard drive, so you had to boot it off the disk you wanted to use.
Used For: The game selection was pretty limited, so I learned BASIC and wrote my own. I was 6 when we got it, but I don't think I wrote any games worth playing until I was 8. It helped when we upgraded to Level 2 BASIC and 16k of RAM, which I think cost like $800.
Used For: Playing the graphics free version of "Adventure" while all of my cool friends played the relatively graphics rich "Winter Games" on their Commodore 64's.
First Computer: An original Atari 800 (i.e. with the never-used right cartridge slot). My parents splurged on a double-density 5.25 floppy drive and a high-res (for the day) dot-matrix printer.
Used For: Word processing, games, and fledgling programming. I still have the machine and the floppy drive (although most of the disks have degraded past readable)!
First Computer:DECmate. I can actually picture the old DECmate in our family’s study in the house I grew up in. My Dad was a long-time DEC-ie, which is how we ended up with the computer at home in the first place.
I was late in my introduction to The Walking Dead. I had heard about it for years, and couldn’t fathom why anyone would waste their time watching a show about a zombie apocalypse. Turns out, I was a fool. Sure, the number of not-quite-dead people roaming around the screen is plentiful. And yet, once I sat down to watch it, I couldn’t stop. This show primarily turns out to be about human interaction when things go very, very bad. In short, it’s not really about what the dead people do. It’s about how the alive ones choose to engage.
Perhaps it is just my way of justifying the binge watching of a multi-season series, but I am completely intrigued by the way human relationships evolve when in the face of crisis. In this particular case, a group of people with varying ages and backgrounds end up bonding together in their need to survive the horrors that they are facing. By putting the safety and survival of their new “family” above their own self preservation, they form an unbreakable bond. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have that type of incredible tie with the people you work with? You can. If you are feeling like your team isn’t quite zombie-battle ready, read on to diagnose where things might not be as healthy as they could be.
GAIN ALIGNMENT
For a team to come together and achieve great things, each member needs to understand and live two basic fundamentals: what they are working towards (the big goals) and what their own roles and responsibilities are in contributing to that goal. While some of the foundational skills in the jobs may be similar, zeroing on each person’s unique skills and contributions goes a long way in strengthening the success of the overall team.
Team Question: If asked what the team’s goals are, would everyone share the same answer? And can each person articulate what their roles and responsibilities are in achieving those goals? Bottom line: you can’t work effectively together as a team if you are all working towards different things.
BUILD TRUST
As mentioned above, everyone plays a meaningful role in a successful team. As a result, each person relies directly or indirectly on the other members for producing work. However, if one member doesn’t trust another to get the job done (or because they take all the credit...or they make success all about themselves, etc.) trust erodes. When that happens, so does respect, morale, and productivity of the team. A team must trust each other to be successful. If you can’t trust a particular member, either find a new way to partner with them or elect to part ways.
Team Question: Does anyone on your team ever withhold information in order to avoid conflict, or to make themselves look better? Have you ever caught that person doing something you know in your personal life you’d condemn? (like lying, cheating, or making a situation worse for a team member?).
DIVERSE MINDSET
No matter how smart an individual might be, there is no team that doesn’t benefit from a broad and diverse mindset among its members. Of course, this may mean not every conversation is simple or conflict-free. However, when you embrace different points of view and ideas, your team is bound to thrive as a result.
Team Question: Do we actively solicit input from everyone when we are making big decisions? And if we do, do we apply the best ideas, regardless of where they come from, to get to the right solution?
STRONG VOICE
When a team is thriving, even the most reserved of members feel as though they have a voice worth listening to. Team members encourage each other to push past their comfort zones into the “stretch zone.” When they do so, members find themselves building upon ideas, enhancing their creativity, and bettering the outcome.
Team Question: If we know someone isn’t as inclined to speak up, do we proactively ask them to share their thoughts and ideas in an encouraging way? Do people speak openly and honestly?
SHOW RESPECT
A great team will care about each other’s feelings and perspectives. You can all be different people with unique passions, interests, and approaches - but when you truly respect one another, a healthy team is a result.
Team Question: Do you tolerate each other, or do you truly respect each other for your strengths and differences?
GET PERSONAL
At the core of it, we are people, not “human resources.” No matter how professional our work environment, each of us walks into work with our families, hobbies, and goals floating in the back of our minds. Getting to know each other on a more personal level goes a long way in getting people to connect, and ultimately build a stronger team.
Team Question: Does your team know about the spouses, children and/or pets of one another? How about how each of you likes to spend your time out of the office? Shared a meal together that didn’t involve work talk?
1+1 = 3
The simplest formula to grasp that you have a true team vs. a posse of individual contributors comes down to a matter of support. We all get too busy trying to make a deadline, or just can’t solve that tough problem. It’s how you come together during those peaks and valleys that make all the difference.
Team Question: Do you have each other’s backs no matter what? Are your team members willing to grab a shovel to aid one another?
Teams are dynamic entities; even the strongest among them can hit down times. However, by revisiting some of the basic fundamentals of what makes a team healthy, you may just stay ahead of the curve. No zombie apocalypse needed.
What does the career path and a day in the life look like for the People Operations Lead at one of Boston's fastest growing tech companies?
We decided to interview, Virginia White - the People Operations Lead at Formlabs, to find out.
Career Path
Where you grew up? What did you parents do for work? What was your first job growing up?
I grew up in Houston, Texas. My parents worked in completely different industries. My mother is a database programmer for an enormous technology consulting firm, and my father is a paramedic for the city. Both my parents have been steady in their careers/industries for 30+ years.
The first job I ever had was at the Hyde Park Miniature Museum (in Houston, TX). I worked with the grandson of D.D. Smalley, who originally started the museum in his attic. The museum was resurrected and recreated in the gallery of a bookstore for nine months. I was lucky to work there. I was a ‘docent’ – but not in a traditional sense. I spent my weekends fixing model trains, organizing stamps, cleaning typewriters, and explaining the history behind all the objects. One of the really special things about this place was that all the patrons were allowed to pick everything up and play with it. I spent a lot of time repairing things and I loved the opportunity to talk to everybody that came in the door.
Where did you attend college and what did you study?
I went to the San Francisco Art Institute (S.F.A.I.) and I studied New Genres. The major was mostly focused on conceptual art and new media – but I did spend most of my time doing drawings. I’ve always loved making things with my hands. I still do a little bit of this in my spare time.
What were some of your first jobs out of college?
I never really had that big ‘line’ between college work and post-college work. I started working full-time when I was 17 and never stopped. In my first few years of school, I had a lot of different jobs and cobbled things together – writing tutor, library assistant, I even worked for a bankruptcy trustee for a while. I would do whatever was needed to make things work. After a few years that became stressful, so I decided to find one job and stick with it.
I got a job doing ‘Operations’ (aka everything) at a boutique wholesale-to-retail company, Keena. I started while I was in school, and stayed for 4 years. There were only two other people in the office, including the co-founder, and the rest of the employees were sales reps across the country. We sold high-end consumer gifts and accessories (like hand-silkscreened cards, designer pillows, art books, etc) and worked with companies of all sizes. I worked there for 4 years and I loved it. I got so much exposure to the nuts and bolts of running a business and forged a lot of relationships across the consumer goods industry, many of which I still have.
What were some of the foundation skills that you developed from these early jobs that helped you in what you are doing today?
For a long time, I worked at small companies (and Formlabs was small when I started!) and I learned a ton about general operations and ‘keeping the ship running.’ I was usually working with just 2-3 other people total, usually creatives, and I would be behind the scenes getting things done. I got a lot of experience in sales and working with customers. I also had the opportunity to build out an office twice for two different companies and I gained knowledge of project management. I was definitely a master of none; I enjoyed doing everything I could get my hands on, and I was always willing to take on more responsibilities.
The biggest skill I’ve built from these experiences was working with a variety of people and personalities to get the job done. I’ve always been good at (and enjoyed this) but this shows up in people management, project management, and general execution of everything I do. I spend a lot of my time in 1-1 interactions with employees, talking and debugging if there’s something larger we need to improve. At the size Formlabs is now, I hardly ever am doing something just ‘solo’ – most challenges need more than 1 person to ‘make it happen’ at the right scale.
What brought you to the Boston area?
I was ready to move out of San Francisco – I had been there a long time and I was ready to be challenged more. I had planned to apply to graduate school, but then got connected with Formlabs...
You were an early team member at Formlabs. What employee number were you and how did you get connected with them?
I was 10 or 11, depending on how you count. I had been working with another technology and design company, Nervous System, that was using 3D printing, so Formlabs was on my radar. However, Formlabs wasn’t much of a company yet. I happened to be doing some consulting for other companies in Industry Lab, where Formlabs used to have their office, so I got an introduction and applied from there. I did have a ‘traditional’ interview process (phone call, face to face interview). I remember feeling that I bombed the phone interview (for Sales & Marketing Lead, something I wasn’t really ‘qualified’ for) and didn’t have good answers to any questions. I spent the next day or two doing research and figuring out what I could have done better. I vaguely remember emailing them begging them to give me another chance in person – and then I arrived very prepared. I had researched the two (!) jobs that I wanted and came with 4 typed pages that included a list of potential customers and a plan for their future office space. I think that interview went well...
Sample parts from a Formlabs 3D Printer
How has your position evolved since joining the company?
My role has (and continues) to change constantly. Every 6-12 months, responsibilities or scale have shifted. I started as ‘Facilities & Operations Lead’ – which was pretty much an office manager role. I thought I was a bit overqualified, but we grew so fast I quickly realized I had no idea what I was doing. I thought, “I had better catch up.” In my first year, I was the ‘first’ person for a lot of roles that are now much bigger teams (customer support, sales, logistics, finance, etc). I always thought I would remain more customer-facing, but at some point, I decided what I really cared about were the people who worked within the company, and I wanted to put my attention there. My work in Operations became more focused on scaling our space and how we take care of the people within it. A few years after that, our team and our people needs had grown, and it made sense to build out a People Operations function as well. I’ve worked across the spectrum of People Operations work, from recruiting to HR – and have just now landed on the part that I really love.
Even though I feel like what I’m doing now in People Operations is ‘new’, I see that I’ve always been focused on these themes, just through a different lens. The real difference is that now this is 100% of my job, not the extra sliver that I’m fitting in on the side.
Virginia (lower right hand corner of the picture frame) with the rest of the People Ops team.
Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as People Lead at Formlabs?
While it is not only on my shoulders, I definitely feel responsible for keeping Formlabs a great place to be, as we scale. Right now, that translates into finding and growing employees, and general engagement. That includes recruiting (Formlabs is still growing tremendously, so we are investing a lot of energy into hiring) and the arc of someone’s life-cycle when they are here (onboarding, growth & careers, offboarding).
What I’m doing right now hits the perfect intersection of working on things that cross both people and culture – with the extra challenge of doing it well while we hire like crazy.
Day in the Life
Coffee, tea, or nothing?
Gave up caffeine a few weeks ago, so currently, chamomile tea.
What time do you get into the office?
Between 8 - 10 AM. I prefer to start my working time by 9 AM, but that doesn’t always happen.
Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?
I definitely live by my calendar. I’ve only recently learned to find the right balance between ‘scheduled time’ and ‘available for what comes up’, but that’s definitely been a challenge.
Morning
- Wake up at the last possible minute and head out the door (I’d love to change this habit)
- Eat something at work, we have so much good food here!
- Read, respond, and organize emails, omnifocus, and administrative tasks
- Plan out the two important things I will get done TODAY
- Knock out phone calls
Afternoon
- Remember to eat something for lunch
- Reserved for project time or 1-1 time (as needed)
- Make sure the two important things got DONE
Evening
- Overflow time for reading, responding and organizing emails
- Spend time with my cat and partner OR go to the gym
- Most evenings I also cook dinner
- Clean something (helps me relax)
What time do you head out of the office?
Depends on what time I got there, and what is happening on that day. Almost never around 5 PM. A few days a week I leave by 6, and at least 1 day a week I work later than that. I love to get things done while the office is really quiet, which is usually before 10 AM and after 4 PM.
Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely? Or… how do you decompress at night?
I’ve never been great at shutting it down completely, but I’ve been learning how important this is. I prefer to spend my energy getting things done during the day, so in the evening I can be available for the other people and things in my life that I want to spend time with. That said, if I’m really excited about something, I will just work on it until it’s done, even if that means staying up late. I like to follow the energy and inspiration when I have it, not just structure it all into my day.
I do have a lot of blend between work and personal life – almost all of my closest friends work at Formlabs – so even something like cooking dinner at my place for a crowd might turn into some work-related discussion, and I’m OK with that.
Virginia hanging out (or onto) Jory Block, who also works on the People Operations team at Formlabs.
I’ve also been teaching yoga at Be. since I started working at Formlabs, and I can’t imagine having one without the other. The contrast between the two environments is pretty extreme. Formlabs energizes me and keeps me charged up, Be. slows me down. Yoga has really been my life-raft if didn’t have this practice I wouldn’t even know how to shut things off.
Recently I decided that I wanted to become a ‘runner’ – so I’m slowly working on that.
Any productivity hacks?
I am a huge believer in the David Allen GTD methodologies. I have been practicing these for years, and still feel like an amateur, but I believe my capacity to take on bigger challenges must be related to my ability to stay productive and get important things done.
Focus on TWO important things you want to accomplish every day, and that’s it.
If possible, don’t keep your email open during the day. Email is a complete time-suck, and even if a lot of your work happens via email (like mine), you’ll probably get more done if you check it less frequently. Responding to emails can ‘feel like’ work, but at the end of the day, if I didn’t reserve time for my brain to really work on something non-reactive, I probably didn’t finish one of my important things for the day.
What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?
Omnifocus – I started using omnifocus a few months ago, and now I think I couldn’t live without it. It takes ‘organizing time’ and commitment, but it’s so worth it. I use it for both work and personal life projects.
RescueTime – This app told me how much time I was spending responding to emails and working on my calendar. It was shameful. Made it much easier to change my working habits when I could quantify where my time was going.
Apple Podcast App – I’m so obsessed with podcasts that I’ve read very few books the last few months.
What time do you go to bed?
Between 11 PM - 1 AM. If I’m teaching yoga the next day, I go to bed early. Otherwise, I’m at the whim of my energy levels, which can be pretty unpredictable.
Join Formlabs if you want to bring ground-breaking professional 3D printers to the desktop of every designer, engineer, researcher, and artist in the world.
GaggleAMP – Cultivating Social Engagement Among Employees
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Glenn Gaudet, Co-Founder and President of GaggleAMP
Since its founding in 2010, GaggleAMP has not received any VC funding, taking an almost-grassroots approach for gaining their initial funds. “If you take a look at other companies, we didn’t take the typical approach,” GaggleAMP Co-Founder and President Glenn Gaudet says. “Instead, we went our own path.”
The main focus for Gaudet, a first-time entrepreneur, was to find a long-term and sustainable business model that was reliant on the customer. “We wanted to add value to companies while they add value to us,” says Gaudet.
Prior to forming his first company, Gaudet was interviewing for a CMO position at a technology company in the Boston area. When discussing the company’s social media efforts, Gaudet suggested that the company would need to mobilize its employees to create the tipping point needed to break through the social media “noise” that already existed.
That evening, he began researching to see if there was a platform or tool for companies that would do what he had suggested in the interview.
“I thought to myself, ‘I can’t be the only one who has thought of this,’” he remembers. “It turns out I was because I couldn’t find anything related to it. It seemed so simple, yet nobody had done it before.”
Gaudet, who has worked for several tech companies, does not have a development background himself. When trying to create this tool, he initially tapped a few former colleagues but found who Gaudet describes the “right guy at the right place at the right time” Jason Nochlin, who at the time was finishing his degree at Tufts University.
“It felt like the universe aligned when I met him,” Gaudet remembers. “Jason is a brilliant coder, and it’s rare when you can find someone who will invest in something without an initial paycheck.”
Nochlin decided to join and go forward with the development effort and launched the first prototype for the company.
GaggleAMP offers B2B and B2C companies an enterprise-solution that allows employees to create digital engagements and share content on their social networks.
“The problem with companies getting eyeballs to their content is that there is a lot of noise. It can get lost in the shuffle easily,” Gaudet says. “We are helping companies leverage their greatest asset, the employees, to easily participate in the company’s digital engagement efforts. While doing so, the employee builds their own digital brand.”
Employees are given regular digital activities to either act on or say “no thanks”. They can easily populate their own social media networks with well-crafted content from the company and participate in suggested digital engagement campaigns.
The company’s success with their platform can be attributed to offering a SaaS-based subscription. Many prominent B2B and B2C companies have found great use out of GaggleAMP’s services.
GaggleAMP has developed their own internal culture that also focuses on creating engagements with one another. Gaudet describes the team’s core value as “Helping each other with personal and professional growth.” GaggleAMP hosts a variety of events for their employees, from the Ghosts & Gravestones tours seen throughout Boston to taking cooking lessons at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.
However, there is one team-building event that stands out to Gaudet, and it was the company’s retreat to Las Vegas.
“It was great because it started out as a strategic planning session and we finished with some amazing team building events,” Gaudet says. “We flew in our employees on Thursday night and we spent Friday at the local conference center to do our strategy and planning sessions. Afterwards, we got to experience the nightlife. That weekend, we took everyone to an old western town and took an amazing horseback ride in Red Rock Canyon.”
Three years ago, GaggleAMP launched its own industry event called AMPlify. The event hosts people from around that world to share best practices in employee advocacy and engagement.
GaggleAMP is one of many companies in the Greater Boston area building a corporate culture, but have not chosen to go the VC funding route.
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