This is an interview with Andrew Hogue, Co-CEO, NEUROFIT.
Andrew, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to becoming an expert in stress and burnout, particularly in the context of health and wellness tech?
My journey into stress and burnout solutions began with my own struggles navigating complex PTSD while working in high-pressure tech environments. After studying computer science at Caltech, I channeled my energy into wellness technology, co-founding a wellness-tech startup and later working as a product consultant for Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and as a senior engineer at Headspace.
Those experiences gave me deep, real-world insights into how technology can support mental health at scale, as well as clarity on some of the shortcomings of existing solutions. That experience, combined with personally experiencing the limitations of traditional stress-management approaches, led me to focus on nervous system regulation and somatics as the key to preventing burnout.
At NEUROFIT, we’ve now validated this approach across millions of in-app data points, showing that brief, body-based interventions and targeted habits can reduce stress levels by 54% within a week for active users—making evidence-based stress management accessible to healthcare professionals and their clients alike.
What experiences led you to co-found NEUROFIT and address the critical need for accessible stress management solutions?
Growing up in a highly neurodiverse home where we navigated autism, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and depression, I experienced firsthand how chronic stress can lead to Complex PTSD and severe burnout. After trying many traditional solutions (e.g., mindfulness apps, talk therapy, EMDR), I discovered that they were missing something crucial—the body’s role in stress regulation.
Since 80% of the nervous system responds to somatic (body-based) interventions rather than mindset alone, this insight, combined with my background in tech and product, led me to co-found NEUROFIT.
At NEUROFIT, we focus on high-performance nervous system regulation. Our mission is to make these evidence-based, body-first approaches accessible to everyone, whether they’re dealing with acute challenges or stress that’s accumulated over years.
You mentioned experiencing Complex PTSD and growing up in a neurodiverse home. How did these personal challenges shape your perspective on stress management and influence the development of NEUROFIT?
Growing up in a home with these unique challenges taught me firsthand how chronic stress affects both mind and body—traditional approaches like mindfulness alone weren’t enough to address the deep nervous system patterns and built-up stress that developed over the years. That insight led to NEUROFIT’s focus on nervous system regulation through quick somatic-exercise sessions, which our data now shows that 95% of our users are able to resolve real-time stress after just 5 minutes.
NEUROFIT emphasizes the importance of somatic awareness and data-driven regulation in managing stress. Can you share a specific example of how these two elements work together to provide effective stress reduction?
Through analyzing millions of in-app data points, we’ve discovered that every person has a unique nervous system “fingerprint”—a pattern of how their body responds to different types of stress across different life aspects and regulation techniques. Our technology learns these individual patterns through daily check-ins and biometric data, then matches users with specific somatic exercises that have proven most effective for similar nervous system types across our community.
You’ve highlighted the significance of social support systems in managing stress. How can workplaces foster a supportive environment that encourages healthy social interactions and reduces social fatigue?
We’ve found that the key to creating supportive workplace environments is building a shared language around stress and regulation. When teams have common words to discuss their nervous system states—like recognizing when they’re in “fight-flight” vs. “rest-digest” vs. “shutdown” states—it opens up valuable conversations that wouldn’t otherwise happen.
Reducing social fatigue through these shared values and conversations is valuable in and of itself—as, according to our in-app data, those who prioritize avoiding social fatigue report 14% better emotional balance, and a 10% increase in HRV as well.
Many people turn to social media for connection, yet your data suggests it can contribute to stress. What advice would you give to individuals struggling to find a balance between social connection and digital overwhelm?
That’s right—within our app community, people who avoid online stress also report 22% better emotional balance. In this case, it really comes down to curating your social feed and your social circle. Ask yourself what kinds of content and which friends or peers leave you feeling lit up vs. drained, and make adjustments accordingly.
Based on your experience and the data collected through NEUROFIT, what is one common misconception people have about stress management?
The most common misconception we’ve seen is that it has to be complicated. It’s an understandable one—as most people haven’t really seen a simple and effective approach yet. But we’ve had plenty of people initially sign up skeptical to our app due to its intentional simplicity and then walk away stunned after a few weeks due to how much better they feel in their bodies.
To truly reduce stress, it’s much more about making a shift in awareness around how we experience it, what adds to it, and what resolves it.
What role do you see technology playing in the future of mental health care and stress reduction?
The beautiful thing about technology, data, and especially AI, is that we fully believe that mental health care is a solvable problem at scale now. Rather than waiting hours or days for an appointment, the solution is now always right at your fingertips. The other cool thing about tech is that you can actually take care of your mental health proactively, rather than reactively, and see objective data that shows you your progress in real-time.
We’ve found that feedback loop to be highly motivating, especially at the early stages of the journey.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to our readers who are feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to start their journey towards better stress management?
Start simple: use somatic exercises to de-stress within a few minutes, and take a few minutes to educate yourself about nervous system regulation and burnout. It’s a very empowering feeling to realize that your body’s stress response has an off switch!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
One thing we’ve learned at NEUROFIT from training 500+ health professionals is that having a shared language around nervous system regulation makes all the difference with clients—it opens up valuable conversations about stress and well-being that might not otherwise happen.
When practitioners and clients can talk about states of activation, describe how different life aspects are impacting them, and discuss regulation in concrete terms backed by measurable data, it completely changes how we approach stress management and the healing process.
