Today we have the honor of interviewing Waldi Hoon, CEO & Co-Founder of Yōjō, a nervous system wellness ecosystem.
Yōjō is a nervous system wellness company that has developed an integrated ecosystem designed to make daily autonomic rebalancing simple, measurable, and habit-forming. Its core offering combines a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation wearable with real-time biofeedback, wearable data integration, face-scan health metrics, personalized coaching, and behavior-change technology within a single app. By showing users the physiological impact of nervous system stimulation in real time—such as improvements in stress, HRV, sleep, and recovery—yōjō moves beyond passive tracking to actively helping individuals rebalance their nervous system, supporting both preventative health and long-term performance in everyday life.
Picture: Yōjō device and app.
You can watch the video interview below by clicking on the Youtube link. You can also listen to the audio interview by clicking on the link at the top of the page:
Here is a video explaining how the device works:
📝Show Notes: During the interview with Waldi Hoon, CEO and co-founder of yōjō, we discussed how his background in behavior-change technology and work with clinicians led to the creation of a nervous system wellness ecosystem designed to solve the challenge of long-term adherence in health and wellness. Waldi explained how yōjō combines non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation with real-time biofeedback, wearable data, face-scan health metrics, and human coaching to actively rebalance the autonomic nervous system rather than simply track it.
We explored the benefits yōjō is delivering for both individuals—such as improved sleep, reduced stress, higher HRV, better mood, and recovery—and practitioners, who gain greater visibility and consistency in user engagement. The conversation also covered yōjō’s competitive advantages as an ecosystem focused on habit formation and measurable efficacy, its subscription-based business model, and the company’s ambitions over the next 12 months, including launching a next-generation device, deepening data validation, and expanding into the US market.
You can read the full transcript of the podcast interview with Waldi located at the top of this blog post.
Here are the quotes from the interview with Waldi:
Q1. Her background and what led her to yōjō
“I’ve spent my career building learning and behavior-change platforms, really focused on figuring out how to help people actually stick to new habits. In wellness especially, you see the same pattern over and over again—people buy tools, they feel inspired for a week, and then life takes over.”
“When we were working more closely with clinicians and helping people with chronic pain conditions, we kept running into this issue of adherence. People would start a treatment, feel a bit better, and then stop doing it. That gap between intention and consistency is really where yōjō was born.”
“Yōjō comes from a passion for helping people adopt new, healthy habits in a way that balances their lives—without adding more mental load or forcing them to figure everything out on their own.”
Q2. Overview of the product
“At yōjō, our vision is to unlock people’s potential through autonomic balance. We’re a nervous system wellness ecosystem that makes daily autonomic rebalancing simple and accessible.”
“We combine a non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator with real-time biofeedback in our app, integrating wearable data, face-scan health metrics, personalized coaching, and habit-building technology all in one place.”
“What’s important to us is that people can see the difference the stimulation is making in their body in the moment. We don’t just tell people it works—we show them through data and measurable change.”
Q3. Benefits for both individuals and practitioners
For Individuals
“For individuals, the benefits are quite clear—better sleep, less stress, improved focus, and more stable moods. We’re also starting to see really strong recovery outcomes, particularly with highly active people.”
“HRV is where we see the biggest change. Most users experience around a 40% increase within the first month, alongside reduced stress index, increased parasympathetic activity, and improvements in deep sleep and sleep latency.”
“What we’re seeing is that people feel better, but they also have the data to understand why they feel better, which makes a huge difference in long-term engagement.”
For Practitioners
“For practitioners, the biggest benefit is adherence. It’s a way to make a treatment protocol actually stick without constantly worrying about whether someone is following through.”
“You can prescribe or recommend something to a client, but knowing whether they’re actually doing it—and whether it’s working—is always the challenge. This gives practitioners real visibility and confidence.”
Q4. yōjō’s competitive advantages
“We’re not just a gadget—we’re an ecosystem. You can buy a treadmill, but it doesn’t make you a runner. Our focus is on making sure people actually use the technology consistently.”
“Most wearables are great at tracking data, but they don’t really tell you what to do about it. We’re positioned as the wearable that actually does something and actively helps rebalance the nervous system.”
“By integrating wearable data and health metrics, we can prove our efficacy and show people how the technology is working for them, which massively increases trust and long-term use.”
“We’re also very intentional about being shame-free. Instead of adding pressure, we give people something tangible they can do to support their nervous system every day.”
Q5. Their current business model
“Yōjō operates on a subscription model that bundles the device with access to the app, biofeedback insights, and ongoing human coaching.”
“The annual subscription is currently £399, and we’re serving the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, with plans to expand into the US as soon as possible.”
“While yōjō is a wellness product, it’s built on the same clinical technology used in medical settings—we’ve chosen a preventative and longevity-focused approach so we can support people earlier.”
Q6. Their plans and aspirations for the next 12 months
“Our first priority over the next year is to continue proving that what we’re doing works by leaning heavily into data and learning as much as possible from our users.”
“We’re also launching a new device, the yōjō Stone, which is smaller, more powerful, has longer battery life, and allows us to personalize stimulation protocols based on how each individual responds.”
“At a bigger-picture level, our goal is to make nervous system care a daily norm—something as simple and habitual as brushing your teeth, even though achieving that requires a lot of thoughtful behavior-change work.”
“Expanding into the US market is absolutely part of our plans for this year, and we’re actively working toward that.”
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