Stop Managing Wellness. Start Watching it Work.

…This Was Me.

At work, dressed like a Dr. Seuss character. You can see by my face I didn't expect the news to show up.

Way before I owned a corporate wellness business, I was a child life specialist, and a damn good one. I got crazy skilled at finding creative and ridiculous ways to help hospitalized kids and families do scary things.

The wig wasn't the point. It was about connection. I miss it very much. But the decade I spent in that hospital shaped the values of Wunsupona, the business I would eventually build.

Creativity as a catalyst. Curiosity over convention. Connection over correction.

Be their Turtle

There was a sick little boy who had a turtle named Turtle.

And Turtle went through some stuff.

When they got to the hospital, I got Turtle an ID band too.

When the little boy got his IV, so did Turtle.

The feeding tube into his stomach. The central line into his heart. When he needed the brain shunt, Turtle got that too.

A little boy and his stuffy.

After he passed away, his mom gave Turtle to my husband.

(He liked me, but he loved Dr. Eric)

It was a lifetime ago, yet Turtle still sits in our office today. A reminder that we get support wrong.

We think it means fixing things. Making it better. Easier. Less scary.

But that's not what helped him.

What helped? Not doing things alone.

The Prom in the Hospital Lobby

In 2013 I built a prom in the hospital's lobby. But the story isn't as pretty as those dresses.

I always had a special place in my heart for the adolescents. The ones who would name video game characters after their doctors so they could kick them.

Teens aren't supposed to miss vacations and proms and SATs because they're hospitalized and on oxygen. They're supposed to be awkward and overdressed and dancing badly and making memories they'll tell their kids about someday. So I decided to give them that.

What I didn't expect was how hard it would be. Administration didn't find it necessary. So I went door to door at small businesses. I found a group to donate dresses. Someone to do hair and makeup. A caterer. A DJ. All donated. Because people are so, so good when you give them a chance to be.

And I found my people, who cared as much as I did and showed up like it was their prom too. Once you get that tribe together, it changes the ballgame.

Twelve years later, the prom is still going. And more hospital proms have popped up across the country, because a few people decided that "not necessary" wasn't good enough. Some of that original group of prom planners may even be on your Wunsupona team, building you engaging wellness experiences.

Our First Day.

Ah, young Jessie. About to give her first-ever wellness webinar back in 2019. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, doctorate in hand, with no idea what was about to happen. Day one of my new business.

We had converted our guest bedroom into an office and watched YouTube to figure out what kind of background to have. I didn't know what I was doing.

Soon after, a hidden typo in my website name resulted in a month of 0 site visits. I obsessed over larger wellness brands and felt behind. And I shuddered every time I typed "just following up."

But I booked my first legit corporate client, through Thumbtack; a $3000 deal that let me keep the lights on.

I started finding companies that trusted my weird vision. No master plan. No venture funding. No VIP connections. Just a belief that most workplace wellness is cliché and uninteresting, so we decided not to be.

Since that day, Wunsupona has led 4,867 remote sessions and hosted 264 on-site experiences, shipped thousands of custom-made wellness boxes, and built dozens of complete wellness programs.

And btw I still run the business from that guest room slash office.

We've met countless incredible HR reps, benefits brokers and insurance specialists, and shared stories with nearly 100,000 employees.

The Top Floor

Jenna and I were in the elevator heading up to the top floor of a $10 billion company, about to force-feed wellness to the execs.

We were offering wellness on wheels, and it was going the usual amount of awesome. Employees were into it. But the C-suite was nowhere. Again. Welp, what're you gonna do?

This time we grabbed our cart and our fake trees and hopped in the elevator, to take workplace wellness to the one workplace where wellness dares not go.

We found a tall VP. Clearly important. Clearly stressed. Clearly with his shoulder, like, up in his ear. I'm certified in stretching and offered to help, but he hit me with the "Sorry, I don't have time."

"Three minutes, then kick me out." He paused. Looked at me. Somehow said yes. Three minutes turned into twenty. Then he straight up busted into the meeting next door to tell the other execs to come do our stuff. That guy was the beans.

We believe that leadership isn't unreachable. They're just unreached. So we reach them.

Still a Family Business

ABC News reported that companies are using AI to fool customers by pretending to be mom-and-pop stores. Meanwhile, meet my daughter.

Our business at times may be a gnarly, lovable hot mess. But there are real people behind this brand.

We are friends, family and a collective of charismatic, passionate edutainers here to make your wellness program work.

And Now, Your Team

Today, our business includes dozens of Wunsupona coaches, trained to create Wunsupona wellness. A creative brand of corporate wellness that's based in science and delivered through stories.

We've worked with 400+ companies and nearly 100,000 employees. Every one of those stories started the way yours might: with an HR team that wanted something better than stress PowerPoints and pamphlets.

The hospital rooms became conference rooms. The patients became employees. But the work is the same.

Your team's story can begin here. Let's start writing.

Meet our coaches and the rest of the team