Flourish Science

“I want to be part of what’s next” is one of Gabrielle Chanel’s most famous mottos. Embracing her audacious spirit, we are constantly reinventing ourselves and connecting with new ideas and partners. We've been building an innovation ecosystem across the House with top academic institutions, start-ups, Big Tech, and other innovators, to prepare the House for the future. One example is our partnership with StartX, an accelerator program for Stanford alumni. This collaboration was initiated by the Chanel Open Innovation team to explore forward-thinking topics such as longevity, generative AI, the future of work, social impact and sustainability. We’re also deeply committed to supporting women founders, who remain underrepresented in the world of entrepreneurship. Last week, I visited StartX in California and met inspiring women entrepreneurs. We discussed courageous career pivots, new business models, the ups and downs of fundraising, importance of mentorship, and how to envision a brighter future for women founders. Their drive and creativity were awe-inspiring - from inventing solutions for neurodivergent populations, enterprise AI platforms, quantum mechanics for modelling climate change to wearable robotics and technology to support mental well-being. I left feeling more knowledgeable and optimistic, knowing these pioneering women are shaping a better future! Mary Zhu, Develop for Good, College students and industry mentors building software for nonprofits. Kathryn Zealand, Skip, Powered wearable technology dedicated to helping people move with joy. Xuan Zhao, PhD, Flourish Science, Science-based, AI-powered solution for everyday mental health and well-being. Sharon Zhou, PhD, Lamini, Giving enterprises the ability to turn proprietary data into the next generation of LLM capabilities. Christine Irish, TryTo.ai, Resources and tools designed to support neurodiverse individuals in their job search journey.

For most of my PhD, deep writing was something I did when inspiration happened to strike. With so many other tasks competing for my time—grading, running studies, analyzing data, going to meetings—it was easy to let writing slide. But when I hit the three-month mark before my dissertation deadline, I knew I had to radically shift my approach to deep work because I didn’t have the luxury of time. That’s when I started leaning into flow states—those periods of intense focus where time seems to disappear—inspired by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s research. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, I began intentionally setting the conditions for it. Over time, I found a way to reliably get into long stretches of focused writing. Here’s what helped me get there consistently: 1. Cutting out distractions. For me, that meant blocking out solid chunks of time, hauling myself to the library or my favorite local cafe (shoutout to Backyard Brew! ❤️), and turning off notifications. I realized that for me, my environment is a key predictor of deep focus. 2. Balancing challenge and skill. Flow theory was really informative here. If a task felt too daunting, I’d immediately break it down to reduce overwhelm. If it was too easy (like organizing references), I’d add something extra, like a podcast, to keep it engaging. Finding that sweet spot between challenge and skill was a game-changer. 3. Taking microbreaks. Short breaks kept me going. I personally used LookAway to remind myself to rest my eyes (and there are plenty of other free tools that do the same). I also made sure to get up and stretch my legs from time to time. The main thing I learned (through necessity!) is that you don’t have to wait for inspiration. A little intention goes a long way in creating that mental space for deep work. Now, even though I no longer have the looming terror of a dissertation deadline (yay!), I still rely on these strategies to reliably get myself into deep work mode. Do you have any go-to strategies or tools you use for getting into your flow state? What’s the one thing that consistently helps you stay focused? #FlowState #DeepWork #Focus #GradSchoolJourney

Excited to share that a new article in National Geographic on the science of social connection features my work at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Flourish Science! Annika Hom, you did such an amazing job — what a thoughtful, well-researched piece! 🧠 This article touches on an important point I've always wanted to share: while technology can enhance our fundamental human needs for agency and competence, it can also inadvertently sacrifice our opportunities to connect with each other — what self-determination theory, an influential framework for human motivation, refers to as "relatedness." 👫 And here’s my unpopular opinion: If I could wave a magic wand, I’d wish for a world without AI or smartphones. Yes, I say that even though I’m the founder of a tech startup, and I talk about how revolutionary AI can be for personalized, proactive mental health all the time. Unfortunately, a world without smartphone is not the reality we live in. So I believe it is our social responsibility to figure out how we can better harness AI before it leads to products that exacerbate social isolation. At Flourish, we’re committed to inspiring people to connect more deeply with themselves, others, and the world around them for greater well-being and personal growth. Stay tuned—more exciting things are coming this fall! 🌱

Very excited to announce our brand new Substack at Flourish Science! 🎉 Here's the story behind our very first post: Our team recently watched Inside Out 2, created by Pixar Animation Studios and advised by top scientists like Dacher Keltner, Lisa Damour, PhD, Kristin Neff and Paul Ekman! We laughed, gasped, and even cried (some of us! I won’t disclose who 😉) together. I loved how the movie increased the visibility and accessibility of cutting-edge research in affective science, all while telling an incredible story. Afterward, our team (with plenty of psychology nerds!) had a fun reflection about our favorite characters, memorable scenes, and personal takeaways from the movie. Below are the top 3 powerful lessons that I’ve synthesized from our discussion, grounded in affective science: 🍂 1. Trying to be Happy Can Backfire In a culture obsessed with happiness, negative emotions like sadness or anxiety often feel uncomfortable. Iris Mauss and her colleagues have found that striving for happiness and suppressing negative emotions can backfire. Just like Joy’s attempts to control Riley’s emotions led to chaos, pushing away negative emotions can make us worse off. 🌈 2. Strive for Emotional Diversity Studies conducted by Jordi Quoidbach and his colleagues show that experiencing a diversity of emotions is linked with better mental and physical health. So instead of chasing happiness, we should acknowledge and embrace all emotions as messengers that tell us about our needs. Viewing emotions as messengers also allows us to reframe them, which is consistent with a powerful technique called "cognitive reappraisal"—found by James Gross to be particularly effective for emotion regulation. 💪 3. Make it a Habit Take daily actions to nurture your emotional awareness and acceptance. By regularly acknowledging your emotions, you can improve your relationship with them. At Flourish, we designed our “mood story” feature to encourage this daily practice and strengthen this important skill. There’s so much more science behind Inside Out 2 that I couldn't fit into this post! For a deeper dive... ✨ Check out our Substack post! https://lnkd.in/gTt6g8ET ✨ Our fun team discussion can be viewed on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gpXmBBFK Which of these scientific insights resonate with you? I'd love to hear your thoughts! P.S.: We used FigJam by Figma to facilitate this discussion — perfect for fun conversations among hybrid teams because it is so interactive, user-friendly, and fun! Special thanks to our team: Xuan Zhao, PhD Tianyi X. Ben Lee Sunday Holland Zeina Hashem Justin Blumencranz Eugenia Hu Juan Pablo Pacheco Flor Ronsmans De Vry #AffectiveScience #EmotionalIntelligence #InsideOut2 #MentalHealth #Wellbeing

This summer, I was a UX Research intern with Flourish Science. Flourish is an AI-powered wellbeing coach that offers science-backed support for mental and emotional wellbeing. With a goal of developing new skills in User-Centered Design and UX Research, I was tasked with designing a new feature to help users gain deeper insights from their personal data. During my time with Flourish, some of my experiences include: - Completing a “landscape audit” of competitors and apps with similar functionality - Compiling relevant psychological frameworks to guide feature design - Conducting user interviews to understand user perspectives and discover pain points - Creating design mockups using Figma Last Wednesday, I presented my design deck to the whole team. I am so grateful to Xuan Zhao, PhD, Tianyi X., Julie Cachia, Sunday Holland, and the rest of the Flourish team for an unforgettable summer! See some photos below of our many adventures: