Inspiring Conversations with Nicholas Hool of Hoolest Performance Technologies

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Hool.

Hi Nicholas, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I founded Hoolest in 2018, during my Ph.D. program in Biomedical Engineering at Arizona State University. I grew up playing competitive golf, but struggled with performance anxiety, often having trouble sleeping before a tournament or uncontrollable racing heart rate and jitters on the first tee. These were painful experiences that medications, mindfulness practices, or other wellness devices could not solve.

So, I went to graduate school to study what anxiety looks like in the brain and body, with the hopes of discovering drug-free ways to provide rapid relief during an episode. With the help of an amazing engineering team and a world-renowned expert in brain technologies for human performance, I founded Hoolest Performance Technologies during my time at school. Our team won $100,000 for our idea to build a Vagus Nerve stimulation device, a drug-free tool intended to help people quickly recover from stress, anxiety, or a “fight or flight” response.

We spent 2 years designing, building, and rigorously testing several prototypes according to medical device safety standards. We conducted clinical studies with prototypes on over 150 people, showing that the device was safe and could significantly reduce anxiety and the fight-or-flight response in both healthy and clinically anxious people.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been many challenges, mostly around building the business. New hardware products require lots of design and iterations to get right before going public. When products break, it takes much more time and money to fix them than something like a software or service-based business. Our latest challenge was that in our transition to a larger manufacturer to meet our growing demand, we significantly underestimated the time it would take to spin things up, so for a few months we were late on shipping products.

We’ve been impressed with Hoolest Performance Technologies, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Americans spend $225B every year on mental health products and services, yet 73M Americans still report to feeling severe stress daily. With the abundance of stress relief options, people are still desperate for solutions that work. Many are essentially stuck in a state of sympathetic overdrive, which causes poor sleep, strained relationships, and missing out on life’s important moments.

That’s our “why” at Hoolest. Life is too short and important to be limited by stress and anxiety. I dedicated 8 years of my life to studying the human stress response so I could create something that actually works.

Hoolest designs high-strength stress relief products to help busy individuals reduce stress and anxiety with the push of a button. Its simple design and usability allows it to seamlessly integrate into any lifestyle, without having to find a quiet space to practice breathwork or meditation for 30 minutes.

VeRelief is a fast and effective mental recovery device specifically designed for those living the fast-paced lifestyle. Unlike other options out there, VeRelief fits in your pocket and goes with you everywhere. It has an ergonomic design and doesn’t draw unwanted attention in public like some other clunky neck wearables. It also has multiple stimulation modes for other issues like headache and nausea, further distinguishing VeRelief from all the others.

We’re working on two new models that will be available for preorder very soon. One is an ultra miniaturized version of VeRelief that fits on your keychain, and another is a pair of headphones that syncs your favorite music to stimulation for a personalized and immersive relaxation experience.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Playing golf with my dad in a variety of locations around the country. Particularly at Pebble Beach, California.

Pricing:

• $399 VeRelief Prime – Lasting Relief Bundle
• $299 VeRelief Prime – Single Unit with gel tips
• $549.95 VeRelief Pro

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hoolest.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehoolest/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HoolestPT
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hoolest-performance-technologies/
• Twitter: https://x.com/TheHoolest
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehoolest