A journey through burnout, design, and neuroscience-backed wellness

Tell us about your journey to NOON and how you, Julie, and Christine came together as business partners.

My career has always revolved around the intersection of design, technology, and innovation. I’ve worked with major consumer brands like Nike, Google, and Apple, focusing on creating intentional, thoughtful products—whether digital or physical. It’s this mix of business, design, and tech that has always inspired me.

Julie, Christine, and I have known each other since childhood—we grew up together, going to middle and high school as friends. Though our career paths couldn’t have been more different, we’ve always stayed connected. While I went deep into design and innovation, Julie took a very different path. She went fully into medicine and has since established a practice as a functional doctor and holistic practitioner. She's also a skilled herbalist, able to prescribe herbal combinations and create her own medications for her patients, making her extremely knowledgeable in this area.

Christine is our team neuroscientist. She has a PhD in neuroscience and brings a scientific, evidence-based approach to everything we do. Together with Julie’s clinical and herbal expertise, and my background in design and technology, we’ve formed a trifecta of complementary skills that have come together to build NOON.

You describe NOON as a next-gen cognitive wellness company. How does NOON set itself apart from conventional supplement companies and the abundance of vitamin gummies on the market?

There are many ethos-driven elements to NOON, but one core idea is disrupting the way we perceive supplements and how they fit into our lives. At its heart, NOON is rooted in the principle that food is medicine, a cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Everything we put into our bodies comes from the earth, inherently nutritious and beneficial. However, Western medicine has strayed far from that concept. We've normalized pink liquids and white capsules—products that feel sterile and mysterious, offering quick fixes without a real connection to what’s inside. These quick solutions often create dependency, a pattern also seen with over-prescribed drugs.

We’re working to disrupt that narrative. People today don’t have the time to buy a bunch of herbs, boil them for hours, and consume them in the traditional way. But we don’t believe the solution has to be limited to either sterile capsules or old-school rituals. NOON is about taking deeply rooted practices, combining them with cutting-edge neuroscience, and creating products that fit seamlessly into modern life: convenient, enjoyable, and effective.

We approached this challenge intentionally. You're not the first to ask, 'Why another gummy?'

With so many gummies on the market, we didn’t want to create just another product that blends into the crowd. Instead, we set out to innovate, developing a gummy that works faster and delivers better results than anything else available. But it wasn’t just about effectiveness, experience matters, too. We wanted to create something that’s not only powerful but also enjoyable: a product that’s delicious, shareable, and effortlessly fits into people’s lives.

Ultimately, NOON is about redefining how we think about supplements—blending the best of ancient wisdom and modern innovation in a way that feels approachable, intuitive, and exciting.

Was there a pivotal moment that led to NOON’s creation?

Absolutely! I think a lot of people can relate to the experience of trying to live, work, support yourself, be the best version of yourself, and reach the pinnacle of your career. NOON was born out of burnout, something I’ve personally experienced twice. Living in New York, I was constantly pushing myself to excel, balancing work, self-improvement, and the everyday demands of life. My mind and body were sending signals I ignored until they became impossible to overlook. At one point, I was prescribed a round of steroids to address the symptoms of stress. It felt like a destructive quick-fix bandaid rather than a true solution.

That experience made me reevaluate how we approach wellness. I returned to plant-based solutions and adaptogens as alternatives to the quick fixes. These practices resonated with me not only because of their effectiveness but also because of their roots in balance and harmony, values I knew I wanted NOON to embody.

Julie, Christine, and I are Chinese, so TCM is part of our cultural foundation. The principles of balance and mindfulness are ingrained in our daily lives. Even the name “NOON” reflects this—it’s a palindrome symbolizing balance, inspired by the brightest point of the day. In Chinese, the word for NOON is also a middle character, representing centeredness and harmony. It’s deeply poetic and has strongly influenced NOON’s products.

You’re pioneering plant-based cognitive wellness, which is still relatively new in the wellness industry. How has this been received by your community, and what impact do you hope it will have on the broader wellness conversation?

We use high-quality plant extracts and focus on both speed-to-efficacy and long-term benefits. We call our products “cognitive tuners” because they’re designed to help people find balance and awareness in their daily lives. People are increasingly recognizing that the mind is one of the most important aspects of the body, and they’re starting to take better care of it. It’s amazing to see this shift.

When we first launched NOON, many people didn’t fully understand the concept of cognitive well-being because the vocabulary for discussing these aspects of mental health didn’t exist yet. For many, mental health meant, “Go see a therapist if there’s a crisis,” but that’s not the full picture. Therapy plays an essential role in translating thoughts and emotions, but it doesn’t address the chemical aspect of mood. So much of your mood is influenced by what’s happening in your body—not just external factors. Now, more people are realizing they can actively influence their mental state through things like diet and breathing techniques.

In recent years, there’s been significant progress in understanding adaptogens and nootropics, although most people still aren’t familiar with the term nootropics. However, mushrooms are widely recognized, which has helped shape part of our pivot. We love mushrooms—they’ve been a staple in TCM for thousands of years—and it’s exciting to witness their boom, especially in the functional wellness space. This movement is here to stay, and people are increasingly curious and open-minded about it.

We’re here to tell them that we’ve done all the research for them, so they can benefit from taking everything together. These herbs work synergistically, meaning that while you might encounter Lion’s Mane powder in one place and Cordyceps in another, they actually work better when combined. There’s still a need for education about the specific benefits of these herbs, but the openness to conversations around them is growing.

Your products emphasize joy and intentionality. Were there specific inspirations behind this approach?

Absolutely. Asian culture, especially practices around tea, inspired us a lot. Making tea is a slow, intentional process—you boil the water, measure the leaves, steep them. Every step has a purpose, and the experience is both functional and beautiful. We wanted NOON to evoke a similar sense of ritual and joy. Wellness doesn’t have to be a chore; it can be something delightful and shareable.

A big aspect of the NOON ethos is 'creating small moments of care to tend to the mind-body axis.' How do you see this connection between sensory experiences and emotional control being amplified through NOON?

I like to think about how strange it is to connect with an object from your childhood and suddenly have all these memories attached to it—the scent, the taste, the touch. It sticks with you. Or when you hear a favorite song, how calm it makes you feel. These are all aspects of neuroscience and behavioral science connected to the objects and experiences in your life. We've started to explore this, and we want to help people realize that they have more control over how they feel emotionally and how they connect with the world than they think. Our products are designed to help you feel more deeply, stay connected to the present, and have clearer thoughts.

What does an ideal wellness routine look like for a NOON customer?

We see NOON as part of a broader experiential ecosystem, at the intersection of performance and care. For instance, our products pair beautifully with sensory-driven experiences like sound baths, saunas or running. We’ve partnered with spaces like Elahni, a contrast therapy studio, where NOON enhances recovery and mindfulness.

Beyond wellness rituals, we imagine NOON fitting into creative settings -- places where the mind plays a role in creation and exploration. Everything from music to chess to beautifully designed spaces.

Do you have any dream collaborations, whether with wellness brands, designers, or other influential figures?

Our vision for collaborations spans food, scent, sound, and mood objects. Sound is central to emotional well-being, and we dream of working with Teenage Engineering, Nothing, or Devon Ojas on transformative sonic experiences. In materials and design, innovators like Air, Mycoworks, HAY, and Noguchi inspire us with their sustainability and artistry.

For wellness and experiential projects, brands like Aman, and Nike, On Running, align with our focus on intentionality and performance, while partners like Delta, and Live Nation could connect wellness to travel and entertainment. Visionaries like Es Devlin, and OMA excite us with possibilities in spatial and sensory innovation.

What’s next for NOON?

We’re in our 2.0 era—a refresh with new products, branding, and a broader mission. NOON isn’t just about products; it’s about creating a movement of experiences around cognitive wellness. By helping people find balance in their daily lives, we’re here to redefine what it means to feel good—inside and out.

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