Kyō App is a daily reflection app that evolves with you. Get the most out of each day! I had the pleasure of chatting with marc from Kyō and loved what him + his team are doing so much I just had to share the good vibes and spread the word. 1. What’s behind the name KYŌ? KYŌ is the Japanese word for “today”. Everything we do revolves around helping people appreciate today and the present moment. Both myself and co-founder Sunay Shah are huge fans of the Japanese culture. At the time, I was also working for a Japanese based company and it was the best company culture I had ever experienced. The Japanese essence felt perfect, all the signs were pointing to this direction. Amazing! and what is your company's motto? Very simple. Help people get the most out of each day by stimulating reflection. Most of us live our life on autopilot. Monday starts off the week, next thing you know it’s Friday, the weekend is jammed with activities and next thing you know you’re back to Monday. Rinse and repeat. If you really think about the concept of “autopilot” there are probably many other areas in your life where you can apply that same thinking. We’re trying to break the autopilot because we find you can get so much more out of your life by doing so. Perfect example: I’m answering these questions Friday morning. By the time I hit mid afternoon, I will stop, sit down and take a few minutes to reflect on the week that just passed. Just a few minutes and two simple questions: What would I have changed this week and what was awesome about this week? That’s it! Two questions that since putting them in practice has changed my life. How? For me personally, it breaks my “autopilot” from rolling into the weekend and another week. When you think about the past 5 days, a lot has happened and so much can be discovered. Just from ‘your’ last 5 days! You don’t need a library of self-development books (although I love reading), just look back and grow from your own experiences. 2 Your company description on IG says that the app evolves with you. Can you explain/share more with our readers? A large reason KYŌ was created was out of frustration from the lack of options in the space. I should qualify this statement. There were many options available and great options but nothing exactly what I personally needed. I didn’t want to be constrained by the space on a page, I didn’t want to answer the same 3 questions each day and I didn’t want to go on a wild inspiration hunt for great questions and stories. Out of this, KYŌ was born. An app that evolves with you. Meaning, the questions you ask yourself today most likely will not be the same questions you ask yourself next month. Sure there are consistencies but each day we have new experiences and we are faced with new challenges or opportunities. So we are of the belief that the prompts in your practice are much more beneficial if they relate to where you are in your life today. 3. That's an incredible story! What challenges did your team overcome in the first few stages of growing? *laughs* There have been numerous challenges where I truly feel most people would have just walked away. So what do you do? We laugh, shake our head and say “really?” Then quickly move on to putting a plan in place. It’s essential that you have a strong purpose driving you and the team because there will be no shortage of challenges. There is a misconception that the big problems are all stacked in the beginning of launching a business and that it get’s better as you go. The challenges never disappear, they just change. And they usually change at scale. What arises with 50 million App Store impressions is much different from what we were facing pre-launch. All equally challenging, just different. But the same goes for opportunities! 4. You're absolutely right! Thank you for sharing that. Who are some of the most inspiring figures featured in your app? This is so hard to answer. There are nearly 100 exceptional people contributing to KYŌ in the form of a topic specific ‘pack’ and/or interview. The most exciting part of this journey has been connecting with remarkable people. Some people like Kevin Rose (Founder of DIGG) or Leo Babauta (Zen Habits) have been inspiring my life for 10+ years. To have them part of KYŌ is personally surreal for me and there is not a day that goes by that I’m not grateful. On the other hand, I’ve met so many truly awesome people that I would have never connected with if it wasn’t for KYŌ. Being able to share these connections and their energy to the world fuels me each day. 5. Powerful. What a special opportunity! What goals does your company have within the next year that you'd like to share with our readers? Our main focus is to keep learning. Learning from our amazing contributors, learning from the exceptional community using the app and learning from our own experiences. From these learnings, we can optimize KYŌ for a truly personalized experience for each user. 6. Is there someone on the team who you'd like to give a special shout out to? What did this person do that was extraordinary? We’re a small team and none of this would have been possible without each one of them. You know who you are, THANK YOU! 7. Do you have a motivational quote that you'd like to share to help uplift someone who may be struggling with starting a business/building a brand? “Remember you’re not alone in this journey.” Ask for help, surround yourself with like-minded people and most importantly enjoy EACH day! 8. Piggy-backing off a question you shared on your IG page - what is the biggest lesson you learned in 2017? To always trust my instincts. Sounds cliche but it really is true. My partner and I often reflect on situations and decisions that we’ve made and the consistent factor when something goes wrong is that one of us didn’t follow our gut feeling. 9. And finally, what things continue to motivate your team as your company grows? The main motivation has and continues to be helping the individual. Because the individual who is grounded, clear and focused is the individual who can perform at the highest levels and can make an incredible difference in the world. Incredible. thank you, marc, so much for sharing with us! you and your company are truly an inspiration to us all. thank you for what you do and for creating such a supportive and loving app. i fully support your vision + mission statement and can't wait to see what magic you guys create next!
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