The Scoop: In today’s fast-paced world, many individuals and couples don’t have time for the mindfulness work necessary to develop inner peace, but Holstee offers inspirational tools and apps that help users dedicate that time to themselves — and their partners — in their everyday lives. Holstee monthly subscriptions include themed cards and concepts with deep questions that get members thinking, and its Reflection App serves as a private journaling exercise that allows users to express gratitude. Holstee’s ultimate goal is to help people succeed on their journey to mindful, fulfilling lives.
After a long day at work, an hour at the gym, and making dinner, chances are introspective concepts aren’t at the top of your mind. To experience the benefits of mindfulness, individuals and couples need to make it a part of their daily routine.
It can be difficult to find that peaceful time to spend with yourself — or your partner. Talking about the events of the day, problems and solutions, and workplace drama can come naturally, even though those topics won’t help you understand yourself or your loved ones.
Holstee offers introspective programs, apps, and tools that foster personal growth.
That’s why Holstee created a platform to help people fit mindfulness seamlessly into their daily lives. The company provides intuitive mindfulness tools and an app that can foster growth through everyday reflection.
Holstee memberships bring that philosophy directly to users through exercises designed to probe their deepest thoughts about important topics. The company also has an app that serves as a journaling tool to help people understand themselves and express gratitude. That understanding, in turn, can create a foundation of success for their relationships.
“People take time to complete these activities and then share their answers with their partner. It’s a foundation for a discussion on a topic that they might never broach or something they don’t get around to talking about in their busy lives,” said Mike Radparvar, who co-founded Holstee with his brother, Dave. “We provide a structured opportunity to have a more in-depth conversation.”
People need to invest time in themselves in today’s fast-paced world, and the team at Holstee helps members spend quality time with their loved ones while fostering both connections and personal growth.
Memberships Include Monthly Mindfulness Exercises
Holstee operates under The Holstee Manifesto, and the document, written when the company began, guides all of the work it does.
“We started Holstee to understand and explore what it means to live well,” Mike said. “The manifesto was a way to state that clearly. It’s about living fully and living mindfully, being ambitious, having goals, and doing those things, while also understanding how our actions impact ourselves and those around us. Being ambitious and being happy where you are: That’s the ultimate paradox of our time.”
To help people achieve those goals, Holstee created a monthly subscription service with kits that include different themes and intentions. For example, a month may be devoted to kinship, wellness, gratitude, or reflection. And each kit contains a guide with positive thoughts on the topic from psychologists, philosophers, and spiritual leaders.
They include wisdom from viewpoints that range from the science of mindfulness to Stoicism, and the goal is to make those concepts more accessible, Mike said.
Along with the monthly guides, the membership includes a letterpress print created by a different designer inspired by that month’s theme. Beginning in 2020, subscribers will receive a notebook and access to a section of digital resources. There, they can view a PDF that organizes the month’s resources.
Mike, who founded the company with his brother, Dave, said Holstee subscriptions also help couples come together by providing relevant questions they can ask themselves to develop a deeper understanding of each other.
Many couples keep the guide in their bedroom so they can use it as a nightly activity instead of scrolling through social media or streaming a show, Mike said.
Reflection App and Cards Teach People How to Talk About Their Feelings
Along with its membership packages, Holstee offers another popular product called Reflection Cards. Each card in the deck contains two questions on one of 12 topics included in the membership.
Users can play the deck like a game or read the cards to initiate conversation about their feelings and thoughts with a loved one.
Holstee designed its Reflection Cards and app to spark important conversations.
Holstee also designed its Reflection App to help users better understand themselves through guided journaling.
“Once we are in better touch with ourselves, we can have a significant positive impact on the people around us,” he said. “If you can think through things that are challenging and communicate them effectively to your partner, that will have a positive impact — instead of just keeping it bottled.”
The app prompts users to record what it calls their highlights, lowlights, and Free Writes, or the things they’re grateful for, their setbacks or whatever is on their mind, respectively. At the end of the month, users are prompted to revisit what their entries to find patterns in their highlights and learn from their setbacks.
Holstee helps users develop the power they need to create the life they want to live by allowing them to see what they can control.
Holstee: Improving Its Tools and Innovating New Features
Holstee began with a manifesto that began as an alternate definition of success for the founders, and the company has grown to is now putting that mission to practice. Mike said the team is decentralized, and its cyclists, illustrators, yogis, writers, bakers, and creators live in California, Amsterdam, Vermont, Colorado, Spain, and Arizona.
When the company started, young millennials were the first to jump on board, but now its demographic has broadened considerably. Mike said the shift has to do with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which states that people need to take care of their physical and social needs before they can work on self-actualization.
Michael and David Radparvar, right, founded Holstee to help people bring mindfulness into their lives.
“More and more we are seeing that the people most drawn to Holstee are those that are further along in their life journey,” he said. “So, we’re seeing more executive-level or newly retired people getting memberships. Many members in their 20s benefit from the membership, but often times our Reflection Cards or App are a better fit for them.”
Over the next year, Mike said Holstee plans to roll out new updates for its app. The company also has an idea for a board game, which will allow similar in-depth questioning as with the Reflection cards, but for three or four players at a time.
Holstee has seen its Reflection newsletter increase in popularity in the last year. The free email is written in a personal style by the founders and has become one of its most anticipated offerings, Mike said.
“They’re personal and really from the heart,” he said. “If you’re just starting to learn about Holstee, that’s a great way to get a sense of what we’re all about.”
