Wellness is Everything: Notes from Inside the Healf Experience
2 minute read…
We went to the Healf Experience last weekend because we wanted to understand where wellness is really headed - not the influencer version, but the human one.
Three days inside the space, it was remarkable. It didn’t feel like an event, it really felt like a community. It felt like people weren’t there to perform their wellness, they were there to learn, share, and genuinely connect. You could feel that a culture had been invested in. The hospitality was warm, the staff humble, the leadership visible and present. As someone who always gauges a room by its people, I was impressed.
The Moment Wellness Became Culture
Founder and CEO of Healf, Lestat McCree opened the weekend with a simple but profound statement: wellness is personable, and it’s possible. He set the tone early. “We high-five each other for eight hours of sleep,” he joked. A small comment that said everything about the new wellness mindset. That it’s no longer about being perfect or performing, it’s about participating. Everyone in the room felt like part of the team.
That sentiment echoed through the weekend: wellness is everything. And for those of us working in brand and culture, it’s becoming the space where the most exciting ideas live.
Science Meets Soul
Gary Brecka - the world’s number one bio-hacker, blended science with conviction so well. His language was technical, but his message landed: the reason many of us aren’t living fuller lives is because of dietary changes we should have made long ago. He spoke about immunofatigue, about the gut as the seat of mental health. We hear a lot about about taking sleep seriously. That stuck with me. Even as a new dad, I realised how often I’ve treated sleep as optional. It isn’t. “Sleeping is for the strong,” Dr Kristen Holmes from Whoop said on her panel.
Hearing from TJ Power was cool. Whose session on the DOSE effect (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins) reminded everyone that wellbeing is both chemical and cultural. His point on willpower, choosing the long-term goal over short-term temptation, hit hard. And his take on boredom was refreshing: the brain needs quiet. It’s in stillness that creativity begins.
Together, Brecka and Power represented the twin engines of modern wellness for me, science and soul. It seems to me, and I include myself in this, that people don’t just want to know what to do - we want to understand why it matters.
The Brands Shaping the New Well
Among the brands on show, a few stood out for how well they understood that balance. Whoop had presence, their product already lives on the wrists of half the room, a sign of how embedded recovery tech has become. Bon Charge drew constant attention, proof that well-designed wellness hardware still excites people. Hyperice made impact through experience - I tried the Normatec system and understood instantly why it has such a following.
Then there was Siro Hotels, whose founder Mattheos Georgiou spoke about wellness travel as the new luxury. Not necessarily escaping life, but re-entering it, differently. And Altere Studios, a design studio specialising in tools that nourish body and mind, reminded me how powerful design can be when it feels alive. Their flyer stopped me in my tracks, their founders won me over. Beautiful brand, executed with care.
Still, not every brand landed emotionally. Many spoke fluently about product benefits but less so about the human stories behind them. The next wave of wellness brands will need to speak to people’s hearts. Because when wellness becomes culture, it’s storytelling that builds connection.
The Opportunity for Brands
If there’s one thing Healf made clear, it’s that the wellness industry is full of good intentions and untapped potential. The people are focused, driven, and genuinely want to make a difference. But many still speak the language of features, not feelings. What does it feel like to interact with and experience your brand? They’re selling wellness products when they could be shaping wellness movements.
At Unfound, we believe that’s where the real opportunity lies. Our Newwave™ cultural insight platform was built to help brands track these behavioural shifts - from aspiration to integration, from exclusivity to belonging. The most exciting brands in wellness will humanise.
The next step is for wellness storytelling to grow up. To move past aesthetics and algorithms and start creating emotionally intelligent narratives, stories that make people feel seen, supported, and inspired to sustain their own version of wellbeing.
The Opportunity for Brands
Leaving Healf, I felt both inspired and challenged. Inspired by the people leading the movement. Challenged by what can improve. Wellness is everything, yes, but not everything that calls itself wellness is well.
The future of the category belongs to brands that make people feel better. To founders who understand that care is not just a campaign, but it’s a commitment.
For the brands ready to tell that story, point them in our direction – we’d love to help.
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