WoW Woman in Health Tech I Ali Abramovitz, CEO of Chorus Meditation
Ali Abramovitz is the CEO of Chorus Meditation. Prior to Chorus, Ali did a mix of product and business strategy at Twilio, a cloud communications platform as a service company based in San Francisco. Prior to Twilio, she was the first female investing professional at a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund. Ali attended Claremont McKenna College where she won the award for best thesis, which she wrote on “The Impact of Women on Firm Performance and Capital Structure.” She was captain of the Division III Varsity Women’s Lacrosse team and went to the NCAA tournament 3 out of her 4 years in college.
Ali is passionate about health and wellness and specifically believes mental health is even more important than physical health.
Chorus is online group meditation classes led by live instructors, set to the beat of familiar music. Members pay $40-a-month and take a class in the morning to have a stress-free day or evening to sleep soundly. Unlike traditional meditation, which is typically done alone and takes many months to feel a difference, Chorus is:
👯♀️ SOCIAL, with warm, personable teachers and amazing fellow class-goers
🎵 FUN, with new and popular music
✨ And gives you a TINGLING sensation created by the breathing pattern, leaving you physically and mentally calmer after your FIRST SESSION.
Ali, tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
I am the CEO of Chorus Meditation. Prior to Chorus, I did a mix of product and business strategy at Twilio, and prior to that, I was the first female investing professional at a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund. I attended Claremont McKenna College where I was captain of my Division III Varsity Lacrosse team. I grew up in Denver, Colorado and am an avid skier.
What’s the story behind the Chorus? What inspired you to start it?
I was an athlete my whole life and had only ever used physical fitness as my mental health tool. But one year I was recovering from knee surgery and simultaneously my dad was in the hospital. As a result, I was experiencing anxiety but didn’t have the tools to deal with it. A friend recommended meditation. I was resistant because when I tried meditating in the past, had trouble sitting still, and wrote it off as “not working”. But I figured I didn’t have anything to lose so I committed to trying it every day. After over 30 days I noticed amazing benefits. I was sleeping better, more productive at work, better at communicating with my partner, and more patient with my parents. It felt like magic, so I started exploring other forms of meditation to see if we could help people get these benefits in a shorter time frame. That’s when MK, my co-founder, and I met. We shared a passion for meditation, but both had found it really hard to get started.
Given our own experience and after talking to friends, we realized that most people who start meditating give up since they don’t feel the benefits fast enough and it’s lonely. MK was a top SoulCycle instructor before Chorus and we saw how SoulCycle made spinning instantly gratifying and social and realized if we could apply the same principles to the mind we could help millions of people just like us, who’ve struggled to adopt meditation.
I want to emphasize that we’re in no way trying to replace traditional meditation. We, ourselves, are reverent students of traditional practices. And we're well aware that we don't have anything to teach the millennia-old traditions of India and China. What we are trying to do is bridge the gap for people who find traditional techniques challenging so that they can avoid the discouraging feeling of “I’m doing this wrong” and empower them to develop their own mindfulness practice.
Chorus is a meditation practice, kinda. How does it work and how is it different from other meditation practices?
The Chorus Method is a combination of rhythmic breathing and traditional meditation, all set to the beat of awesome music you know and love, with supportive teacher guidance. We combine all of these techniques (breath, music, coaching, meditation) to make it easier and more enjoyable to improve the health of our mind and bodies. We do this by starting off each class with concrete and tangible objects to focus on (breath, beat, teacher’s voice, tingles from the breathing pattern) so that when we move into the traditional meditation on the back half of class, our mind is actually able to enter a calm state vs. wrestling to get quiet. You know the feeling when trying to FORCE yourself into a meditative state …that’s what we are trying to avoid.
In this first part of the class, we harness the power of our breath, using both rhythmic breathing to the beat of the music, as well as deep breathing. These breathing exercises for stress, together with the music, create space in our minds and bodies SO THAT we can effortlessly sink into a calm state of mind.
Oxygen is the energy source for every metabolic process in our body and is essential to brain function. As we practice controlled breathing, we literally move oxygen through our bodies in ways that help on the molecular level to increase energy and brain capacity. Through this physical reaction, paired with mental focus, we create space in the mind so we can do the work of strengthening our “mind muscles.”
For more detail on the Chorus Method and a break down of the meditation and breathing components of class, check out our blog: How Meditation, Breathing Exercises, and The Chorus Method Work for Stress Relief, Nervous System Health, and a Life of Happiness.
What has been the feedback from your community so far? What do they love most about the Chorus and what advice would you give to anyone looking to begin meditating?
It's been incredible. The customer feedback we get is truly the most heartwarming part about working on Chorus. We routinely hear from our community that Chorus is changing -- their -- lives. They love the music, the teachers and the tingles from the breathing pattern :) The biggest advice is to stay consistent - just like with physical exercises, consistency is the key to any real progress. And the key to being able to stay consistent on something is to find something you ENJOY! So spend time on things you love.
You raised a pre-seed round of around $1 million. That’s amazing, and big congratulations to the entire team! How would you describe your fundraising journey? What were some of the challenges you’ve encountered?
Thank you! Fundraising is a journey! You always encounter people who just “don’t get it “ - they don’t see how it's different from existing solutions or they think it's too “out there” -- but when you find the investors who really do see the vision and how we are doing something super different than has been done before you feel the difference in those conversations immediately. You move from having to explain the basics of how Chorus is different and you immediately get into the fun conversations about how do you scale community and immersive, FUN, experiences
You’re a part of Y Combinator’s Winter 2021 batch of startups, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned through the program?
Talk to customers and write code :) That's basically the biggest takeaway.
How would you describe Chorus in three words?
Your best self.
What’s next for Chorus?
We just launched an iOS app for our existing members! And are launching publicly to new members later this month. If anyone wants to try it they can email me and I’ll get them set up :)
Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why?
YES! I’ve long been one of the only women in the industries in which I’ve worked - tech, hedge funds, etc. Having peers and mentors who can relate to your experience is so important to both career growth and not feeling alone. We need more representation of women in many areas of our world and WomenInTech is certainly one of them. I also wrote my thesis on the impact of women in leadership on firm performance and it creates a better business to have diverse leadership.
What is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in the health and wellness industry?
Find something you are SO passionate about you can’t help but think about it 24/7.
Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?
1. Alyson Watson (CEO of Modern Health) - and Chorus adviser
2. Oprah
3. Arianna Huffington (Thrive Global)
Find out more about Chorus and try it out here.
Follow Chorus on Instagram and Facebook.
This interview was conducted by Anja Streicher, Chief Marketing Officer at Women of Wearables. Anja is passionate about women’s health and wellness and is inspired every day by WoW women in tech and business who are changing lives with their innovative products.