The human comes before the athlete.
Who we are
We're a group of people who believe that in elite sports, the human comes before the athlete.
Elite sports has always inspired incredible innovation in training, analytics, and performance. We believe the people in sports deserve that same ingenuity off the field.
So we build technology that makes the support, knowledge, and care in sports accessible to everyone. So every person has the clarity, confidence, and support to thrive through every stage of their journey.
Who we show up for
The humans in elite athletics. Athletes, coaches, and support staff navigating the emotional complexity of high-performance environments. From college through the end of their careers and beyond.
What unites us
See the person before the player.
We built technology that leads people back to real relationships, not away from them.
Follow the evidence, even when it's uncomfortable.
We ground everything in science because only validated work creates lasting change.
Ask better questions, don't hand out answers.
Athletes don't need fixing. They need presence, reflection, and the space to find their own clarity.
Build with them, not for them.
We don't replace coaches or decide for athletes. We build alongside both, strengthening what's already there.
Say the hard thing and do the hard thing.
We work at the intersection of wellbeing, elite sports, and AI. That takes hard conversations and harder decisions. We choose courage over comfort, every time.
How we shape the future
Relationship, not software.
Sam isn't a chatbot. Sam is a mentor. A consistent, trusted presence that meets athletes where they are.
Change the culture.
Through research and public engagement, we elevate wellbeing in elite sports to the same standard as physical performance.
Partnerships that work.
We embed in the world of every team and university we work with. Learning how they operate, co-creating solutions, and strengthening the ecosystems already in place.
Build the network.
We connect researchers, sports leaders, and athletes to collaborate, learn, and grow together.
The team
Dr. Jeff Nyquist, CEO & Co-Founder
Jeff is a psychologist and neuroscientist (PhD, Vanderbilt) who built NeuroTrainer, a cognitive training program used by 35,000 athletes. But coaches kept telling him the same thing: the real challenge wasn't reaction time. It was communication, support, and developing the whole athlete. He spent a decade in college athletics before founding Journai to address what coaches actually needed.
Robin Goetz, CTO & Co-Founder
Robin came to Temple University from Germany on a soccer scholarship. Four years on the team. Three minutes of playing time. He grew up in a professional soccer academy where performance equaled survival, and struggling was something you hid. When he finally walked into Temple's counseling office, it changed everything. Now he's building Sam with the same people who helped him find his way back, in the exact place where he needed it most.
Dr. Elizabeth Taylor, Head of Research & Business Development
Liz spent her career studying what makes athletic cultures work and what breaks them. She's published over 60 peer-reviewed studies on athlete wellbeing. Before becoming a professor at Temple University, she was a D3 volleyball player and assistant coach. She knows the research and she knows the room.