Amy Giddon is a tech entrepreneur who built a social and mindfulness app inspired by Post-It Notes. Can Daily Haloha inspire empathy and connect the globe? And more importantly, is that cool?

“We ask a single thought-provoking question to the world every day. Everyone reflects on the question, answers it, gives it a mood color, and then sends it off into the world to be delivered randomly and anonymously to one other human”

Listen to Amy’s submission featured in Episode 94 of How Cool Is This? and read a transcript of the full 5 minute podcast episode below:

Amy: Hi, Nick and Brian! Amy Giddon here, Founder of Daily Haloha.

We're a simple and uplifting daily routine to help you feel a little more connected to yourself and the rest of the world. It's kind of like if Headspace and Facebook had an adorable baby app. But we're different, too, because we're not modeled after other apps at all, but rather Post-It Notes.

I had an experience in a New York City subway station participating in a Post-It project that ended up being 50,000. Post-Its. I saw how people were uplifted and united in a special moment of shared humanity just through participating in the project. The project was anonymous, free of judgment, no status or popularity... it wasn't divisive, unlike social media, which can leave us feeling, well, disconnected.

The way Daily Haloha works is we ask a single thought provoking question to the whole world every day. Everyone reflects on the question, answers it, gives it a mood color, and then sends it off into the world to be delivered randomly and anonymously to one other human. Voilà! Instantly you get one back from someone else in the world, and then come to join The Daily Haloha Wall to see all the other thoughts and feelings expressed from people all over the world.

Submit your idea to How Cool Is This?

Nick: Brian, how cool is the Daily Haloha?

Brian: This sounds pretty cool for a variety of reasons. I think it has a different approach to interacting with people, where it's a value-add to life rather than a drain. It also has a cool name. 

Nick: The name is very warming. It's very welcoming, as opposed to a lot of other apps that feel, I don't know, really cold and technological.

Brian: Do you think it's not that cool?

Nick: I feel like I have too many apps in my life already, but I do appreciate that this app is trying to do something completely different than any other app… not necessarily just connect people because I feel like a lot of apps try to do that. This one is saying, ‘No, we want the connections to have a positive impact.’

Brian: I agree there are too many apps. I don't want another app, but I do want a daily routine that makes me feel good. 

Nick: Having a daily routine and adding, specifically, self-reflection to your daily routine is a very cool thing to do. I feel like I should maybe do more of that. 

Brian: How cool is a social media app that takes away status and popularity?

Nick: I think that's incredibly cool. The more people care about status and popularity, the less cool they become, the less cool things they do to each other, so trying to get rid of those things, I think could have a really positive impact on people. 

Brian: Yeah, coolness works when it's not quantified. It just is what it is. And that is cool.

Nick: Kind of like this podcast. We don't try to rank anybody on a scale of cool. Just, things can be cool or not cool or somewhere between… Brian, what's a question that you would like to ask a random person somewhere in the world?

Brian: What's something that you dream about doing, but haven't done yet?

Nick: That's really serious, and I think could lead to a heartfelt discussion. I guess I wouldn't have gone in that direction.

Brian: What about you?

Nick: I think I'd ask them what they had for breakfast. Breakfast is very interesting to me. 

Brian: Today I had a cookie.

Nick: You have a cookie for breakfast?

Brian: Yeah. My normal breakfast was missing...

Nick: See? We're already having a very thought provoking conversation about this breakfast question.

Brian: It is cool to be part of something bigger than yourself, and this seems to allow for that to happen.

Nick: The way this app is structured makes me feel like I'm part of a global conversation. It feels both big and intimate at the same time, which I think is a really hard dynamic to capture. 

Brian: It sounds like an app that I could get addicted to, and by addicted to, I mean an app that I could work into my daily routine.

Nick: So, addicted in a good way.

Brian: Yeah, I would use this app before I would use Facebook. Because I think that Amy is cooler than Mark.

Nick: Amy is most definitely cooler than Mark. That's without debate.

“3 minutes per day, promise,” said Amy in an email… that’s less time than this podcast! Visit dailyhaloha.com to try it out.

If you have a cool idea you want featured on the show, get in touch.

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