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Learn & Practice

Meet the Team Member: Katelyn Hoffman

By The Healthy Minds Team

Each month, we’ll introduce you to the people behind the well-being tools. This month: Katelyn Hoffman, Software Quality Assurance Engineer

I spend all my time working on mobile apps, and I believe both mobile hardware and software can evolve to help people and do good – in wellness and also in other fields.

Katelyn Hoffman, Healthy Minds Innovations

Tell us a little bit about your background, personal and professional before working at HMI?

I’m from Southwest Wisconsin and went to UW-La Crosse for Marketing. While I was studying, I tried out a retail merchandising internship, but it wasn’t a fit. After graduating, I worked for a healthcare technology company for 8 years where I tested a mobile app for physicians and other caregivers to support their daily work like office visit documentation, prescribing medications, writing notes – so they could be mobile and not always at a desk. QA [Quality Assurance] really was a fit for me!

I wasn’t a science person before, but now I’m sort of taking all that research that goes on around us and I’m able to apply that to what I read in the news to gain a new eye and appreciation for it.

Katelyn Hoffman, Healthy Minds Innovations

Why HMI?

I was looking for a work/life balance change and thought to myself – “If I could do a QA job in the Madison [Wisconsin] area, which company would I choose?” Then HMI found me [through a recruiter] and I thought – “That’s it.” I only had a tangential interest in meditation – through many years of yoga – before starting.

What do you do at HMI?

I test the Healthy Minds Program mobile app, and I advocate for end users’ perspectives when we design new features or bug fixes. I am also the lead end user support person for help desk questions and do customer engagement through other channels such as social media. Behind the scenes, I do app customizations to support specific customers or research studies that utilize the app as a meditation intervention.

What’s the best part of your job?

It’s the people that we work with. I wasn’t a science person before, but now I’m sort of taking all that research that goes on around us and I’m able to apply that to what I read in the news to gain a new eye and appreciation for it. I feel like if I had this experience back in my undergraduate days, I would’ve found science less intimidating!

What are your hopes for HMI for the future?

I think we will be a part of mobile technology that can actually help people and do good. There’s a lot of negativity around privacy and advertising and etc., but I spend all my time working on mobile apps, and I believe both mobile hardware and software can evolve to help people and do good – in wellness and also in other fields.

‘You want it to be a page turner.’ If you find a meditation that works for you, you should look forward to it.

Katelyn Hoffman, Healthy Minds Innovations

What’s a tip for well-being that you can share?

How simple meditation can be. There’s a version for everyone. There’s a version for people who like animals, and a version for people who see colors really vividly, and a version for people who like sounds. It doesn’t have to be sitting still. There’s a lot of uniqueness and something that applies to everyone. [HMI partner] Jay [Vidyarthi] said something really inspiring that his teacher told him – “you want it to be a page turner.” If you find a mediation that works for you, you should look forward to it. 


Healthy Minds Program App HMI Team