Excellence in technology: Telehealth CEO puts people over profit

Faced with crippling insomnia while working in business development, Peter Hames was desperate for a solution, but he wasn’t interested in prescription drugs. So he turned to cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on smart habit- and behavior-building, and was hopeful as he gave it a try. Within six weeks, he was sleeping soundly.

Eleven years later, Hames is co-founder and CEO of Big Health, a company that works to develop digital therapeutic programs to empower communities — especially those underserved by mental health care — to overcome their struggles with the touch of an app. “My personal story is what informed our mission,” says Hames. “It's the guiding light.”

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Big Health delivers mental health benefits to employers’ workforces through two apps: Sleepio helps troubled sleepers transform their daily behaviors alongside a personalized six-week program; Daylight offers day-to-day techniques to manage anxiety. But when the pandemic hit — and a mental health crisis quickly followed — Hames and his team moved to start the Community Access Program, making their apps available to employers at no cost, opening up their habit-building therapies to 6.5 million workers.

“It was a very easy decision for us,” Hames says. “What gets me out of bed every morning is helping millions get back to good mental health.”