MEDITATION WORKS
health
Bringing
Meditation
To Work
Local entrepreneur brings his mobile
meditation studio to businesses
across Metro Detroit
JUSTIN WEDES SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
MEDITATION WORKS
J
ABOVE: Jake Leider, founder/CEO
of Meditation Works.
TOP LEFT: The Meditation Works
mobile studio in Downtown
Detroit. TOP RIGHT: Police from
Detroit Police Department’s Third
Precinct participate in a free
meditation session.
114
ake Leider is on a mission to calm you
down, and he’s built a successful busi-
ness doing it.
The 26-year-old Huntington Woods resi-
dent and MSU graduate is the founder and
CEO of Meditation Works, a self-described
“mobile stress solutions” company. The
company operates a repurposed 20-foot
cargo trailer that it hauls to the doorsteps
of companies and organizations around
Metro Detroit, allowing employees to take a
15-minute break from the stresses of work.
The company began, as do many great
ventures, with his mother. Joanne Leider,
now the company’s program director, is a
15-year veteran of yoga meditation who
encouraged Jake to create 8- to 12-minute
breath-and-focus sessions for busy work-
ing people. When repeated over a number
of weeks, Jake explains, this type of calm-
ing relaxation is shown scientifically to
improve sleep and focus at work, as well as
lower stress and (even) blood pressure. But
who has time in their day to do it?
“People would say, ‘At work, I’m very
willing to leave my desk for 10-15 minutes
September 14 • 2017
jn
to meditate — I just don’t have a place to
do it,’” Jake says in the low and unhurried
voice of a yoga meditator.
Jake had an idea to bring that space to
them and, in early 2016, he pulled together
a team to design and build a mobile
meditation unit. He also found family and
friends to financially support his budding
endeavor to the tune of $45,000, backed up
by verbal commitments from three compa-
nies in Downtown Detroit that would hire
Meditation Works.
A long cargo trailer was outfitted with
furniture, lighting and a sound system to
play recordings, all meticulously designed
to promote relaxation. For the next few
months, they extensively tested this proto-
type design to perfect every aspect of the
experience.
READY FOR BUSINESS
Now Jake was ready for business. They
began hauling the trailer Downtown to
the parking lots of businesses like Rock
Ventures, the parent company of Dan
Gilbert’s family of 110+ businesses. Nate
Segall, director of special projects at Rock
Ventures, describes the experience of
bringing his team of employees down to
meditate.
“At first, we would get out of the trailer
and get right back on our phones and our
emails,” he says. “Over time, we started
having conversations with each other. The
best part is taking a 50,000-foot view of
your work environment. You think you’re
so busy and can’t step away from your desk
— then you do it, and when you come back
you’re in a better mindset to deal with the
hectic craziness of the workday.”
Jake’s team would often pass by Detroit’s
Third Police Precinct on the way home
from work, and his mom came up with
the idea to offer free sessions to the over-
stressed officers, a program she dubbed
Keeping the Police at Peace. Capt. Darin
Szilagy, then-captain at the precinct,
recalls how his officers reacted to the
much-needed brain break.
“My officers really enjoyed it,” he says.
“There’s a perception in the police commu-
nity where we’re reluctant to do anything
publicly around mental health. With Jake
bringing it to the workplace, there was no
reason not to take advantage.”
By late 2016, business had accelerated
so much that Meditation Works needed a
second cargo trailer, and they approached
Hebrew Free Loan for support. Executive
Director David Contorer oversees their
Marvin I. Danto Small Business Loan pro-
gram, which provides interest-free loans
and also free, ongoing mentoring support.
He was impressed and granted Jake the
$30,000 loan.
“We loved the idea. He already had one
truck, had clients and was showing suc-
cess,” Contorer says. “He knew what his
costs would be and his timeline. He had
done the market research. It was an easy
decision — a slam dunk.”
In spring 2017, Jake’s cousin Josh Leider
joined the team as director of experience.
Like his soft-spoken cousin, Josh is quiet
and thoughtful as he describes how his
faith informs his work.
“Judaism gave us a passion for tzeda-
kah and being good to the world, but also
Judaism and meditation go hand-in-hand.
Like on Shabbat — shutting down, turning
off your phone, being with family, focusing
on one thing for a good 24 hours — medi-
tation has similar ideals.”
Now in their second year, Jake and Josh
have ambitious plans to grow Meditation
Works to reach even more stressed-out
people at work across the state. They’ve
tweaked their meditation session based on
participant feedback and also plan to sur-
vey their customers to gauge the beneficial
impact of the bi-weekly sessions.
At the end of each meditation session,
participants leaving the trailer receive a
piece of paper with a useful tip on how to
be more mindful in their everyday activi-
ties. One of these tip cards had some clear
advice on how to keep focused in a busy
world: “When you are driving, drive. When
you’re eating, eat. When you are with
someone, be with them. DO what you are
doing.” •
More information about Meditation Works can be found
at MeditationWorks.com. Group sessions for up to 15
participants start at $80 for businesses and organizations.