We Belong Together by Kuullas and Qvik, but not Taylor Swift

In today’s complex and fast-paced world, getting caught up in the hustle is easy. Balancing daily pressure requires abilities to draw boundaries and master the art of prioritizing. With constant change, mental skills like adaptability and resilience are more important than ever.

If you haven’t heard of them yet, let us introduce you to Kuullas – a Finnish startup founded by Irina Krohn and Saara Rantanen. With versatile experience in business and mental coaching, they realized that while physical well-being became a trending topic, mental well-being still often got neglected. So, they set out to change that.

Kuullas was born from a shared belief that employees’ mental health needs a fresh approach and innovative services. It is focused on modern methods for proactively strengthening mental well-being – because, like your body, your mind needs regular exercise.

Help, not with Beatles but with Kuullas

For decades, mental health has been stuck in a bit of a gloomy narrative. Since the 1940s, it was often believed that mental challenges couldn’t be fixed. Thankfully, the conversation is changing. 

The mental well-being field is still young and evolving, so Kuullas aims to redefine mental health as a daily priority – rather than something only addressed when the clouds roll in. It hopes to inspire lasting, proactive changes toward a healthier mindset, as this prevents problems from accumulating.

“The mission is to make caring for our mental well-being a natural part of everyday life – and to do it positively,” says Irina.

Kuullas’ vision is to be a space where employees can take a break from the chaos of daily life with the guidance of their personal coach. 

Kuullas is all about active recovery for the mind, allowing people to unlock creativity, potential, and all that they can be. That’s the Kuullas way.

When a company partners with Kuullas, employees gain access to a selection of experienced mental well-being coaches and solution-focused therapists. These experts coach employees in all areas of life—from navigating work-related issues and personal growth to change, stress and time management.

“Kuullas comes from the word ‘kuulas’, which means bright and clear. That’s the feeling we want our customers to feel.”

Irina Krohn & Saara Rantanen, Founders of Kuullas

One of Kuullas’s unique selling points is “Kuullas Match,” a tool that connects individuals and teams with the right coach for their needs. In traditional therapy, a successful client-therapist relationship is one of the most significant contributors to effective treatment. This is why Kuullas Match is so special. 

“In professional sports, psychological coaching is as important as physical performance. That’s what we see Kuullas being for employees”, Saara concludes. 

What’s Qvik got to do with it, but not with Whitney Houston

Kuullas and Qvik teamed up over a year ago, and since then, our collaboration has only grown. As we move into the fall of 2024, we’re proud to call ourselves official partners.

To support the mutual mission of building socially sustainable workplaces, we’ve tossed the traditional time and material-based collaboration.

Qvik will help Kuullas reach the next technological step with their platform. In exchange for assuming full responsibility for a valuable end result, we have the freedom to utilize internal experts, partners, or specialists to accomplish this goal. To make this possible, Qvik offers a complete solution team.

“This value-based model enables us to avoid the traditional situation where individual, set team members are under much pressure. With flexible allocation, we’ll always have the best combination of experts and no unexpected costs. The client can rest assured knowing they’ll have the best possible product at the end”, says Juha Falck, Qvik’s account executive for Kuullas.

“Having earned Kuullas’s trust, we are happy to take a bigger role in the implementation of the project. This means, for example, that we have a proxy PO that helps communicate the customer’s will to the development team, and vice versa.”

Qvik and Kuullas are excited about the emphasis on delivering value.

“Qvik’s readiness to embrace responsibility and risk in achieving project goals – according to mutually defined success metrics – played a significant role in our decision. Their dedication to delivering results aligns perfectly with our vision for this partnership”, Irina sums up.

Tell me why, but this time with Backstreet Boys 

Qvik and Kuullas have developed a strong bond. 

Qvik believes in Kuullas because of its mission, innovation, visionary founders, talent, and empowering women in tech. We’ve learned that employee well-being needs to be at our core. 

Read more: Deep-dive into Qvik’s diversity, equity and inclusion roadmap

Qvik has excellent personal experiences from Kuullas.

“We initially chose Kuullas as a people partner, because we’re always finding better ways to support Qvikies. Employee feedback showed us its brilliance. Kuullas understands that it’s not just about balancing work and life, but finding balance in life as a whole”, says Jari Lindholm, Qvik’s COO.

“We’re building resilience. I’ve used Kuullas for mental coaching, and our team underwent transformational team coaching. The two-way street enables our companies to really understand each other”, Juha adds. He says that Kuullas has made him happier and more satisfied.

“I’ve been training my mind for 20 years. Meditation, stoic philosophy – you name it, but self-development is a necessity for me. Kuullas coaching has given me clarity and willpower to endure the hurricane of modern day society. Instead of constantly feeling overwhelmed by what life throws at me, I’m prepared. I enjoy life”, Juha says. 

Kuullas’s innovative approach to redefining mental health and sustainable work excites Qvik, and Kuullas feels content about us.

“A key reason Kuullas chose Qvik were their values. People’s well-being seems to be in Qvik’s DNA. We feel like making working life more socially sustainable and humane is extremely important, which is something we share with Qvik.”

Saara Rantanen, Co-Founder, Kuullas

“Another significant factor is a strong trust. Qvik has given us time, and been clearly and genuinely committed to supporting Kuullas in its mission. High quality work and a proven track record across healthcare, finance, and startups also mattered, making partnering with Qvik a pleasure.” 

Let’s get it on with Marvin Gaye because maybe you want to?

Kuullas is taking off like a rocket ship, and its NPS is already an impressive 92 – while customer satisfaction is climbing at 9.4. Amazing! Are you interested in knowing more specifics about how they make all the positive change happen in today’s workplaces? Take a look at their coaching themes here, or contact them directly.

Are you interested in hearing more about Qvik’s new value-delivering development model? Don’t hesitate to contact Juha or Robert using the details below!