Meet Micah Kearns

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Micah Kearns. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Micah below.

Hi Micah, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

When I was young I had undiagnosed ADHD, and I didn’t understand why things seemed harder to do than they should have been. But I was raised to be independent and not rely on or expect outside help, so I learned that if I wanted to complete something, I had to just keep churning and learning and put in the extra effort to make it happen. This process came with a lot of frustration and disappointment along the way, but I guess it was also exposure therapy to the discomfort that it took to reach a big goal.

But along that path there were also a lot of success stories among all the failed attempts, and the positive feedback (both internal pride and external praise) in those successful instances was enough to cement the connection that struggle and obstacles and getting knocked back was the price to be paid for achieving that success.

This was further internalized when I started the Sacramento chapter of a global speaker series called Fuckup Nights, where successful professionals shared stories of their biggest professional failures, what the fallout was, and what they learned from it. The whole ethos of the org was that striving, stumbling, and failure were necessary stepping stones to success, and no worthy goal could be reached without those bumps and bruises.

COVID brought Fuckup Nights to a standstill, so I pivoted and began Why We Fear Failure, a personal project that focused much more on the science behind the fear of failure. I learned a lot about psychological, physiological, and sociological aspects that affect one’s fear of failure, and I began seeing and feeling all of those things that I learned as they affected me and the people around me. Knowing “why” those things were happening gave me the perspective to change how I responded in those moments.

Also, all of the content that I created for both of these orgs constantly surrounded me with messages and insights about resilience, overcoming fear of failure, the science behind the avoidant feelings, and the knowledge of how to push past them, and over time I found myself internalizing all of that messaging and being able to put it into practice.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

After a moment of epiphany in an IKEA lamp section, I invented and patented the Breathing Light – a lighting device that projects moving light patterns, and makes it feel like the whole room is breathing around you. These immersive visual cues influence your own breathing to synchronize along, slowing and deepening as it induces a meditative state, which gives you all the scientifically-validated benefits of breathwork and meditation, particularly for stress and anxiety reduction.

62% of adults in the US have problematic stress or anxiety, and 19% have panic attacks. As I developed the idea, I saw how impactful it could be for both myself and all of these people that have problems with stress, anxiety, mood regulation, or sleep… It has such tremendous potential to help improve lives that I absolutely must get it out into the public.

I’ve always enjoyed manifesting ideas into reality, and it’s guided me to a lifetime of ideating, creating, and building, culminating in a 20-year creative career as a creative director, graphic designer, photographer, copywriter, packaging designer, mechanical drafter, and event organizer.

I’ve also always had a keen interest in self-improvement, mental health, and psychology, and because of this I’ve developed a wicked growth mindset and excellent interpersonal skills, which have been further honed by leadership positions in my career, getting involved in hobby-related organizations, via adventurous world travel, and through organizing the Sacramento chapter of a global speaker series called Fuckup Nights, focused on addressing fear of failure and mental health.
This ended during COVID, so I launched my own related project, Why We Fear Failure, which explores the science behind why we have these fears in the first place, and how to overcome them.

My startup experience is just beginning though, and I’ve completed a startup bootcamp at the Sac State Carlsen Center, and I’m currently in another bootcamp at CLTRE Club, both in Sacramento, CA. These programs have been tremendously helpful for developing my startup knowledge and organizing my business plan and strategy. I’ve also love the community and camaraderie that forms when you’re surrounded by other people also struggling valiantly to launch their own businesses, it’s inspiring and motivating and makes solo entrepreneurship feel much less lonely.

I was also commissioned by the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) to produce an art piece that demonstrates the concept of the Breathing Light for their downtown art activation, Come To Your Senses (https://www.senses916.com/). I created a 7-ft tall carved wooden sculpture that is centered in a dark room, and it creates hypnotic oscillating color-changing light patterns on the surrounding surfaces. Seeing the light working for the first time in a public space was amazing, and hearing people’s reactions and getting feedback was really validating and felt terrific too.

Pre-ordering a Breathing Light will be available online soon, please follow @iluinnovations on Instagram for updates and special offers. We make breathing easy, easy! ✨

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I’ve always loved the act of creating ever since I was young, and playing with crayons and Legos evolved into mechanical drafting, designing, sculpting, woodworking, programming, and more. I developed a wicked growth mindset because of this, and I’m confident that I’m capable of creating just about anything when I put my mind to it.

Because I also had undiagnosed ADHD as a child, I spent a lot of time learning about myself and trying to figure out why I couldn’t perform the way other kids could. This led to a lot of introspection, self-awareness, and dedication to personal growth, and a fascination with psychology and self-improvement. Through this self-reflection my relationship with myself has improved so drastically since I was younger, that I feel driven to do what I can to help other people get in touch with themselves and improve their own lives too.

The third I think is retaining a sense of playfulness and humor, which inspires creativity, creates joy, and gives some levity even during the hardest times.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

So far I’m a solo founder and have developed the concept, patents, and company on my own. I’ve been traveling for the last two years (one year vanlifing around the US and one year backpacking East Asia) and now that I’m back in the US and my startup is building momentum, I need to network like crazy and build my team.

First, I know that there’s a lot I don’t know yet, and I’d love to meet mentors with electronics manufacturing experience, eCommerce marketing experience, financial strategy, and grant writing experience.

I also need to meet as many people in the medical and mental health industry as possible, to get validation of the Breathing Light concept, generate broader interest in the marketplace, and explore all possible applications of the technology.

And naturally funding is a high priority at this early stage too. I’m about to launch my first round of fundraising ever, and I’m looking for interested angel and pre-seed investors.

Please connect with me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/micahkearns/), follow and message on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/iluinnovations), or email me at micah (at) iluinnovations.com.

Thank you for helping me revolutionize mental healthcare!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://iluinnovations.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iluinnovations
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/micahkearns/

Image Credits

1 – Aiza León
2 – Emily Ramsey
3 – Micah Kearns
4 – Aiza León
5 – Micah Kearns