Drybar co-founders Alli Webb and Michael Landau are behind a new talk therapy experience coming to Los Angeles.
Okay Humans is a concept spearheaded by L.A. marriage and family therapist Christy Desai, who is looking to modernize the therapy experience and make it more accessible to all.
A brick-and-mortar office is set to open in Brentwood this summer, along with the launch of an app and membership option. Webb, Landau and Squeeze massage CEO Brittany Driscoll will serve as Okay Humans board members, as the new brand joins their shared-service agency The Feel-Good Company.
Desai says that after having her own life-changing experience in therapy and going on to make it her career, she wants to help others overcome the barriers to entry to finding the right therapist, affording it and erasing the shame around getting help.
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“The industry does inadvertently contribute to some of the stigma by staying hidden and in medical parks. You don’t drive down the street and see a sign that says, ‘Therapy Here,’” says Desai, of plans for their San Vicente Boulevard office to have big glass windows, a wellness shop and soundproof therapy suites. “We can approach it in a way that you would other retail concepts — that you would a blow dry bar, that you would a massage place. We can speak to the consumers in the language that they know and want — especially millennials and Gen Zers, who are big fans of therapy — if we meet them where they are.”
Okay Humans will also feature an app where people can search each therapist’s bio along with accompanying intro videos, make appointments, complete paperwork, make payments, receive notes from their therapists and log thoughts between sessions. A membership will offer regularly scheduled sessions at a discount, and the office will submit insurance claims, allowing anyone with PPO out-of-network benefits to save between 45 percent and 80 percent on each session.
“Christy reached out to me on Instagram wanting to learn more about the feel-good approach we took to building Squeeze,” said Driscoll in a statement. “We met for coffee and when she shared her idea for Okay Humans, I knew immediately she was on to something and would fill a huge gap in the market. More importantly, her vision aligns with our values of making people feel good. As firm believers in the transformative benefits of talk therapy, we are thrilled to support Christy in bringing Okay Humans to life.”
Driscoll, Webb and Landau’s The Feel-Good Company is a shared-service agency offering leaders, like Desai, access to a team of creative directors, architects, tech experts, marketers and culture cultivators, including people who have been key players in building Drybar and Squeeze into the brands they are today — Drybar has over 100 locations nationwide, and Squeeze has one in Studio City with plans for more. Okay Humans is the second brand to join The Feel-Good Company, with a focus on female-founded wellness brands.
“Okay Humans was the perfect brand to add to The Feel-Good Company’s portfolio,” said Webb. “We’re on a mission to make people feel good by reinventing the experience around things that we love and need in our everyday lives. It’s what we continue to do with Drybar and Squeeze and look forward to doing the same with Okay Humans.”
Okay Humans aims to see hundreds of guests for thousands of sessions in its first 12 months, with the intent to expand nationwide in the future.
