PURIST: The name Thea traces back to an ancient, dramatic origin story. What drew you to it?
RACHELLE BARRACK: It comes from Theia, a planet-sized body that is thought to have collided with early Earth around 4.5 billion years ago. The debris from that collision became our moon. I don’t think many of us have heard the moon’s origin told that way. The moon has symbolized our emotional lives from ancient traditions until today; the name felt aligned for something built to help people uncover and explore their emotions. Theia was also the mythological Greek Titan, who was the goddess of sight and clarity. That connection between science and soul is the north star of what we’re building, using technology to bring people closer to themselves.
What personal experience served as the catalyst for creating a voice-led regulation tool?
Honestly, it wasn’t burnout. It was quieter than that, and harder to name. When I was living in New York, working long hours without the time or money to really commit to therapy, I had one thing that reliably cleared my head: I’d put on my iPod and walk. My mind would settle with each step. It took me years to understand that those walks were the beginning of how I used music to regulate. I had been reaching, instinctively, for something in the moment that moved with me exactly when I needed it. That practice stayed with me, and the instinct is what became Thea.
Thea listens to the emotion beneath the voice. How does it hear what we can’t always hear in ourselves?
Think about calling your mom, or a friend, and they ask how you are. You say, “Fine,” and before you’ve even finished the word, they say, “What’s wrong?” We’re attuned to the emotion in other people’s voices, and rarely as good at hearing our own. But voice and emotion are deeply connected. Emotion changes the voice in ways we can’t fully control, and the systems that produce the voice and the ones that regulate the nervous system are closely linked, the vagus nerve among them. Your voice carries something about your state often before your mind has caught up. Thea listens to those signals and reflects them back to you. Sometimes all the body needs is a reminder to pause and take a deep breath. A few minutes can reset the day.
What has the research shown you about how quickly the right sound can change how someone feels?
There is so much happening in the functional sound and music space right now, and it still feels like the tip of the iceberg. Music reaches the emotional centers of the brain before the thinking part catches up, which is why a song can shift how you feel in your body almost immediately. Thea uses that. When you check in, we ask whether you want to sit with what you’re feeling or shift it, and the music is chosen by function, tempo and rhythm, created by artists with intention. It’s a powerful tool to carry in your back pocket.
How does Thea’s microsession approach allow someone to achieve emotional alignment during a chaotic workday?
Everyone is living full lives, and I think in the last season of wellness, the one that optimized every metric, every biomarker, a 15-step morning routine, left a lot of people feeling like they were failing at the practices that were supposed to help them. Thea doesn’t give you endless playlists or features. In a day already full of decisions, more choice doesn’t make you well. There’s one path: a few minutes to hear yourself clearly. You can do it walking, driving, with your coffee in the morning. I do it with mine. It’s meant to be a practice you reach for in real life, not one you have to clear your day to make room for.
What do you hope someone feels the first time Thea truly works for them?
I hope it feels like releasing the breath you didn’t realize you were holding. The moment when you stop bracing against the day before it begins. A lot of us know what the opposite looks like: You start the morning rushed, you spill your coffee, you snap at someone, the day feels like it’s happening to you. The first time Thea works for someone, there’s a quiet realization that those mornings don’t have to be the default anymore, a knowing that no matter what comes, you’lll always be able to find your way back.
Thea is now available on the App Store. resetwiththea.com
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