Navigating our Relationship with Technology

Dr. Thekla Brumder Ross is a psychologist who explores the intersection of technology, addiction, and well-being. She advises tech companies on product innovation, supports health systems in applying evidence-based practices, and teaches leaders from diverse backgrounds – from medical students and physicians to hospitality executives, parents, and CEOs – how to cultivate healthier digital habits through self-compassion.

Co-author of It Won’t Love You Back: How to Navigate Technology with Clarity and Freedom, Thekla combines scientific rigor with practical wisdom to help people understand the psychological mechanisms behind our digital behaviors. Her work demonstrates how small, intentional shifts can free us from technology’s grip and restore balance to our lives.

Thekla brings both clinical expertise and research-based insights to her practice, helping individuals and organizations develop healthier relationships with technology that support rather than undermine their deepest values and goals.

Kit Hayes bridges the worlds of Silicon Valley and human flourishing. After years as a tech industry leader at companies including YouTube and Google, she now helps people reset their relationship with screens and create more intentional digital habits.

Co-author of It Won’t Love You Back: How to Navigate Technology with Clarity and Freedom, Kit brings unique insider knowledge of how technology is designed to capture attention, combined with deep expertise in helping people reclaim agency over their digital lives.

Her coaching work focuses on practical strategies that honor both our need for connection and our desire for presence, helping clients build sustainable practices that make technology serve their values rather than hijack them.

Derek Gehl is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, and author whose journey has been shaped by a passion for empowering entrepreneurs and transforming lives. After building one of the world’s first Internet marketing companies, the birth of his first son in 2008 sparked a pivotal realization: he wanted to create a life that balanced family, business, and personal fulfillment. This led him to sell his company and refocus on building businesses that supported his vision of being present for his children while pursuing his entrepreneurial passions.

As he entered his forties, his path evolved naturally toward helping people in midlife pursue their entrepreneurial dreams while simultaneously venturing into the health and longevity space, where from 2017 to 2024, he built numerous successful natural health supplement brands. Yet despite his success, Derek missed the direct human connection that had characterized his earlier work with entrepreneurs worldwide.

At 47, Derek and his wife of 20 years were planning their next chapter together as they prepared to launch their youngest of two sons when MEA unexpectedly entered their lives. Initially skeptical of the concept of a “midlife wisdom school” – having seen behind too many curtains in the personal development industry – his experience at MEA’s Navigating Transitions workshop transformed his perspective entirely. There, he discovered something authentically different: a community of intelligent, caring individuals, each charting their unique paths through midlife’s transitions.

That unexpected journey from skeptic to believer led Derek to join MEA as the CEO. Today, he leads MEA’s mission to reimagine midlife and build a vibrant global pro-aging community. His unique background in entrepreneurship, digital transformation, and wellness, combined with his personal understanding of midlife transition, positions him perfectly to help expand MEA’s impact while preserving the magic that makes it unique.