MotiSpark
Personalized video nudges for ongoing motivation
The spark
I built MotiSpark because I needed it myself.
I was struggling to stay motivated on a health goal and couldn’t find anything that actually worked. So I prototyped something for myself—short, personalized video messages timed to the moments I was most likely to give up.
It worked. Then friends asked for it. Then clinicians.
What started as a personal hack became a company: co-founders, investors, a patent, pilot partners, a grant, and eventually deployment across 7 states.
The results
Grant & First Place
HIMSS & Children’s Hospital LA
Grand Place
Vator & HP Digital Health Innovation
📋 Patent Granted
US20170193851A1
What it does
Personalized video nudges delivered via SMS that help patients stick to care plans between appointments.
The platform combines everything I’d learned across 20 years—behavioral science, culturally relevant content, interaction design, and AI-driven timing—to reach people when they need support most, not just when they’re in the exam room.
Why it worked
Digital patient engagement fails because it triggers shame. MotiSpark feels like a TikTok from a friend—quick, warm, human.
The platform lets local care teams provide language and regional relevance. No Silicon Valley acai wheatgrass smoothies for a mailman in Georgia. Instead, he gets low-sodium beef jerky he can find at his local store.
We timed messages using behavioral science so they arrived at moments of vulnerability, not just on a schedule.
Nurses told us patients showed up happier, more prepared, more collaborative—and asked to extend MotiSpark to all their patients.
My role: Founder
I designed the original prototypes, secured pilot partners, recruited co-founders, led product and design, pitched investors, wrote grant proposals, built strategic partnerships, and shaped the platform from idea through scale.
This was the culmination of everything I’d learned—advertising, behavioral science, healthcare, interaction design—put in service of something that actually helped people.
Recognition & Partnerships
→ Grand Prize, HP/Vator Digital Health Innovation
→ First Place + Grant, HIMSS & Children’s Hospital LA
→ Featured in Becker’s Health IT, MedCity News, UCLA News
→ Research partnerships: UCLA, Clemson, UT, Merck