At Nite-Nite, our mission has always been simple: to champion the sleep and wellbeing of every woman, in every era of her life which is exactly why we sat down with Waldi Hoon, CEO and Co-Founder of sleep technology innovator yōjō, to explore why so many women are running on empty, and how this quietly revolutionary device is changing that.
What situation related to sleep or nervous system challenges are you seeing right now?
Most women are running on fumes and have no idea their nervous system is the reason. The body is designed to move between states of activation and recovery, but modern life, particularly for women juggling careers, families, and everything else, keeps the nervous system locked in a state of high alert. Sleep is often the first thing to go, but it's also the last thing most women connect back to their nervous system. They see it as a scheduling problem. It's not. It's a biology problem.
What patterns are you noticing that are often overlooked?
Chronic, low-grade stress that never fully resolves. Not the dramatic crisis kind, the invisible, cumulative kind that quietly builds beneath the surface. Hormonal fluctuations compound this significantly. Oestrogen and progesterone directly modulate the autonomic nervous system, which is why sleep disruption so often spikes during the luteal phase, postpartum, and perimenopause. These aren't separate issues. They're all downstream effects of the same thing: nervous system dysregulation.
Are women aware of what they're facing, or do they simply normalise it?
Mostly, they normalise it. Women are extraordinary at adapting. Feeling tired becomes the baseline. Waking at 3am becomes "just how I sleep." Never feeling fully rested becomes something they chalk up to being busy. The cultural message, particularly for ambitious women, is that rest is a reward, not a requirement. That mindset does a lot of damage.
When do women realise something actually needs to change?
Usually when adaptation stops working. When the coping strategies they've always relied on an early night, a holiday, a good workout, stop making a dent. Or when a device like an Oura ring or Whoop shows them in hard data what their body has been trying to say for years. There's a moment where women look at their HRV scores and realise: this isn't just stress. Something needs to change.
And what happens if they ignore it and simply carry on?
The nervous system doesn't self-correct over time without intervention. Chronic sympathetic overdrive means elevated cortisol, systemic inflammation, disrupted hormones, impaired gut function, and accelerated cellular ageing. What starts as poor sleep becomes compounded fatigue, then mood instability, then a much bigger health challenge. The body keeps sending louder signals until something has to give.
How does yōjō speak to the women we have in mind?
yōjō works at the root, the vagus nerve, which is the primary communication line between the brain and the body's organs. When vagal tone is low, the nervous system sits in a state of low-level threat, and recovery including sleep is compromised. When you improve vagal tone, you improve the body's ability to down-regulate. Sleep quality follows. So does mood, energy, and hormonal balance.
What makes yōjō particularly relevant to women is that it works on the go. You don't need to carve out 45 minutes for a meditation practice or build the perfect wind-down routine. You simply put the Stone earpiece in and continue with your life, at your desk, during a commute, in the evening. That matters enormously for women who are already stretched.
In simple terms, how does the Stone device actually work?
Think of the vagus nerve as a two-way radio running from your brain to your heart, lungs, and gut. When it's well-tuned, your body moves efficiently between activation and recovery. When it's not, you stay stuck in a stress state even when life calms down.
yōjō's Stone device delivers gentle electrical pulses through the ear, specifically through the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, which sits just inside the ear. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the "rest and restore" side of your biology, without requiring anything cognitively. It's non-invasive, drug-free, and designed to fit seamlessly into normal daily life.
What is the science and expertise behind it?
The underlying technology is called transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation; taVNS. It has over a decade of peer-reviewed research behind it across inflammation, mood, cognition, and sleep. The evidence shows it dampens the body's inflammatory cytokines, modulates autonomic balance, and enhances neuroplasticity.
yōjō's principal scientist is Dr Natasha Beukes (PhD), and the research is reviewed by Professor André Boezaart (MD, PhD, FASRA), one of the world's leading figures in anaesthesiology and pain medicine. Clinical rigour, delivered in a wearable format that fits real life.
You said it yourself that we're already stretched. What's the simplest way to begin?
The simplest starting point is 30 minutes in the evening, ideally woven into your existing wind-down routine. Put the Stone earpiece in while you're reading, doing your skincare, or watching something calm. The device works quietly in the background. Done consistently, most members notice a meaningful shift in sleep quality within just 2 to 3 weeks.
A second high-impact moment is a midday reset, 30 minutes around lunchtime lowers the cortisol curve in the afternoon, setting you up for a better night's sleep. That one small habit change alone can make a measurable difference.
As for knowing it's working: if you track on Oura, Whoop, or Apple Watch, you'll often see HRV improve first — the clearest biometric signal of improving vagal tone. Sleep scores tend to follow. Members also report feeling the shift before the data catches up: falling asleep faster, fewer wake-ups through the night, and waking up feeling genuinely rested, rather than just less tired. The yōjō app tracks your vitality score over time, so you can see your own trend line.
Finally, if there's one thing you wish every woman understood about sleep, what would it be?
Sleep isn't a reward for a productive day. It's the infrastructure that makes everything else possible. And if you've been sleeping badly for years, the answer isn't more discipline or a better bedtime routine it's understanding why your nervous system doesn't feel safe enough to let go.
That's the real work yōjō does. Not just helping you sleep tonight, but training your nervous system over time to be more flexible. The goal isn't a perfect sleep score. It's feeling unshakeable in your own body and that is something every woman deserves, at every stage of life.
Thank you, Waldi, for such an honest and illuminating conversation.
Discover yōjō through Nite-Nite here.
