Harriet Francis - Founder - Ōna

Some founders arrive at a problem because it’s personal. Others get there because it’s everywhere. Harriet’s case? Both.

We met for breakfast recently and the conversation kept looping back to discomfort.

Not the messy, burnout kind. The useful kind. The kind you choose when you’re building something that matters.

Harriet’s the founder of Ōna - a wellness platform helping companies support employee health before something breaks. 

One place for therapy, recovery, health scans, personal training, even bio-hacking. Less of the “close your exercise ring for cinema tickets” vibe. More real, human support.

We talked about what it’s like growing up in entrepreneurial families. How it makes you strangely familiar with risk. Like there’s a default setting that says: this might be hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

Harriet’s not a technical founder, but she’s building a product that lives and breathes in the technical. 

Staying close to the user. 

Clear on the customer. 

Unafraid to go deep on the problem.

And that problem is everywhere. 

Corporate benefits too often tick a box. Look great in a slide deck. Satisfy ESG goals. But barely get used.

Ōna flips that.

It’s built around actual usage. Around feeling better, not just filing claims.

A few things stuck with me:

- You don’t need to code to build something technical just to care about the right problem

- Founders often inherit their risk appetite

- Benefits don’t work if no one uses them

- Wellness isn’t a fallback, it should be foundational

We finished our coffee talking about clarity. 

Who’s it for. Why it matters. How to stay close to both.

Harriet’s building something important and doing it with care, calm and a quietly sharp sense of what needs to change.