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Employee Handbook

At Lifelab Studios, we are singularly focused on unlocking human potential.

We are a ...  behavioral health company that that integrates advanced AI technologies, human connection, and learning science to deliver growth tools and experiences especially for struggling populations. 

We want to ensure that everyone and anyone has the opportunity to become all they can be.dd

Our origin story. Lifelab Studios grew out of Arizona State University and decades of research focused on how people learn. Sprinkle on the power of our team and feedback from our members ... we have the opportunity to truly delight our customers with the awesomeness of who they are and who they can become.

Our Intention

To reimagine personal growth by harnessing AI to strengthen human connection and drive lasting behavioral change—helping people unlock their potential, share their story, and grow in ways that truly matter.

Studio Brochure

Our Mission

To power people, organizations, and communities to thrive. Through AI-driven personalization, strength-based coaching, and human-guided accountability, we help create systems where people are seen, supported, and able to sustain meaningful change.

Our Vision

A world where growth is continuous, personal, and shared—where technology amplifies human connection, every story sparks possibility, and people flourish together at scale.

The Challenge

Many of us want better relationships and have read books or articles telling us how to do so, yet this has not resulted in better relationships. Others of us know that resentments can hurt us more than the person we resent, yet we continue to carry our justified resentments and let others live rent free in our head.

In other words, while many people long for better lives and desire personal growth, too many people fail to realize their potential, or, to even try. This is because growth requires more than content and desire. Yet, most systems designed to support us in growing focus on transmitting content, not inspiring people. 

But, it doesn't have to be this way.

We know that people grow when they pursue goals they care about, and when they feel seen, supported, and valued for their efforts. We know about the power of small groups, and the influence of relatable peers in motivating change. And we know about the power of personal reflection and peer validation, especially when the latter is centered around one's story of what they are able to achieve — as opposed to simply memorizing content.

We have the technologies and the knowhow to do more.

Customer Story:
Solving Hard Problems

by Kate

I used to think whenever things were really hard for me that there was nothing I could do to fix it or change it. I blamed everyone else for every problem. I got mad and left the house in the middle of the night? Well that was always my moms fault for pissing me off, or it was my dads etc. Basically everyone's fault but mine. …I slowly started to realize that I can control how I react to things and if I react in the wrong way or a way that's harmful, I am the only one responsible.

Now whenever things get hard and there are a lot of problems in my life, instead of screaming and being mad at everyone, I try to look inward. I find that looking inward instead of outward, I am able to make changes and figure out a way to solve a problem.

Story

Who We Serve

We know that for some people life is really hard, and we know that sometimes these people never catch a break. So we have a focus on vulnerable populations, and especially ...

Adult and Juvenile Justice

Adult & Juvenile Justice

Substance Recovery

Substance Recovery

Struggling K-12 Students

Stuggling K-12 Students

Person celebrating personal change

Behavioral Change Isn't Failing — Systems Are

Staff are asked to change lives using tools designed for documentation. They manage sanctions, track compliance, and complete plans — but the system rarely helps translate those plans into daily action and real change.

Journey.do was built to close that gap. Our behavioral science–powered™ AI creates insights differently. Rather than accelerating documentation or surfacing alerts, it supports officers to operationalize behavioral change — aligning intake, plans, daily contacts, integrated programming, and reporting so every interaction reinforces change, even under real-world pressure.

This isn't about working harder.
It's about having a system that powers staff to drive change — not just manage cases.

Read Case Study Read Spotlight Article Listen to Podcast

Partner in Behavioral Change

Behavioral change is hard. Backed by the National Science Foundation and developed alongside over a dozen counties, Journey.do integrates AI and behavioral science into a purpose-built platform with two patent-pending solutions that deliver consistent, accountable change from intake to outtake, at scale.

Our AI-powered staff dashboard reduces paperwork and increases fidelity, while our anytime, anywhere growth programs integrate evidence-based practices — powered by AI and always supported by a human in the loop. Read the Industry Spotlight or Framework Overview.

AI-powered case management dashboard

AI-Powered Case Management Tools

Turn everyday interactions into actionable insight. Our AI supports your staff with personalized insights, progress tracking, and transition planning — so leaders can see what's working and prove impact.

Youth and adult growth programs

Anytime, Anywhere Growth Programs

Evidence-based programs for youth and adults, delivered anywhere — secure care, rehabilitation centers, probation, diversion, or community. Programs address criminogenic needs, substance use, and more.

Coach working with a client

Come Alongside Coaching Services

Trained Growth Specialists support from intake to transition. We ensure program fidelity, reduce staff workload, and provide strength-based, evidence-driven coaching that drives real change.


We believe everyone has the potential to grow, to thrive, and contribute to their communities. Our mission is to empower personal and organizational change with insights tools, and meaningful human connections to drive lasting change.

By the Numbers

Customer Activity

Our Member Engagement Stats

Together We Thrive
60,000
Members Joined
Over 40,000 members have logged in to the platform.
125,000
Stories Published
Members have shared over 60,000 stories approved by facilitators.
80,000
Microcerts Earned
More than 35,000 Certificates have been earned by members.
400,000
Lessons Completed
Members have completed over 125,000 learning activities.
Coach supporting a member through their journey
The promise we make

Our Growth and Accountability Guarantee

We guarantee that every member will be seen, valued, and validated for their personal growth journey — and that the organizations we serve are powered with real-time, actionable data. Growth and accountability are the cornerstones of what we do.

As a care partner, we promise

  • Client needs are met as they grow responsive skills.
  • Staff workload is reduced while impact is increased.
  • Departments gain increased visibility, accountability, and results.
  • Communities benefit from citizens who can be positive members.

Our Confidence Rests on You

Every promise on this page only holds because of how you show up. We can stand behind this guarantee because you bring commitment to the work, discipline in how you carry it out, and vigilance in protecting the experience our members deserve. The strength of our service is the strength of our team. Bring your best, and the promise keeps.

I'm In

Customer Story: Running Away

By Julia

All my life while being in the system I've been running away. I was always thinking negative about every placement I was getting sent to or in. Because of those thoughts, I felt some type of way … [and] feeling that way it lead me to run away from those placements. I didn't realize it was effecting me by being a flight risk. It got to the point where people didn't trust me and I always had label for being high risk or a runner.

Now I know that I'm really not running away from these places, I've been running away from myself. …I see now that I haven't gave myself a chance or an opportunity to change my bad habits, but before I start having impulsive thinking about trying to run away I'm going to reach out for help before I make a mistake. Start giving people and placements chances before assuming it not for me or it won't help me.

Teen
Customer-Centric Innovation Loops diagram
How we keep customers

Our Core Customer-Centric Framework

We want happy customers who work with us over the long term. Since that doesn't happen by accident, we built our work around a concept we call the customer-centric loop.

At its core, three things in balance

Alignment

We align strongly with our customer's organizational purpose.

Relevance

Our platform stays relevant to their users.

Velocity

We maintain a pace that keeps us ahead of substitutes.

To hold that balance, we manage the interplay between our platform, the end user's experience of it, and any organizational change required so customers continually succeed with what we build.

What This Framework Means For You

Whenever you consider your task for the week or the day, remember that your position and sprints are focused on some area of that loop. It might be helpful to ask yourself, "Self, let's think about the bigger picture, how does this task impact our…"

Look for new ways to innovate in these loops and share your ideas with your supervisor or other colleagues!

How we choose where to show up

Our Triple Bottom Line

We're a triple-bottom-line company. Every customer we serve and every partnership we form is measured against three returns — not one. We seek partners who are deeply aligned with our mission and deeply embedded in their segment.

01

Social Impact

We are driven to power people, organizations, and communities to thrive. This is our primary driver — our first consideration.

What we look for

Partner purpose

Does this organization further societal good?

Program beneficiaries

Who is being served? Are they a high-risk or high-need audience?

02

Financial Return

We scale growth through an innovative platform in a way that captures its value and enables fiscal sustainability.

What we look for

Profitability

Anticipated margins (long-term), extent of support required (short-term).

Distribution network

Current — or potential — width and breadth of distribution.

03

Knowledge Generation

We grew out of the university and remain committed to transforming how people grow — sharing what we learn along the way.

What we look for

Segment-specific

Deeper understanding of the needs of a particular segment.

Critical success factors

Knowledge of content, structures, and models that drive outcomes.

We believe that ...

Growth is core to every human's fulfillment, but it's hard, so we need the support of others to make it happen.

Every story matters.

What you can do is more important than from where you graduated.

Rightful presence is the right of every team member. Your voice, perspective, and experience will inform our destination.

We must work at high levels of productivity and alignment to attain our goals.

There is urgency in our work. We are at a moment in time, where there are huge opportunities for impact with growth at the core.

Why Do Stories Matter?

Stories do their transformative work differently than simply memorizing content. They do it through reflection and connection. Stories are subversive in spirit. Through stories we connect in deeply personal ways, as they wrap themselves up in who we are at our core: affirming possibility and validating transformation.

Stories are Magical!

Stories are Personal

Stories bring content into the learner's felt experience and connect to who we are. Stories support becoming as one reflects on personal abilities in relation to achievements.

Stories are Relational

Stories allow us to connect with other people, affirming their personal struggle and valuing their success. Stories build connection and belonging, and relationships catalyze growth.

Stories are Contextual

Stories illuminate particulars, enabling others to see the content applied in different contexts. Stories provide a rich opportunity for people to connect in deeply personal ways.

Welcome to the team

Your First Week

First, know that we're excited you're here! When small teams make hires, it's a vote of confidence — and we really want your success.

Transitioning into a remote-only team can be tough. You're not walking into a new building with brightly colored walls covered in cool sayings in neon lights. You're waking up, walking to your desk, and sitting down in a remarkably familiar place.

Sure, for some folks slippers-to-work is the perk they've always wanted — but regardless, we want to kick-start your onboarding so you feel part of something bigger than cool décor and free snacks.

This week, step into 5 different pairs of shoes

Each one helps you see the platform — and our team — from a new angle.

Be a User

Complete 4 Modules from at least 3 different collections.

Be a Creator

Build a Module of your own and test it to see how it feels.

Be a Customer

Read a report on a customer's activity level.

Be a Speed Dater

One-on-one "meet and greets" with at least 4 colleagues.

Be a Process Engineer

Meet with our CSO or CTO to learn how we manage projects and collaborate.

Soon — very soon — you'll be a super user. While you've still got fresh eyes, we want to hear what worked, where the friction was, and what surprised you.

By the end of the week, we hope you're as pumped about this platform as we are.

The Markers of Our Team Culture

1

Passionate

We deeply care about impact.

2

Selfless

We give a lot of ourselves.

3

Driven

We doggedly pursue excellence.

4

Curious

We love learning (and learning about learning!)

5

Tenacious

We are self-directed and take initiative.

6

Resilient

We are resilient, having been sharpened by our struggles.

Our principles

Some other things you need to know.

We have big hearts, maybe too big sometimes. We genuinely want the world to be a better place because of our platform. After speaking with a few funders, we realized we had to make a choice — prioritize profitability, or self-fund the company so we'd have the flexibility to pursue social impact. We chose the latter, turning down offers to keep the conversation going.

This means
  1. 01

    We have to be maniacal about keeping customers happy.

    Think "happiest place on earth" kind of happy. Why? Because happy customers stay, support our implementation with greater fidelity, get better results, refer us to others, and pay on time.

  2. 02

    We have to be financially sustainable.

    If we aren't, we don't survive as a company. Every team member's contributions are critical.

  3. 03

    We have to work with customers who fit what we offer.

    Right now, we're focused on organizations that have a largely compliant user base and for whom growth is critical.

  4. 04

    We have to cultivate a culture of execution.

    Rapid innovation, excellent execution, effective teamwork, and high-performance staff. We're a lean team with a lot of customers to make happy.

  5. 05

    We have to be intentionally and increasingly learning.

    So that we continue to become more of what we describe here.

Benefits

Small Company. Real Benefits.

We may be a small fish, but we know everyone wants big-fish perks. So we've partnered with JustWorks — a PEO that pools corporate benefits — letting us offer the kind of coverage typically reserved for the giants.

Retirement

Traditional or Roth 401(k) up to $20,500/year. Auto-enrolled at 3% through JustWorks.

Medical

Four plan choices through United Healthcare, with a $250/month subsidy per employee.

Dental

Two MetLife plans to choose from.

Vision

Opt into the MetLife vision plan.

Life Insurance

Supplemental life, plus accidental death and dismemberment.

Flex Spending

Pre-tax dollars for qualified medical expenses.

One Medical

On-demand primary care, included.

Teladoc

Virtual health for employees on a medical plan.

TalkSpace

Online mental health therapy for employees on a medical plan.

Right now, our entire team can fit into a VW van. This means there is a LOT of opportunity for each of us to make impact. It also means that, as a startup, every person is critical. With that said, we work hard to provide flexibility, trusting that every employee will fulfill their responsibilities.

Our staff can flex:

Location

Their location (we have team members working in different countries and states)

Schedule

Their schedule (we have early birds and night owls)

Focus

Their focus (in terms of what they want to work on)

Time off

Their time off (staff accrues flex time after their first year)

We believe that we all need time off so that we can show up and bring our best selves to work.

What we stand for

Our Core Values

Ensure Growth

We change lives. We don't just manage them.

Be Accountable

Our word is our work. Promises kept, outcomes owned.

Value Story

Behind every record is a human being. We honor both.

Empower Voice

Their voice. Their pace. Their truth.

Everyone Matters

There are no throwaway people. Dignity is owed, not earned.

Scale Success

What works for one should reach many.

Paid Time Off

Your Time Off, At a Glance

Accrual rates by employment type and tenure.

Vacation

Part-Time20 hrs/wk Reduced30 hrs/wk Full-Time
0–2 years 20 hours 60 hours 80 hours / 10 days
2+ years 30 hours 90 hours 120 hours / 15 days

Reduced/full-time salaried employees accrue at 0.04 hours per hour worked; part-time salaried employees accrue at 0.02 hours per hour worked. Hourly employees do not earn PTO.

Flex Time

Part-Time20 hrs/wk Reduced30 hrs/wk Full-Time
0–1 years — — —
1+ years 12 hours 36 hours 48 hours / 6 days

Reduced/full-time salaried employees accrue at 0.024 hours per hour worked; part-time salaried employees accrue at 0.012 hours per hour worked. Hourly employees do not earn flex time.

Sick Time

Paid sick leave for all full-time regular employees, granted under local, city, and state ordinances. As an Arizona-based company with under 15 employees, we accrue:

1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked Capped at 24 hours per calendar year.

Granted based on local, city, and state ordinances.

And one more thing

Your Growth Is a Benefit Too

When you join a company whose mission is growth, that commitment runs both ways. We invest in yours — every quarter, together.

A recent team growth collection: Diversity and Inclusion, with three modules

A recent collection — Diversity & Inclusion

Together, the whole team engages in a collection. Because we believe in the power of stories, reading our stories is one of the best ways to get to know one another.

During your first couple of weeks, take time to dig into our prior collections. You'll find it both expedites and deepens your sense of belonging on our team, while giving us a window into who you are.

Customer Story: A Polish Boy

By Walter K

The origin story of my inherited culture – the one belonging to my single mother's parents – begins abruptly for me as my grandparents fled to America from soon-to-be-occupied Poland during World War II. When my grandparents were alive, they divulged very little about their lives in the "Old Country" beyond having been farmers; no one in the family knows which town or region they left behind, only that they fiercely identified as both Polish and as Catholic.

Early into my teen years, my grandparents passed away within weeks of each other. My mother's support network disintegrated overnight as she and her siblings fought over a meager inheritance. She struggled to cope with the hardships of raising a young me on her own and became impulsively violent and neglectful, sometimes locking me away for periods of time. At sixteen, it became clear that I needed to leave for my safety, and I ran away from home, initially sleeping in a city park.

The cultures I consider myself to embody today are those which I have found and lived since. As a transient youth who needed money to live, I scraped by for years, working long and hard hours under-the-table earning less than minimum wage. For many years, my most conscious identity was with those exploited in the culinary world's underbelly, given my weak family ties. Any free time became devoted to internet cultures and subcultures — establishing life-long bonds through online communities of hacktivists, entrepreneurs, and programmers. Today, I am more digital native than Polish-American.

A Polish Boy
Last but not least

Keeping it on the up and up.

Just like flight attendants always have to give a safety demonstration about seat belts and emergency exits, we have to tell you how to stay on journey with us in legally safe and personally respectful ways. So, though you probably know this…

  1. 01

    Discrimination

    We won't discriminate, and neither should you. Race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexuality, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, political affiliation — none of it.

  2. 02

    Harassment

    Harassment for any reason — because you really like or really don't like someone — won't work for us.

  3. 03

    Accommodations

    We'll do our best to accommodate your needs to enable you to kick ass in your role.

  4. 04

    Concerns

    We genuinely want to hear your compliments and complaints. We have a complaint process if you don't want to hit us with your concerns directly.

  5. 05

    Retaliation

    Retaliation makes for a great movie, but a horrific organizational culture. We won't retaliate if you lodge a complaint, appear as a witness, etc.

  6. 06

    Relationships

    We're all for you finding someone to love. If that person is also on staff, we just need to know — we'll do our best to find roles that don't cause conflicts of interest.

  7. 07

    Security

    We've served over 50k members, which means we're responsible for their data. Data security is critical, and it's our collective responsibility.

  8. 08

    Policies

    You gotta know ours.

    Privacy Policy Terms of Use
In closing

Just to wrap it all up, we talk constantly about the importance of being seen, valued, and validated by your community. It's one of our core value propositions for members.

We want an organization that reflects that value prop. So, to state the obvious once more, we want a team with a high degree of mutual trust — this requires the complete and utter absence of intimidation, harassment, oppression, and exploitation.

Now come on, wasn't that fun?

Actual policy language will be distributed to all staff via our JustWorks portal.

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