Meet the Founders

Jan. 22, 2021Wellness, Infrared, Technologies

By: Katie Kaps and Lauren Berlingeri - co-Founder & co-CEO at HigherDOSE

HDCoFounder_Lauren Berlingeri

Lauren Berlingeri studied at The Institute of Integrative Nutrition where she became a certified holistic nutritionist and health coach. Lauren is a Canadian host, fitness expert and international model. She was the star of the popular web series “Woman Vs. Workout” which grossed over 15 million views. She has been featured in Women’s Health Magazine, Shape Magazine and Fitness Magazine.

HDCoFounder_KatieKaps

Katie Kaps is a startup executive and entrepreneur. She holds degrees in International Economics from Georgetown University and the London School of Economics, and took Tough Mudder from $10m sales to $150m sales, earning her employee of the year in 2013. She also has worked in investment banking, venture capital, and held CEO roles in startups prior to launching HigherDOSE.

About the Author

What do the San Francisco Marathon, Tough Mudder, and infrared technology pioneer HigherDOSE all have in common? The brilliant entrepreneurial mindset of Katie Kaps. After graduating magna cum laude from Georgetown, Katie studied at The London School of Economics, and was a Consumer/Retail investment banker at Merrill Lynch before being recruited to be the marketing and business mind behind the San Francisco Marathon. Following the SF marathon, Katie joined Tough Mudder and helped grow the business from $10 million to $150 million in revenue by the time she left. There she did strategy, new business development, and managed the international expansion team, and was proud to be named international employee of the year in 2013. Katie and Lauren started HigherDOSE with humble roots in Alchemist Kitchen and quickly scaling the business through strategic hospitality partnerships, amassing a cult-like following of celebrities and athletes. In addition to pioneering a ‘space within a space’ model with existing brick and mortar locations like Equinox and 11 Howard (creating a minimum viable product for retail), Katie turned HigherDOSE into an 8-figure startup with only 4 employees, in addition to pivoting to being a product-focused company during the pandemic at lightning speed. HigherDOSE has now expanded their offerings into topicals and ingestibles and Katie and Lauren have starred in their very own “Bio-HackHers” YouTube series, cementing her foothold as a woman leading the wellness industry to a new frontier.

Katie Kaps

About the Author

Lauren Berlingeri is dedicated to inspiring others through fitness and naturally-healthy lifestyle practices. After launching her career as an international model, Berlingeri went on to star in her own show, “Women vs. Workout”—grossing over 15 million views and receiving a Webby Award nomination for Best Host. This experience led to extreme sports hosting for brands such as UFC, EA Sports, and IMG. Having cemented her name within the fitness industry, Berlingeri decided to expand her expertise, earning a holistic nutritionist and health coach certification at The Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Her venture into the health and wellness startup spectrum began in 2014 as one of the first creative minds at Aloha.com—doing product development, leading the brand ambas-sador program, and brand partnerships. Lauren discovered the power of Infrared technology — specifically Infrared saunas — and saw an opportunity to bring the biohacking tool to the masses. Since co-founding HigherDOSE with Katie Kaps, the wellness brand has experienced meteoric success, boiling down to a true revolutionization of the spa business. Creating all the initial Forbes, branding themselves and even acting as models in their first campaigns, the brand exploded, leading the way to at-home sauna systems that thrived during the pandemic. As a female biohacker and mother of twins, Lauren brings a fresh perspective to a space that has been dominated by male voices from its inception, making it HigherDOSE’s core mission to educate women about their bio-individuality and give them the tools they need to reach their own best selves, with content designed to educate people on how to take control of their own wellness regimens.