The “most stressed” wellness CEO, with Calm’s David Ko

About this episode

David Ko discusses the challenges of leading a meditation company and the impact of C-suite stress on personal well-being.

What does it take to lead a meditation company without finding a moment’s peace? David Ko spent years as CEO of Calm, one of the world's most recognized mental health and wellness apps, helping millions manage stress. Now he's stepping down. Ko unpacks why he made the call, what the relentless pressure of the C-suite really does to a person, and how to draw the line between the kind of stress that sharpens you and the kind that quietly breaks you down. Visit the Rapid Response website here:  https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Guest: David Ko

Topics covered

• mental health
• wellness
• leadership
• stress management
• C-suite pressure

Keywords

• Calm
• David Ko
• stress
• wellness
• CEO
• meditation
• mental health

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Calm

More episodes of Rapid Response

• U.S. Soccer CEO: The unseen stakes of this World Cup · June 12, 2026 · 25 min
• World Cup kickoff: Goals, greed, and geopolitics, with ESPN’s Sam Borden · June 9, 2026 · 32 min
• Pioneers of AI: How fast can you upskill in AI? We did a sprint to find out. · June 6, 2026 · 34 min
• A radical fix for the broken book business, with Madeline McIntosh · June 5, 2026 · 29 min
• The race no one can win: AI’s anti-human crisis, with Aza Raskin · June 2, 2026 · 39 min
• AI warfare and the race for a million-drone army, with Shield AI’s Brandon Tseng · May 29, 2026 · 28 min