About Us
Helping people design meaningful, future-ready lives — where work truly fits.
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WHY WE EXIST
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Work is broken. Students are overwhelmed. Adults are burned out. AI, automation, and uncertainty are reshaping everything — and people are standing in the middle of it, without a real map.
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At phae, we believe everyone deserves a future they can see, shape, and grow into. Not a one-size-fits-all job suggestion. Not a personality quiz from 1994. A real guide. A holistic tool. A more human starting point.
That’s what we’re building.
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OUR STORY
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The idea for phae began in 2017, on a walk through a park in Maplewood, NJ. Kristen, our founder, was talking with two friends: one unsure how to guide their teenager toward a viable future, the other debating how to return to work after a long pause.
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That conversation stuck. It kept repeating. And it revealed something deeper: People weren’t just struggling with career decisions. They were struggling with identity, purpose, and pressure.
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Kristen had spent decades building platforms and solving complex, human problems through design. But this one she couldn’t shake. After a move to Montana in 2023, witnessing waves of layoffs and rising anxiety, she decided to build what didn’t exist:
A lifelong guide for navigating life and work. Powered by AI, grounded in something more human.
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Founding Team
Kristen Beveridge
Founder and CEO
A designer, technologist, and entrepreneur with 20+ years at the intersection of product, culture, and human experience. She’s helped build pioneering startups (two with successful exits), led digital platforms for global brands, and studied design, culture, and technology at Carnegie Mellon, Harvard, and MIT.
Now she’s building phae with a simple conviction:
Work should support who we’re becoming — not the other way around.
Jon O'Toole
Chief Marketing Officer
Jon is a seasoned marketing leader with experience driving growth for startups and enterprises including Quickbase, Klaviyo, Workhuman, and BzzAgent, with three exits under his belt. He brings deep expertise in content strategy, storytelling, and brand building. At phae, Jon is passionate about helping people discover careers that align with their true selves and guiding them toward futures they'll actually love
Sarvenaz Bakhtiar
Head of Partnerships and Strategy
Sarvenaz brings together people, ideas, and institutions to turn vision into impact. She has built and led mission-driven startups and organizations across education, advocacy, and philanthropy, including NYU School of Law and Lift Our Voices, creating spaces where innovation & technology meet equity and purpose. At phae, she is driven by the belief that meaningful growth happens through connection and that everyone deserves the chance to design a life where work truly fits.
What we're building
phae is the Personal Holistic Advancement Engine: a lifelong platform that helps people understand who they are, explore future-fit paths, and take adaptive steps forward.
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What we believe
Wholeness matters more than hustle.
People aren't profiles — they're becoming.
The future of work starts with the future of the person.