Founders Row and Morphus Introduce better.states, a New Studio Concept Built Around Intentional Rest

Founders Row, the Atlanta-based brand incubator and operating studio led by founder Jamie Weeks, has announced a partnership with Morphus, co-founded by Jon Congdon, to launch better.states, a daydream studio introducing a new category of wellness: a physical destination and community for brain health and intentional rest.

better.states brings several pathways to rest under one roof: meditation, breathwork, daydream journeys, instructor-led sound baths, late-night silent discos, and digital psychedelic journeys. Its promise is simple: the studio takes your phone, and you take your time.

The Vision Behind better.states

For Weeks, the idea begins with something familiar: daydreaming in school, in the backseat of the car, or anywhere the mind had time to wander. Now, every empty minute gets filled with a scroll.

better.states is built to give people that time back. The room and the LayFlat portal do the work, using light, sound, and vibration to guide guests into daydream and meditation states. The goal of every session is simple: get present, rest the brain, and get in touch with yourself at that exact moment.

The vision is rooted in a clear belief: we don’t need another app. We need silence and time away from screens.

Research on the brain’s default mode network links daydreaming and inward-focused states to creativity, memory consolidation, and emotional processing — the kind of unstructured time modern life rarely allows.

Founders Row Partner Jess Yuan sees better.states as a shift from the wellness focus on doing more — train, track, optimize, biohack — toward slowing down, disconnecting, and doing nothing. Guests have tried the apps. better.states invites them to try the room.

The Experience

At the heart of the studio is the LayFlat portal, powered by Morphus’s proprietary technology, co-developed with Weeks, and exclusive to better.states in the studio channel.

Each 45-minute journey combines synchronized light, sound, and vibration to guide guests through digital meditation, daydreaming, or a digital psychedelic experience — no substances, only sensory immersion.

Guests choose from 48 journeys, each built around an emotional intention, paired with a curated artist soundtrack, and bookended by breathwork.

Phones are secured in locked pouches on arrival. Guests may arrive up to an hour early to settle into the candlelit lounge, which serves a nonalcoholic menu of nootropic and adaptogenic beverages.

All better.states studios will be designed by Creative Director Alexander Díaz Andersson, founder of the award-winning Mexico City design studio ATRA. Andersson is a winner of Design Miami’s Curio Best in Show and a Gold A’Design Award, and his work has been featured in Wallpaper, Architectural Digest, and Vogue.

A Partnership Built to Create a Category

Weeks previously built the largest Orangetheory Fitness franchise operation in the world. He sold a majority stake to private equity in 2017, then scaled the business to 142 studios before leaving in 2021 to lead SweatHouz, the contrast-therapy brand he founded in 2019. SweatHouz has since grown to more than 100 open locations, and Weeks sold majority ownership to private equity in 2022.

His better.states technology partner, Jon Congdon, previously co-founded Beachbody, the company behind P90X and a leading at-home consumer fitness brand in the United States.

Beachbody proved that millions of people will commit to a program that changes their health, longevity, and how they feel. better.states points that same conviction at the one thing modern life refuses to give people: rest.

The partnership brings together two distinct strengths: Weeks builds category-defining wellness brands, and Morphus builds the experience that powers the journey through scientifically driven light, sound, and vibration — in the studio and at home.

Building — and Franchising — a New Wellness Category

Four better.states studios are planned for 2027, beginning with corporate-owned flagships in New York City and South Florida. Founders Row plans to franchise better.states, with a smaller-format Atlanta studio serving as the prototype for franchise partners.

better.states is Founders Row’s fourth in-house incubation this year, following LiftHER, Baking Social, and All Day Pilates. Founders Row expects to announce two additional founder partnerships in early 2027.

Prospective franchise partners can learn more at betterstates.com.