Mindful Leadership

WellFests was founded with a mission: to inspire mental and physical well-being through mindfulness and movement practices within daily workflow. Meet our leadership team.

Chris Mittelstaedt

Advisor / Founding Member
Founder, CEO The FruitGuys

Crafting business models that allow people and organizations to have a positive and healthy impact on the world is a life long goal of mine. This gives meaning to what I do every day and drives my thinking and decisions around the value of what FruitGuys is and what it provides to clients, employees, community partners, farmers and the world at large.

I started The FruitGuys in 1998 to deliver fresh fruit to offices. We've always held it as a goal to grow a private, family, mission driven business and to that end have been able to do so for the past 23 years. Nutritional health is important to whole health but it isn't the full picture. As a founder in a healthy food business, there are still days, weeks and years (like this COVID year) that are very stressful. Good nutrition as well as exercise, meditation and breathing exercises have been key to my ability to center myself, provide clarity and keep calm often in the midst of a challenging world. Matt and Shannan have developed useful tools for people and companies to use in this realm.

Shannan Slevin

CEO / Founder
Yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonic Expansion System, Integrative Health Coaching

Shannan Slevin is the co-founder of WellFests, co-founder of SHOWGA, and a leading expert in driving individual and organizational well-being. Her work has been used by industry leaders such as Kaiser Permanente, FICO, Martha Stewart, BCBG, Adobe, Pinterest, Jim Beam, Pandora, and Athleta as well as at global events such as World Forum Disrupt and Mutek Music Festival.

She has shared the stage and collaborated with heads at Uber, Dropbox, Micron, Lyft, and Google, and has taught more than 5,000 students, including high-integrity CEOs, Venture Capitalists, entrepreneurs, and C-suite executives.

The New York Times, Time Out Magazine, 7x7 Magazine, and Yoga Journal have featured Shannan’s work. She has a BA in Communications and certifications in yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonic Expansion System, Integrative Health Coaching, and Mindful Leadership. A fifth-generation San Franciscan, Shannan currently resides up and down the Pacific Coast.

Matt Thomas

Founding Member
Yoga, Martial Arts

Matt Thomas first experienced the benefits of mindfulness after a failed business venture while battling depression. A friend gifted a yoga mat and book on meditation, which sparked a daily practice in mindfulness and movement that led to becoming a certified teacher in yoga, breathwork, meditation, and tai chi.

Using what he had learned, he has started multiple businesses in the health and wellness space, directed a non-profit to over $1,000,000 of philanthropic impact, and won a world championship in chessboxing.

Matt is most passionate about incorporating the ancient breathwork and meditations techniques into a modern setting to enhance utility, performance, and happiness in and out of the office.