Get To Know: Ally Fekaiki of Juno

Table football, subsidised cafes, monthly pizza: workplace perks – and the workplaces themselves – are changing. With some element of flexibility expected to remain the norm, many of these traditional benefits have become redundant (or perhaps weren’t that great to begin with). Step in Ally Fekaiki, who is introducing a new system of perks that puts employees’ wellbeing at its centre.

Juno is a global employee benefits platform that allows them to spend Juno Points, which are provided by their employer, to purchase a range of services and products for their wellbeing – from organic vegetable boxes to therapy sessions and language courses. Fekaiki founded the company in 2019, and has already attracted employers in more than 38 countries to adopt the platform, making Juno the largest employee wellness programme of its kind in the world. 

We catch up with Fekaiki to hear how and why he set up Juno, and what workplace wellness means to him.

Why did you start Juno, and how?
‘Throughout my career, I was always baffled by the apparently accepted notion that stress was just an accepted part of working life. Throughout my twenties, poor wellbeing at work was affecting me in so many ways. And I wasn’t alone: my peers around me were suffering from the same thing.

‘There was an obvious gap that wasn’t being filled by employers. Workplace wellness is such a generic term – it could mean anything – so I wanted to give people the power to decide what works for them, and to define “wellbeing” for themselves.

‘Lunchtime yoga, useless vouchers and free coffee weren’t going to cut it. My idea was to offer a better way for everyday people to access great lifestyle support – whether that’s childcare, access to the coolest new workout studio, or even grocery deliveries.’

What does ‘wellness’ mean to you, and why is it important for employees?
‘Wellness to me means having balance. I love to work, and I’m passionate about my job at Juno. That said, it’s important to have space for your life outside of work – that for me is wellness.

‘Work can consume so much of our lives. And in order to maintain that balance, we need to be able to look after both our personal and our working lives.’

What have been your major successes with Juno so far?
‘We have grown a lot this year. We started 2021 with 20 businesses using Juno, and now we’re nearing 200. We’ve worked with some incredible employers to take their employee support programme to the next level. It’s been an amazing achievement to become the only brand that’s providing this kind of support for employees around the world. We’re really proud of that.’

What does 2022 look like for the company?
‘We’re closing a round of funding right now, and that will allow us to carry on improving the experience for employees. We’re also hoping to continue the international growth and keep doubling down on our brand.’