Meet Julio Rivera, founder of Liberate
Julio Rivera brings a tireless curiosity to everything he does, from building apps to searching for inner peace. This inquisitive nature and drive led him to create Liberate, a meditation app designed to support the Black community. We spoke with Rivera about his personal journey and finding solace in trying times.
Play: What inspired you to create Liberate?
Julio Rivera: I had my own challenges with mental health. At 26, I was a senior software engineer building mobile apps and severely burned out. I was focusing my entire life on getting a promotion, working day and night. And when I got it, I didn’t feel fulfilled at all. And quite frankly, I was the most depressed I'd ever been in my life.
I’d been programming from a young age, and when I no longer wanted to, it was kind of this existential crisis:...Why am I here? What is my purpose?
In the pursuit of remedies for my depression, I downloaded a meditation app, which was my introduction to mindfulness. When I hit a wall with my practice, I started bouncing around physical communities, and landed in a Buddhist community dedicated to people of color. This experience allowed me to be more vulnerable. My meditations were deeper. I felt safe in this space. And in my safety, I was able to build a new relationship with myself and to heal.
I was going through this transformation when I had a lightbulb moment. I realized I could use my experience building apps to allow myself and others to easily access teachings and guided meditations from teachers who identify as Black and people of color, who are talking about our unique challenges.
I’d been programming from a young age, and when I no longer wanted to, it was kind of this existential crisis:...Why am I here? What is my purpose?
In the pursuit of remedies for my depression, I downloaded a meditation app, which was my introduction to mindfulness. When I hit a wall with my practice, I started bouncing around physical communities, and landed in a Buddhist community dedicated to people of color. This experience allowed me to be more vulnerable. My meditations were deeper. I felt safe in this space. And in my safety, I was able to build a new relationship with myself and to heal.
I was going through this transformation when I had a lightbulb moment. I realized I could use my experience building apps to allow myself and others to easily access teachings and guided meditations from teachers who identify as Black and people of color, who are talking about our unique challenges.
Can you tell us more about the experiences of the Black community that Liberate seeks to address?
What I’m trying to create with Liberate is a container of safety, so when someone opens the app they feel connected, supported, and empowered. Dealing with depression and mental health challenges, people can feel alone in their challenges and end up isolated themselves. And maybe that “The world is telling me that I don’t belong.” Liberate is this portal to feeling a sense of community.
For Black folks in particular, this is a highly traumatic time we’re living in with COVID and police brutality… It’s always happened, but it’s just more and more in the media, so there's not a lot of spaces where we feel safe. There’s this constant barrage of messaging saying that we aren’t safe, we aren’t accepted, and we aren’t allowed.
For Black folks in particular, this is a highly traumatic time we’re living in with COVID and police brutality… It’s always happened, but it’s just more and more in the media, so there's not a lot of spaces where we feel safe. There’s this constant barrage of messaging saying that we aren’t safe, we aren’t accepted, and we aren’t allowed.
What has been your path as an entrepreneur?
I went to college for software engineering. During my master’s program, I taught myself how to build iOS apps and worked at Priceline. Then I co-founded my first startup – a short-lived golf app. I was responsible for design, analytics, and the user experience... I discovered that I like these different aspects of the product. I later worked for an agency, where I grew as a software engineer and eventually moved over to product management. That’s where I had the burnout.
When I left that job in 2018, I had no clue... I just knew I wanted to bring meditation to the world. Since then, it’s been a lot of trial and error, a lot of testing ideas and strategies. As my own healing journey progressed, so have my thoughts around what I need and what folks need. That’s the entrepreneurial journey: It’s all about iteration and learning from the community.
When I left that job in 2018, I had no clue... I just knew I wanted to bring meditation to the world. Since then, it’s been a lot of trial and error, a lot of testing ideas and strategies. As my own healing journey progressed, so have my thoughts around what I need and what folks need. That’s the entrepreneurial journey: It’s all about iteration and learning from the community.
What’s a Liberate meditation that you recommend for Juneteenth?
I recommend “For the Ancestor in You,” from Kaira Jewel Lingo. This supportive, empowering meditation connects us back to our ancestors and lineage. Juneteenth is this celebration of a step toward freedom and liberation. Connecting to our ancestors who were part of that event – knowing that we have that within us – is healing.
It’s healing from the message that we’re potentially internalizing as a community today, with all of the police brutality, that we’re not safe. When our racial trauma gets activated, when we don't feel safe, there’s this underlying message that our lives are at risk. Knowing that we are safe and we are strong is healing.
It’s healing from the message that we’re potentially internalizing as a community today, with all of the police brutality, that we’re not safe. When our racial trauma gets activated, when we don't feel safe, there’s this underlying message that our lives are at risk. Knowing that we are safe and we are strong is healing.