Who We Are

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Akash, Founder of Higher Prana and Chief Product Officer, is a former CPA with an MBA in Finance. After working across 40 M&A deals in technology consolidation, he faced severe burnout within the tech M&A space. In order to heal himself, Akash spent close to 10,000 hours over a decade teaching  himself advanced level chord progressions and sound engineering. He isolated himself in Colorado during the pandemic and spent countless hours meditating, producing music and flying drones to make nature therapy videos that he layered in with his music. His Youtube Channel soon grew to over 50K in less than a year. 

During this time Akash launched Higher Prana working with a team of Unity developers to create enchanting realms in VR.  During this process Akash  realized that the competitive advantage of a nation, including its military, lies in managing national physical and mental health. Economic competitiveness created by manipulating currency, interest rates and tariffs only go so far. To get jobs back America needs to create humans that are mentally and physically strong. 

 Gabe leads as Co-Founder and CEO of Higher Prana, bringing over two decades of national security leadership. He is recognized for his ability to align emerging technologies, policy, and military strategy to deliver actionable innovation for national defense. 

He led critical DoD transformation initiatives, including joint and interagency policy development, disruptive tech development, acquisitions, joint strategy, and pilot training modernization for the airforce. Gabe was responsible for establishing the $3 Billion DOD Program office. He further led  the Virtual Reality Biometric feedback training program, saving the Air Force $350 million in Pilot Training costs. Also a MIT Seminar XXI and a National Defense Fellow. 

 As Director of Business Operations, Sam leverages his MBA in Operations and deep roots in Austin’s startup ecosystem to guide high-impact technology initiatives. His experience spans leading development efforts across diverse and complex projects. He also has deep experience in the substance-abuse and recovery space, gaining practical insight into care delivery, operations, and program management.

Passionate about immersive technology, Sam is driven by its potential to create meaningful, scalable impact—particularly in wellness, training, and healthcare. He has a proven ability to turn innovative ideas into actionable solutions, having successfully led the pilot program for Higher Prana, guiding its strategy, execution, and early adoption. Through his work, Sam combines technical expertise, operational insight, and strategic vision to deliver projects that truly make a difference.

Nathan is a senior cloud infrastructure architect and consutlant, he helps build scalable systems that power emerging technologies like VR, AR, and spatial computing. 

With over 20 years of experience in cloud architecture and systems engineering, he specializes in designing high-performance environments that enable immersive experiences to run securely and efficiently at scale. Nathan’s deep technical background and passion for next-generation computing make him a key driver in bringing immersive wellness and performance technologies to life.

Dr. Shannon is an educator and researcher from Kentucky whose work bridges learning science and immersive technology. With a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Louisville, she pioneered the use of virtual reality in K–12 classrooms—launching one of the state’s first school-based VR labs. Her mission is to make learning more engaging and equitable by helping teachers and students harness the power of VR and emerging tech to transform how knowledge is experienced and retained.

Ramona is a PhD Neuroscientist who worked at NeuFit Austin as their VP of Research & Education. She is also a Yoga Teacher with 18 yrs experience working in the health sciences, clinical programs, and education initiatives in neurological disease, rehabilitation, and healthy aging. She has successfully advanced medical technologies, securing research funding, and fostering collaborative partnerships across academia, healthcare, and industry.

Her dissertation was on Age related inflammation and how it impacts recovery from Spinal Cord Injury. Ramoma has also helped Expand Neufit into 20 additional sites and was a master instructor for their program. She has also been Invited  to speak at national conferences annually through keynotes and exhibitions for industry, academia, and military. Ramona is also a 200 hr Registered Yoga Teacher who is passionate about using technology to help improve human function.