Tom Pickett is the CEO of Headspace and a former Navy pilot. Gabriela Hasbun for BI

As told to

2026-05-10T09:43:01.231Z

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tom Pickett, the 57-year-old CEO of Headspace, a mental healthcare platform . He started his career as a pilot and graduated from TOPGUN, the US Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program . He is based in Menlo Park, California. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I became the CEO of Headspace in August 2024.

This is my first time in healthcare. I was the chief revenue officer at DoorDash for the last four years before coming to Headspace. Before that, I spent 10 years at Google and also ran a startup.

I spent the first part of my career as an F/A-18 pilot. I deployed on aircraft carriers and ended up going through TOPGUN. It was a great time in my life. I loved the operational nature of it, and it was exhilarating. People talk about jumping out of airplanes and feeling high for the day.…