Guest Post By Lisa Gills, Founder, Harness the Spark Ltd
There’s a particular kind of crisis that neurodivergent people know well. It’s not always dramatic. Sometimes it’s just being completely overwhelmed — unable to find the right words, the right tool, the right anything — at the exact moment you need it most. I know that feeling intimately. And Dave was born from it.
A few years ago, I was diagnosed with PTSD. In those early days of trying to manage trauma symptoms, I searched for something to help me cope, anything that felt right. The tools that existed were either too clinical, too generic, or simply not built for a brain like mine. Nothing felt safe enough, simple enough, or warm enough to reach for in the
middle of a difficult moment. So I built it.
What Dave Is
Dave Your Calming Companion is a free mental wellness toolkit. It’s not therapy. It’s not a replacement for professional support. It’s what I wished I could reach for in those moments when everything felt like too much. A pocket companion for tough moments. A gentle place to breathe, journal, draw, and find calm. The tools inside Dave draw on crisis support approaches, DBT techniques like TIPP, stabilisation practices, and years of learning to
listen to my own nervous system. Every feature was designed with one question in mind: could someone use this when they’re really struggling? That means low cognitive load, soft design, and no judgement. All data stays on your device. That matters especially for people who are already wary about where their mental health information goes.
What Building It Did For Me
What surprised me was what the building itself did for me. I spent 13 years in advertising recruitment, helping people build careers and businesses. But somewhere in the last few years, something shifted. I started learning to code not for any grand plan, but because I had a problem and I wanted to solve it. Dave was that problem. The act of
creating something solving problems, writing code, making something tangible became part of my own recovery. It turns out that building the thing I needed was also the thing that kept me going. Since then, I’ve gone on to build solutions for others from emotional regulation tools for young people to business platforms for neurodivergent entrepreneurs. The work has changed, but the instinct hasn’t. What’s changed is this: I’m no longer helping people build careers — I’m building tools to help people in work and life.
Dave is available free on iOS and Android, doesn’t harvest data, require subscription or serve ads. It’s 100% private.
I hope Dave feels like a trusted companion — designed by someone who needed it, for the people who need it most.
About the author
Lisa Gills is the founder of Harness the Spark Ltd, a coaching practice supporting neurodivergent
professionals in creative industries. She has AuDHD and built Dave from lived experience. Dave is available free on the App Store and Google Play.
