Photo By Jessica Kassin
After experiencing profound loss, Karine Nissim Hirschhorn discovered a way to turn grief into a source of strength and support for others. “Most people that experience real trauma find a renewed sense of purpose and, frankly, a new sense of purpose, because they understand how fragile life is,” says Nissim Hirschhorn, co-founder of DayNew, an app designed to support individuals navigating trauma and loss. “When you can live and be anchored in that purpose, it doesn’t mean it’s always smooth, but you are always looking forward, and that really is the most critical part.”
Nissim Hirschhorn, who lives in Miami Beach, knows this all too well. In March 2021, she lost her husband, entrepreneur Aaron Hirschhorn, in a boating accident. Together they were not only parents of three children, but also business partners. Nissim Hirschhorn’s family and life were changed forever.
As she navigated these circumstances, Nissim Hirschhorn connected with entrepreneur Eloise Bune, who had also recently lost her husband. “Our friendship was the silver lining in a very bumpy journey of healing and navigating grief, and as we continued to connect and spend time together, we knew that as seasoned entrepreneurs … there was something missing in the way people needed to be supported after loss, divorce, illness or any kind of trauma,” she explains. “We set out to make something that could ease the experience by helping you, organizationally, emotionally and socially, hold the journey in one place.”
Nissim Hirschhorn and Bune launched DayNew last year, drawing inspiration from their own experiences with grief. The app is designed to help users function after loss by creating checklists for actionable tasks, guiding them to engage with their mental health, fostering connections with others in similar situations and providing ways for community members to lend a hand.
Nissim Hirschhorn uses the app and wishes the sense of community it provides her with had been available during her early days of grieving. She hopes DayNew offers encouragement for those navigating loss, while honoring their grief and helping users reframe their identity in the aftermath of trauma. “Once we can truly appreciate that, then we can find gratitude for the things that are working in our life, our family, our friends, our work,” Nissim Hirschhorn says. The journey, she hopes, becomes just a little bit easier.