Chattanooga-based award-winning author, multidisciplinary artist, poet, storyteller, and educator N'nako Kandé officially launched her new nature-based mindfulness app on May 31st of this year, entitled Silent Hour.
Silent Hour is available on Google Play and the Apple Store currently and is centered around intentionally disconnecting people from the distractions of everyday life and reconnecting them with themselves in the quiet of nature through mindful breathing, journaling, reflecting on life without digital distractions, and building an inner stillness through inner work.
At its heart, the app is designed as a tool that is focused on mindfulness in all aspects of life, encouraging folks to become more grounded and present while connecting them to nature. The app grew out of a practice and philosophy she has implemented all her life, “The Art of Rooting,” which she wrote a book about of the same name in 2023, that went on to win the International Impact Book Award the following year.
The Art of Rooting is a philosophy steeped in the idea of slowing down and reconnecting with one’s community, one’s self, and the natural world, imploring folks to become rooted like a tree.
Kandé herself has a very interesting story and has received major recognitions and awards throughout her life, including an official acknowledgement by the Obama White House in 2015 for her first children’s book, Little Corey & Cousin Nia's Fun Trip to the Farmers Market.
In 2025, she received a civic honor from the City of Chattanooga as she was selected to be one of twelve poets for the City of Chattanooga's inaugural Poetry Pathway, and she has often been recognized at the Black Excellence Chattanooga Awards for her work.
I had the opportunity to speak with Kandé about her life, her history, and her fascinating upbringing. She discussed her childhood in Côte d’Ivoire, her teenage years split between Paris and Abidjan, how those places compare to America, and how storytelling became her way of making sense of her own identity.
“I was born in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and through my father’s Guinean side, I carry a rich Mandingue heritage. My childhood in Abidjan was its rhythm: vibrant, fast, colorful. Those were the years of running barefoot on sandy beaches, collecting seashells, being held by a big family, making memories with my grandmothers, my parents, and my extended family. Looking back, it feels too short now.
My teenage years were split between Abidjan and Paris: two continents, two cultures, two emotional climates. Paris introduced a new tempo. Life became orchestral, structured, disciplined, and measured. Then came the American Midwest: cold winters on Purdue University’s campus and the early feelings of isolation. My first time being an ocean away, a culture away, a language away.
Between the Midwest and the South there is a different rhythm altogether. The South is slow, spacious, and blues-deep. A rhythm that teaches you to listen, to breathe, to let silence become part of the composition.
My history is braided: immigrant mother, forester and educator’s daughter, niece of a griot, witness, multidisciplinary artist, public servant, civic poet, app founder, artisan, and woman becoming. Storytelling became the way I translated all those rhythms into something whole. It helped me make sense of identity, loss, migration, and the quiet resilience of starting over. It’s why my work feels both global and intimate, because my life has been both.”
When discussing the creation of her wellness app, Silent Hour, and how that came about, she mentioned working on it with her brother and the idea of the app being a philosophy she has carried with her all her life in order to survive and be present in this world.
“Silent Hour grew out of a practice I’ve carried my entire life, spending time in nature to breathe, to recalibrate, and to return to myself. Long before it had a name, Silent Hour was simply the way I survived the world: walking, listening, letting the land steady me.
My brother, an expert in cybersecurity, understood both my longing to create and my desire to offer a safe space to others. He saw that my intuitive five-phase framework for the Silent Hour practice could be adapted into something people could carry with them. He offered to build the app, not as a project, but as an act of alignment and care.
We decided to combine our strengths and visions: what I aim to offer physically and emotionally, he strives to offer digitally. Silent Hour became the meeting point of our two worlds: the inner world and the technological one, the forest and the screen, the emotional and the practical.”
When asked about how she hopes Chattanooga and the world are impacted by the app and her works, Kandé mentioned that she wants the app to reach people in cities where noise is a constant force and that no matter where she takes the app, the Scenic City will always be its home and will also be the city where she learned the power of the quiet.
“I want Silent Hour to reach people in cities where silence is rare, in communities where rest is political, in cultures where stillness has been forgotten, and in homes where serenity has been forbidden or violated. Everyone deserves a moment of safety inside themselves, even when the world around them is loud or unkind.
Chattanooga will always be the birthplace of Silent Hour, the city where I healed, listened, and learned the power of quiet. But the vision is global. I want Silent Hour to become a gift to all and a bridge, a gift from the African girl I once was and the global citizen I’ve become, a bridge from Chattanooga to the world, helping people return to a sense of peace, grounding, and wholeness; to the land; and to the rhythms that make us human.”
Silent Hour App available through N’nako Kandé’s website at nakivoire.com