The Social Playbook Story
The Social Playbook grew out of a shared belief that being able to connect, communicate, and navigate relationships is one of life’s most important skills and one that too many young people are struggling to develop. In nearly every corner of modern life, success depends on strong communication, whether it’s resolving a conflict with a friend, talking to a teacher, building trust with a teammate, or presenting an idea to a boss or potential investor someday. Social skills can turn promising situations into opportunities or defuse tense ones before they spiral. Yet for many teens, these foundational skills aren’t being taught anywhere. Phyllis Fagell has spent nearly 20 years counseling adolescents, helping them build confidence and emotional intelligence. Again and again, she’s seen that many of the emotional and behavioral challenges young people face trace back to one simple gap - not knowing how to communicate. The inability to make friends, set boundaries, or ask for help often leads to frustration, loneliness and self-doubt. Meanwhile, David Keeler, the creator of The Congruence App, had been focused on helping teens strengthen their “inner game” - developing courage, curiosity, and emotional awareness. Through his work with teens and families, he knows that even when kids understand themselves, they often struggle to express that understanding to others. The missing piece is communication. Together, Phyllis and David set out to bridge that gap. The result is The Social Playbook, a confidential, non-judgmental AI-powered coach that helps teens practice real-life social situations, get feedback, and build the confidence to connect. It’s not about scripts or perfection; it’s about giving young people a safe space to explore how to express themselves clearly, kindly, and bravely. Because when kids learn how to communicate, they gain something far more powerful than social skills, they gain confidence, courage, and the ability to thrive anywhere.
Empowering Connections through Social Skills
Social Playbook is an AI-powered tool designed to help teens and young adults navigate real-life social situations with confidence and skill. Unlike traditional advice platforms or self-help guides, Social Playbook offers clear, practical, nonjudgmental and non-prescriptive guidance. Most importantly, The Social Playbook offers users the opportunity to practice what they might say or do in any scenario - whether it’s making new friends, handling peer pressure, improving communication, preparing for an interview or resolving conflicts. Users simply describe their situation and the app provides straightforward, actionable responses, along with interactive role-playing exercises to practice skills and lower anxiety. By combining science-backed strategies with AI-driven personalization, Social Playbook helps users build strong relationships, improve their emotional intelligence and thrive in any social, academic or professional setting.
Who's behind the David, your AI social skills coach?
David is our AI coach. While he shares the name of one of our founders, his Social Playbook brain is formed from the works of licensed clinical counselor and best-selling author, Phyllis Fagell, and coach and corporate trainer, David Keeler.
Phyllis Fagell
Phyllis L. Fagell, LCPC is a nationally board certified school counselor, a therapist who works with kids and families in private practice at The Chrysalis Group in Bethesda, Maryland, an educational consultant, and an author and journalist. She wrote the bestselling books “Middle School Matters" and “Middle School Superpowers” (Hachette Books), and the children's book "The Wonder Box" (TeacherGoals, forthcoming 10-25). Phyllis also freelances for publications including The Washington Post, Psychology Today, CNN, Working Mother, U.S. News & World Report and Your Teen, and her ideas have been shared in outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Edutopia, Mindshift, and NPR. Phyllis speaks at schools and organizations nationally and internationally on a broad range of topics related to counseling, education, and parenting. She lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and three children. phyllisfagell.com
David Keeler
David Keeler has spent his career at the intersection of business, creativity and human potential. With experience coaching executives and nurturing artists through his work with companies like VF Corporation and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, David has helped people uncover what truly drives them and perform at their best.
Over the past decade, he’s turned his focus toward human psychology - studying how mindset, emotion and communication shape success. His work led to the creation of The Congruence App and now The Social Playbook, both designed to help teenagers build the emotional intelligence, confidence and social fluency they need to thrive in a fast-changing AI-enabled world.
David lives in North Lake Tahoe with his wife, two children and their yellow Lab. He coaches his son’s soccer team, applying everything he learned about the game from watching Ted Lasso. davidmkeeler.com