Preston Schlagheck

Born in Hartford, CT, now based in Columbia, SC, where I study Finance & Business Analytics at USC.

I’m Head of Product at Mano Wellness, where we built Manny, a private health coach that adapts to you. It reads your wearables, sleep, and nutrition to automatically track your habits and hold you accountable. Available on iPhone and web.

I also work at Direct Journeyline Holdings developing an AI strategy for forecasting, automations, and paid ad campaigns across their logistics portfolio.

Before that I co-founded Diffuse and CogNodes, where we built different AI products for clients. Recently we finished Lookr, a fit-based feed that gives you live outfit feedback and matches you with people who dress like you and wear your sizes.

You can find me on LinkedIn and X, or reach me at prestonschlagheck@gmail.com.

Work

2026Head of Product at Mano WellnessSepBuilding Manny, a private health coach trained on real coaching that reads your wearables, sleep, and nutrition to keep you on track.

AI Strategy & Automations at Direct Journeyline HoldingsMayDeveloped AI systems for forecasting models, agent tooling, and paid ad campaigns across a logistics portfolio.

2025Co-Founder & Lead Engineer at DiffuseDecScaling local journalism by making it affordable to turn audio, documents, and public records into publication-ready articles in minutes.

Co-Founder & AI Strategy Consultant at CogNodesOctAI strategy and production builds for clients, namely Mano and Lookr.

Generative & Agentic AI Intern at US HealthConnectSepCreated agent workflows and dashboards to cut operational turnaround.

Web Developer at Direct Journeyline HoldingsJulRebuilt the portfolio sites and cut average click paths in half.

Education

USCB.S. in Business Administration at the University of South CarolinaExp May 2028Finance & Business Analytics at the Darla Moore School, 3.79 GPA.

Chief Technology Officer at Garnet FundJul 2026Building the trading analytics platform for USC’s first hedge fund.

President at Sigma Phi Epsilon, SC AlphaNov 2025Budget, recruitment, and compliance for 230+ members, leading the campus in GPA and size.

Alpha Fund Manager at Alpha Kappa PsiJun 2025Ran a $23,000 portfolio with 12 analysts, up 12% over six months.

Additional Projects

2026StealthAugInternal products I’m building that aren’t public yet.