Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Young.
Hi Anna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
March 2023, I became CEO & Founder of The Buddi Brand INC. My company is developing a social connection app called Workoutbuddi that will connect active individuals to one another in their hyperlocal environments to work out with, in real-time (or at an agreed-upon scheduled time). While the app will be available to individuals on the app store, we also intend to penetrate the corporate wellness and gym spaces.
Let me go back a few years…
Around 2012, I was sitting at my work cubicle, and a work colleague walked over to say, “Hey! You going running with us at lunch?” and I was like YES! From that moment forward I was part of a group of four who ran, swam, attended group classes, and worked out at the YMCA every single weekday. Before I realized it, I had signed up for a triathlon, and then another, and half-marathons and I was in the best shape of my life.
I was a single mom of two boys who were, at the time, under 2 years old and 8 years old, so my mornings and evenings were not easily available for physical activity. It was something I didn’t realize I desperately needed, and the magic sauce was that it took place at the exact ideal time during the day AND I had some awesome people who showed up every time.
In 2017, I moved to a newish city, started a new job on a big corporate campus, quickly got out of my lunchtime workout routine, and longed for my lunchtime workout buddies. I sat at my cubicle one day, looking down the halls of cubicles, thinking there’s easily 1,000+ people here in this building (not counting the other buildings on campus or the other corporate campuses within walking distance); surely there are others wanting someone to work out with at lunchtime. And if we can find drivers with Uber & Lyft, surely there’s a way to do the same for a workout buddy.
In March 2022, I made a career change and began work with a new company, both of which turned out to be a poor fit. Simultaneously I was completing a seven-month primary caregiver role to my long-term partner in his cancer/chemo journey only to learn of deep betrayal and deceit that had been taking place, AND my teenage son was experiencing some very serious personal issues. The mental health of both myself and my son forced its way to the #1 spot in my world, and within a short couple of weeks, I left my long-term relationship, quit my job, and pulled my son out of the public school system and registered him in home/online school. I realized very quickly that this wasn’t some dose of bad luck, I was in the midst of my midlife awakening.
I allowed myself a reset for three months to heal emotionally, mentally, psychologically, professionally, energetically, and spiritually. As I was coming upon the last month of my reset, I asked myself, “What does the next era of my life look like?” An immediate mantra arose: Be creative. Use imagination. Stay curious. With purpose. Within that very same week, the idea I had in 2017 popped back into my head, and I declared that I would bring it to life.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Post-pandemic we are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis and an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The Buddi Brand wants to be a proactive contributor to combating this reality. Workoutbuddi intends to be the world’s leading social wellness app connecting active individuals in new ways. Our motto, Make new friends. Have some fun. Strengthen your community.
As of this moment, July 2023, Workoutbuddi’s Minimal Viable Product (MVP) has officially gone into development. The beta version will launch on the app stores towards the end of this year, hopefully in time for all of you out there who start training for your yearly events in 2024!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This entrepreneurial journey is one heck of a ride, it is not for the faint of heart.
On a regular basis, I’m telling someone around me that vulnerability feels like the greatest challenge. You’re constantly exposing some version of yourself, your product, your weaknesses, your fears, and you absolutely have to do that to keep moving forward.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My BA in Multimedia Arts and Sciences with a concentration in Interactive Design, a long-winded way of saying graphic & web design/development, came from UNC Asheville. Over the last 15+ years, I’ve worked as a consultant, a one-stop shop for design/development/marketing, as well as working in startups to Global Fortune 500 companies in the roles of graphic designer to email designer to web developer to global project manager to account executive. If I have to say what sets me apart from others, it is my ability to listen, coach, and help massage creative vision out of clients and people that I work with in a way that leaves them feeling empowered and equipped with knowledge that helps them somewhere else along their journey.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters to me most is going to sound cliché, but it’s people & love. Sharing the true meaning of unconditional love and forging through this journey called life with courage and integrity to be the best version of myself, for myself, for my family, for my neighbors, and for the world.
The why because my kids bear witness, every day, to the joy this world has to offer and the power of community that will hold space when it’s not so joyful, and I want them to remember their responsibility in this.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://workoutbuddi.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workoutbuddiapp/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workoutbuddi/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-k-young/
Image Credits
Frolic & Co.
