Most people show up to their first Board Walk expecting a normal event.
Before we even get there, we've run the whole thing through our heads…
“Okay, we're just going to show up on Saturday morning, move our bodies, talk to some people, and go home. Simple enough. It's going to be a nice way to spend a few hours. Maybe we'll come back next week, maybe we won't. It's all good.”
But then something happens out there that nobody quite prepares us for.
The conversation goes somewhere unexpected. Someone shares something they haven't shared anywhere else. A person we met 40 minutes ago says the exact thing we needed to hear, and we can't fully explain why the trail made that possible, only that it did.
Elle didn't build The Board Walks to be just another event.
She built it to change what happens when people meet.
Most spaces keep things surface-level. This one doesn’t.
Five miles of movement, side by side, with no agenda and nowhere to be, has a way of dissolving the usual barriers between people. Small talk doesn't stand a chance. Something real takes its place, and it tends to happen faster than anyone expects.
Something gets planted on the trail that doesn't stop growing when the walk ends. It follows people home. Into their week. Into the way they start seeing what's possible when the right people are in the same space.
Four years ago, Elle planted the seeds.
Now, this global community is starting to blossom. 🧡
Love,
Head of Expansion
From our walking villages in 15+ cities around the world:
A beautiful Atlanta skyline and a group that somehow keeps getting bigger every week.
Guest host. Full crowd. Warmer weather. Detroit is not taking its foot off the gas.
Overcast Sacramento skies, a dog who had no idea what he signed up for, and an amazing group that showed up anyway. The weather never wins.
🏆 A Detroit regular stopped mid-walk and asked the group, "Am I here because I keep showing up, or because you actually want me here?" The group didn't miss a beat. They poured so much love into him that he probably had to take a minute to process it all. Something shifted that day. Turns out belonging was there the whole time, just waiting for someone to ask the question out loud.
🏆 An Aveiro regular takes two trains every single week just to make it to the walk. Two trains. Every Saturday. We're not saying it's dedication, but we're also absolutely saying it's dedication.
🏆 A Sacramento walk this week took an unexpected detour past sea lions and a herd of sheep. Apparently those who live in the water and those with four legs both found a way to make it to the trail this week. 🦭🐑
*Regular = someone who attends multiple walks. Did you know the average person joins 20+ times?!
For years, people would finish a walk and ask us the same question.
"Is there more? Something like this, but... more?"
They meant two things: more cities and more depth. The kind of depth that outlasts the trail and turns strangers into some of the most important people in your life.
And for years, the honest answer was: we're not ready yet.
Not because we didn't want it. Elle and I have been sitting with this vision for as long as we've been building this thing together. We could see exactly what it wanted to become. A walk in every major city on the planet, and a private layer of connection for the people who kept finding each other after the trail ended and wanted something that went deeper.
We knew it was coming. The people showing up every week could feel it too. We could see it in the way nobody really wanted to leave. In the way people kept finding each other the week after, and the week after that, and somehow kept ending up in each other's lives.
But we also knew that something like this only works if the people building it are ready to hold it properly. There's a version of scaling that kills the very thing you were trying to grow. We've watched it happen to communities we loved, and we weren't going to let it happen here.
So we waited. We kept walking. Saturday after Saturday, conversation after conversation, feeling what this community creates and paying close attention to every part of it. Not because we were scared to grow, but because we loved this thing too much to grow it carelessly.
What took the longest wasn't the logistics. It was the emotional readiness.
Building something that runs entirely on human connection, and then figuring out how to hand pieces of it to other people without losing the soul of it, is not a small feat. Every host who brings this walk to their city is carrying something we care about deeply. We needed to feel ready to truly support them. Not just with a checklist and a good luck, but with real infrastructure, real training, and real love behind every launch.
Everything we've built runs on human connection.
The systems and technology we've put in place exist for one reason only: to give that level of deep connection the infrastructure it deserves, and then get out of the way. We never set out to build a product. We set out to build the conditions where magic between people becomes inevitable.
We now have a host network and onboarding system that we're genuinely proud of. When someone raises their hand to host, they don't get a PDF and a good luck. They get trained. They get welcomed into a network. They get real support, real community, and real people they can text when they need advice. Because the hosts aren't just representing The Board Walks in their city. They're part of a global community of people who understand exactly what it takes to hold a room like this.
What all that means in practice: if 100 qualified hosts applied tomorrow, we could say yes to every single one of them and mean it.
Not just launch their cities, but set them up properly, support them fully, and connect them immediately to a network of people who are building the same thing around the world. The bar is high. It always has been. The difference now is that everything behind it is ready to back that up.
More cities. More depth. We're finally ready to deliver both, the right way, for the people who've been asking that question since the very beginning.
If you've ever thought about hosting a walk in your city, we're ready for you. The infrastructure is built. The network is warm. The support is real.
And for everyone who’s ever finished a walk and thought: “I want more of this, more of these people, more of these conversations, somewhere that holds this energy beyond Saturdays…”
We heard you.
And we've built the answer.
More soon, but if you're curious now, applications are open:
This week on The Board Walks, people brought these topics:
"What's something you haven't said out loud yet, but want to?"
"What does a successful life actually look like to you right now?"
"How do you know when it's time to make a big life change?"
"What's something you believe that most people disagree with?"
"How do you balance who you are with who the world expects you to be?"
Screenshot these. Steal with pride. Bring one to your next dinner party to shift the conversation from “meh” to marvelous.
Quick hits:
🎉 The Host Network is live. We've built the infrastructure to bring The Board Walks to any city in the world, with full training, full support, and a warm landing into a global community of hosts who are building the same thing. If you've ever thought about hosting in your city, now is the time. Apply here →
🔓 The Board is open. The private, curated layer of The Board Walks is here. Application only. Built for the people who've been asking for more depth, more connection, and the right room. Learn more →
🌍 New cities. Madrid, Spain and Huntington Beach, California are having their very first walk this week. If you know amazing people in either city, forward this email or shoot them a text with our site.
Most of us are waiting for the right conditions before we open up to something new.
The right city. The right season. The right version of ourselves that finally feels ready.
But connection doesn't wait for perfect conditions. It grows in the ones you create.
Every walk that ever changed someone's life started with a person who showed up on a Saturday morning not knowing what was about to happen. No agenda. No guarantee. Just a willingness to be present and see what the trail made possible.
That's all it ever takes. 🧡
This newsletter exists because thousands of people have shown up on Saturday mornings and chosen real connection over hitting snooze.
Now it's your turn.
Have a whimsical week,
Head of Expansion at The Board Walks
P.S. Know someone who needs this? Forward this email. You’d be surprised at what wild connections come from this walk. ✨
