The Science of Fitness Podcast
Welcome to the Science Of Fitness podcast where we aim to inspire you to live a healthier and more fulfilling life as we share evidence and anecdotes on all things health, fitness, performance, wellness and business.
Hosted by Kieran Maguire, Co-Owner and Director of Science Of Fitness with an Undergraduate degree in Exercise Science and Masters degree in High Performance, the podcast includes guests and friends of SOF from all walks of life sharing their knowledge and stories within their field of expertise.
Join us as we provide listeners with digestible and relatable educational tools and entertaining stories to inspire a healthier and more fulfilling life.
The Science of Fitness Podcast
The Runclub Revolution: How SoSo's Built a Movement
Two housemates, Sofie and Sophie, accidentally created a fitness phenomenon when they started inviting friends to join their morning runs in Brisbane. What began as casual 5k jogs with a dozen friends in early 2023 transformed into SoSo's Run Club—now drawing hundreds of participants and disrupting the traditional running scene with their community-first approach.
The turning point came when they posted a TikTok suggesting people trade dating apps for run clubs to find potential partners. The video went viral, and attendance skyrocketed from 40 to over 100 people overnight. But what kept runners coming back wasn't just the possibility of romance—it was the authentic connections formed through shared movement and post-run coffee chats.
"Running is normally an individual sport," explains one of the Sophies. "When you create a run club, it turns it into something social." Unlike performance-focused running groups, SoSo's welcomes participants of all abilities, embracing walkers alongside seasoned runners. This inclusive approach has helped many overcome their hesitation about fitness—including one participant who progressed from never running to completing a 10k race.
The pair have navigated challenges from city council regulations to critical comments, maintaining their fun-loving attitude throughout. They've learned valuable business lessons along the way, developing public speaking skills and negotiating brand partnerships while remaining selective about collaborations that align with their values.
For anyone nervous about joining solo, they offer reassurance: "The run is not the hard part. The hard part is coming along for the first time." They suggest simply introducing yourself to someone standing alone—chances are they're feeling just as nervous as you are.
Whether you're looking to improve your fitness, expand your social circle, or simply break the cycle of screen-dominated life, SoSo's Run Club demonstrates the power of showing up consistently and creating space for authentic human connection. Lace up your shoes and join the movement—all you have to do is show up.
Welcome to the Science of Fitness podcast, where we aim to inspire you to live a healthier and more fulfilling life, as we share evidence and anecdotes on all things relating to health, fitness, performance, business and wellness. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the Science of Fitness podcast. I have the founders, the Brains Trust, the Sophies of SoSo's, run Clubs. Welcome, ladies.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you for having us, thanks for having us, thank you very much and thank you for your time for jumping on.
Speaker 1:I think it's, would you say, you're probably the most talked about run club in Australia.
Speaker 2:Oh in Australia, hated in Brisbane.
Speaker 3:Yeah, in Brisbane, for sure.
Speaker 1:Hated. That's interesting.
Speaker 3:I would say we're hated.
Speaker 1:That's interesting, I would say.
Speaker 2:We're controversial at at times, yeah, which is then going to provide, I guess, a bit of, uh, more interest and it's a marketing maybe a marketing play overall exactly I think if you take a megaphone to the tenerife river walk at 6 am, you're always going to get a few complaints a few people talking yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:well, if you're not doing anything of significance, then no one will hate you, so I sort of look at it as a good thing. I guess let's go back really quickly to the start of it. You've told your story, I think, a number of times, but for those that have no real awareness of where this started and how it sort of all kicked off, run us through that really briefly we always like we always.
Speaker 3:We never know like who should tell the story to start with, because we're always like, um, we take turns, but, um, it was 2023. Three, yeah, 2023, start of 2023. We, me and soph would always go for runs together. We live together. We still live together. We've lived together for five years, um, but we'd always go for runs together just a little like four or 5k Um, and naturally have to post about it on Instagram. So all of our friends would see our stories of us like going for runs and they're like we want to come for a run, like that looks really fun, fun. And then one day we were just like all right, everyone meet. You know, 7 am, we're gonna go to newstead, meet here, let's go.
Speaker 3:So there was maybe like 10 or 12 people it was every like influencer dietitian in brisbane and then, like all of my work friends, and then we just yeah, we just went for a little 5k run, had coffee afterwards, and then we were like you know what would be funny if we like started a little Instagram for it, and so we started posting on there.
Speaker 2:Um, just like the details. Yeah, well, it was originally so-so's deli so we were gonna do like so so's obviously like sophie and sophie we're gonna do like a sandwich shop, like something we had big dreams, big dreams.
Speaker 3:We just changed the handle already so so's deli, and then we changed it to so so's run club nice um, and started posting on there just basically being like come, yeah, come for a run everyone so you had your couple of friends, you had your 12 people yes you did the one-off was I was like, oh, this would be fun.
Speaker 1:Once was I was like, oh, let's do this and maybe we'll do it more regularly I think the first time we did it we didn't post.
Speaker 2:The second time we did it we're like we're onto something and we put like did the instagram, and then I think we would put stuff up on like our personal TikToks and Instagrams and stuff as well this is like for fun, yeah, and then we got our first person from TikTok. His name's Kong. Shout out Kong. King Kong was our first TikTok friend and I was like oh my god, like who are you? Where are you from?
Speaker 3:he's like TikTok, like maybe you're onto something yeah, and so then I think, kind of from that week the next week we had another like couple of new people come, and then the week after, like you know, maybe 10 new people and like it just kind of kept growing from there, um, and then probably like six or so months in it just really blew up at one point yeah, yeah, and that point was now.
Speaker 2:I'm going to make this claim and I want people to actually look into it, because I think we were the first run club to talk about like dating and like going to run club to like find a partner. We put up a TikTok that was like you know, put down your dating apps, get off Hinge, get off Tinder and come to your local run club because you will like meet your partner here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, and we just like overlaid it with like Careless Whisper and people like running shirtless slow motion and we went from like maybe 30 or 40 people to about 100 people the next week. Wow, and we used to go through zoom in on every photo and count every individual person.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and count every individual person 100 people. Yeah, because we'd been consistently probably getting like 30 to 40 people every week and then it just like jumped up from that week, and then the next week was like 120, then it was 150, then it was 180, like in consecutive weeks, which was just crazy because this one, like reel, had got a couple of million views. Yeah, wow, and it was just insane.
Speaker 1:And suddenly you're like okay, now we're almost obliged to adhere to this once fun little laughable thing that is blown up.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's really interesting. What have you found, you know, in terms of connecting it? Because when it's people that you're familiar with, people you work with and friends, it's really easy to be chatting and whatnot, yeah, and then all of a sudden you get random people to walk in and oh, got to now, like you know, make friends with this person and try and get them to fit in. You guys have obviously nailed that it wouldn't be what it is if you didn't have some sort of ice breaking thing to get everybody connecting in a community type sense. How did you handle that initially and what have you learned, sort of as it's gone on?
Speaker 2:I think like at the start, when it was it started small, like I think, like obviously we said we had a lot of like huge growth in the middle, but things built very slowly so we used to get a chance to go and chat to every single person and be like hey, hey, who are you, what's your name, where did you come from? And even if we necessarily didn't remember everyone's name, the first time we met them, yeah we would be able to like build that relationship.
Speaker 2:And those people that used to come from the very beginning. We still have friendships with them and we still like catch up with them.
Speaker 2:They may not come week in, week out, but we still have that sense of community and they make friends as well and then that like grows. So I think, like we, it's very hard now to chat to everyone. I think, like when we run smaller, like weeknight runs, it helps a little bit. Yeah, um, but we do, I think every week try and chat to someone new and introduce ourselves and say hello, do you guys like doing that individually yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I do.
Speaker 3:I really love like when, yeah, we get the opportunity to actually like talk to people, and especially like when people are like oh, like this is the first time I've come, or I've come and I've met someone new or like we've had people come up to us and say do you remember, like the four guys that came up that week, that like one week there was these four guys who all, like individually, had moved up from Melbourne within the past like couple months or month or so, and they all just separately came to Run Club, all met each other and then that night they were going out to like go for drinks together and like go play golf the next day and like talk about it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh, wow that it was just like so cute and like so nice to see and they were like thank you so much and it was just really like so sweet what about?
Speaker 2:we met a guy like last tuesday night. He's like I've been following you for like a year and a half but this is my first time coming along. He was like you know what we we didn't sometimes doing stuff week in, week out, especially when it's something that isn't like a job like this, is something that we do because we enjoy doing it. Sometimes there are days when you just don't feel like it and I was like so I really don't want to go tonight.
Speaker 2:And we had the best time. Like I was like I love Dhanush, like this man is. It was like so I really don't want to go tonight and we had the best time. Like I was like I love Dhanush, like this man is. It was just like so fun and like getting a chance to like meet. There was like a doctor from Stanthorpe. He has two pet cows in Stanthorpe and he's like visiting for the weekend and came to like so-so's and we're like can you name your cows Sophie and Sophie?
Speaker 2:But like meeting people like that is really fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and it's sort of all walks of life and I think if you sort of take a step back and you sort of think of, you know, quintessential Australian community type things, it's probably been off community sport and you know as wonderful and great as that is, some people aren't quite athletic or good enough at sport or don't actually have the time to commit every single week, week in, week out, to a footy program, a netball club, whatever it might be. So having this flexibility without the signature and putting money down and insurance, yeah, increase of injury risk and playing well, it's probably the most authentic way to get people to connect and it's been there for within at least australia's culture for a long time. So you know it's looking at it and obviously you would have seen the trend, particularly since probably 20 you know one, two, three it's really taken off. From a run club perspective, yeah, it's so easy to do. But the community side's not as cliche as that word is now.
Speaker 1:It really is quite authentic and there's something about exercise, there's something about going for a run and being a bit sweaty or some sort of training yeah that breaks down the walls and lets people just chat to each other and communicate yeah do you notice the difference between the start of a run and the end of the run in terms of like the way people are interacting?
Speaker 3:yeah, everyone's a bit shy to start off. They all get there. They're like gathering around like, oh like what's gonna like what's gonna happen? And then at the end everyone's like yeah, like high-fiving, and then we all go to coffee and everyone's like screaming at coffee, like the chatter is so loud.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think, just on the point that you said before, like run clubs and running like running is something that a lot of people can find quite difficult, like hard to get into. It's also normally like an individual sport. So when you then create a run club, it's something that turns an individual sport into something that's very social. Our one, specifically, is social.
Speaker 2:It's not like performance-based, so it's something that people actually enjoy doing and if you sell it as come for a run or a walk, do it at your own pace and then have a coffee afterwards. It's a really easy sell for people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say, have there been people that have come just for the walk or once or twice, have been quite intimidated? Is there a story that someone's just kind of stuck it out and suddenly they're a regular runner?
Speaker 2:See, Breezy. Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. There was a guy that I used to work with and he went through like a big kind of health and fitness journey more so at the gym, like at a body fit or something like that, something like a big kind of health and fitness journey. More so at the gym, like at a body fit or something like that, um, something like a science of fitness, for example. Sorry, um.
Speaker 2:And he then got into running and he'd never run more than like a few hundred meters before, and at so-so's he built up to a five kilometer and was able to do the five kilometers like uninterrupted the whole way, and then he went and ran, I think, bridge to brisbane in 2023, so was able to actually do the full 10 kilometers without stopping and that was huge for him, so yeah um, that's, I love that. Like yeah, for me, like I've never really run that far, but having other people around you to push you and motivate you it really helps actually like yeah, motivate you, yeah, and it's such a small thing.
Speaker 1:It's like, oh, she can do it, I can do, it can do it, I can do it, kind of thing, and so the momentum goes. How much consideration from a health perspective and an influence in that sort of sense have you guys had on, you know, the group and the people that come running? Or has it been oh, we're just doing this thing because it's fun and it's social and we're really happy people get this community side of things like you've obviously influenced a lot of people in a way that is, they're healthier, they're more active, they're feeling better about themselves. How much is that of that has sort of been underlying, or has it just been we just want to have a good time and run.
Speaker 3:That's an awesome byproduct I think, yeah, I think we've had a lot of people say like oh, now we don't go out on a friday night because we want to come to the so-so's or you know, some still do go out, some just kick on but no, I think it's really good and I think like, yeah, with within the community, like there are so many people who are then training for like half marathons, full marathons, and like I know that personally I would have never done or thought to do like a half marathon or a full marathon if it was just me by myself, but like seeing other people do it, I was like, oh, I want to go do it with them, like that looks fun, like everyone else is kind of doing it.
Speaker 3:So I think that definitely has a big influence on then people kind of training for something or like wanting to be part of that as well, and like they just they come along to so-sos and then like they're also like trained, they're friends with someone that's also doing this thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, it's like, well, I can do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I think like that's definitely like having that community and like the running community in Brisbane is crazy. Like once you're in, you're like you know everyone in.
Speaker 1:Brisbane and you're running and it's like oh how serious are you, how social are you?
Speaker 3:But I think it's like it's such a spectrum as well, because everyone who comes to SoSo is like it doesn't matter, like what your ability necessarily is. It's just you're going there and you can do it at your own pace and you know it's whatever you want it to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, which is kind of the way it should be right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, like obviously the physical benefits but the mental health benefits of having a sense of community somewhere every Saturday even if you don't go out a lot during the week or on the weekends. You have something every single Saturday morning where you can go and you can talk to other people and you can interact and you can do something good for your health and your mental health yeah I think people really like having that and I think as well like more so, the aspect of not having to organize it like it's already.
Speaker 3:You know it's happening.
Speaker 1:You know, like people who, you know are gonna be there, so you just kind of, all you have to do is show up.
Speaker 3:It's not like oh like should we go get coffee? Oh, I'm busy, I'm this, I'm that where it's like always so hard to organize with people because people are so busy yeah, it's just like you know that it's going to be there and I think like that's my favorite thing about it. It's just like for yourself. For me, I'm like oh all my friends are going to be there.
Speaker 1:This is awesome I'm gonna go and it's sort of, particularly because it is at a specific time as well. It's a big thing we say here is you know, and we've learned, we put a pretty flexible, what we call the more higher-end, luxurious-type membership together, where people come in on their terms and on their own time and we've kind of gone back to no, you have to book in for the hour and come to the appointment, the small group session on your program and all that specificity, but turn up on the hour and train to a certain time frame, because if you have this luxury of train whenever it's so hard so easy to put it off and then so hard to actually get it in.
Speaker 1:And yeah, done versus. It's like gun at the head. 6 am be there yeah or you miss out.
Speaker 1:It's like I'll be there and we sort of you know, start to structure ourselves. So it's pretty interesting seeing that um, obviously, social media has had a big influence into, um, the entire building of the brand. If you will, um, do you? Yeah, as you said, that sort of first post story of you know, this is a great place to meet somebody. What other, I guess little pieces of content you've created or regular sort of mechanisms you've lent on to actually help build the community?
Speaker 2:and.
Speaker 1:I guess sustain what has now been going pretty consistently. For what? Two years plus?
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, we both kind of have like a background in marketing, social media type thing, so I think it just kind of was second nature for us to kind of do that side of things, yeah. But I think for us, like it's just about being really authentic in our content and like having you know, that kind of like connection where it's just like funny and light-hearted and just like a bit silly, which is our entire brand, I think.
Speaker 2:I think as well, like we, obviously we do follow some trends, but I think we also set some of our own, and I think, like even, for example, we're talking about those two twins- on the news who would? And we're both called sophie and people call us the sophies we're like maybe we should create some content like that us. Like, I think like we pick up on trends and like what's going on in the world very well and kind of use that then to create content.
Speaker 2:I think it helps having two of us as well, like being able to bounce ideas off each other and like gee each other up.
Speaker 1:I think that helps it does. It's funny because we're, like you know, in here we sort of haven't really spent, you know, that sort of authentic time with each other creating content and just trying to communicate a message, which is, I think, ultimately what you want to do, and now we've sort of lent on each other a little bit and you start stuffing around.
Speaker 1:It actually becomes one of the more fun hours when you are sitting creating content and actually just almost laughing as you do it, but it does a really wonderful job of communicating your message and authentically, as you said, expressing the brand.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's whether it's a Rome club or any form of business or anything in between, which is really interesting.
Speaker 3:And people pick up on vibes, like I feel like if we hated each other or didn't like working together, or if you were too professional or too serious, you'd exclude so many people, exactly Like we just want it to be like fun and I think like as well, we really try and get lots of people involved in our content and like where they're like do you want?
Speaker 1:to be in the.
Speaker 3:TikTok today Like trying to film them and they're like please.
Speaker 1:no, I would say 90% of people are like don't put the camera on me, please.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think a lot of people actually like it though.
Speaker 2:But you know we'll ask for consent All it takes is one bad video, though, or one bad caption from us. Yeah, I feel like we stitched up some of our friends one time doing like the different characters of Run Club and like there was two guys and we're like the guys that are just there to pick up and they haven't wanted to be in one of the videos since.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's funny. Sorry, Truth hurts sometimes. Yeah, yeah, it's really interesting. And you know, what would you say outside of okay, you guys have kind of stumbled on this and nailed it. People in both health and fitness business, but any business brand and that sort of thing if you were to sort of provide a little framework, some rules for them as to we actually did this and it sort of got us to where we are, versus others might be trying really hard and not getting where they want to get to from a social media perspective what would you say to them?
Speaker 2:I think if you're doing it for money and notoriety and like all of that stuff, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. I think, like find something that you love and that you're passionate about and lean into that, like people will see how much you care about something and that will hopefully shine through.
Speaker 3:And I think as well like making sure, like, if you're creating content, it needs to be entertaining. It needs to be either entertaining or informative, ideally both and just yeah, something that people can connect with I think is like the most important thing, because people can tell if it's not authentic or like true to kind of what you're doing. So I think just like having a bit of a, an idea of like yeah, the the kinds of things that you want to communicate, and then going with that and doing it in whatever way feels the best for you, Because I think that really kind of shines through, yeah, and just have a crack Like it's actually it's not that serious and it's not that embarrassing.
Speaker 2:And if there are people that are saying like, oh, like that's so embarrassing, you're lip syncing on Instagram. Like yeah, but we also get paid to run our silly little run club by like brands that are like global organisations that want to work with us.
Speaker 3:So it's embarrassing that you think we're embarrassing. We've definitely got our like fair share of hate. Comments on on videos and things like ill cringe. Oh, losers like like so many like negative comments but, we're just like oh well we're having fun.
Speaker 1:So not only like, obviously, the internet side of it, but like even when you have to deal with conflict, let's talk the internet first. You do you kind of seamlessly, like easily, just laugh it off. Have you ever had a moment where you're like, oh, this is bad, I want to manage this the Brisbane City Council.
Speaker 2:When they came for us I was a little bit like we're gonna have to close down the run club. But you know I love. I've got the dog in me when it comes to like.
Speaker 3:That's why we're a good team. I'm like whoa, hold back.
Speaker 2:Delete that comment please Me trying to Hold my hoot. There was that one man that was like a big kind of scary looking influencer. I'm like what can I say, not to offend people. Anyway, he commented he has like a pretty big following, but he commented something like oh so cringe. And I remember we saw him one day at kangaroo point and I was like you're ready to go, yeah? Anyway, I didn't do that though. Yeah, all right I didn't do that though.
Speaker 1:But it's funny, like why do you think people feel the need to tear it down? Like, like, whether you're forward, like surely you can remove yourself and look at it and go? This is actually pretty awesome, because people are moving their body, they're authentically connected, they're putting their phone down.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Doing all these wonderful things that we know are really good for us.
Speaker 3:It's actually quite funny when you like. I think a lot of like running community as well like loves to hate on like silly little run clubs like ours um, because they're like. This is not, this is not running like this. Like you know, they get quite up in arms about it, because this isn't serious like running should be. You know this that. And it's like, well, we're getting people moving, we are like helping people connect. Like how is this such a terrible thing?
Speaker 1:is that something you find yourselves going back to?
Speaker 2:well, yeah, I think we actually often, when people do comment that kind of stuff, I've often sent off probably a carbon copy of oh how terrible getting like 500 people down to do something good for their mental and physical health every week, like it can't be that bad and also it's not that serious, like it's really not that serious, nothing in life is yeah. Yeah, it's really funny yeah, and are you gonna look back in 50 years time and think about, oh, that great comment I left on that silly little run club, like maybe just go have a coffee go talk to your friends for yourself, yeah go for a little waddle, it'll do you good.
Speaker 2:Maybe you should come down that should be a coffee comment.
Speaker 1:You need a waddle and a coffee. Come for a trot, preferably with a community of people that might make you smile. Yeah, the council.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Shout out Brisbane City Council.
Speaker 1:BCC At the end of the day, I think you know they. I've lived in the third world and seen what it's like when there is no rules and it's pretty shambolic and dangerous. So I have empathy for them and I sort of understand that there's a role to play. How do you manage that? Because it's often can be a bit scary like if you particularly if it's something that's not your business, but it's just a bit of fun and suddenly they're like oh, you're making either too much noise, you're going to have to move it. How have you guys navigated that? What was your first council story? Actually? Let's go with that.
Speaker 2:It was that bald man that kept taking photos. We thought there was like an undercover council operative, like in the park. I don't think it was. I think it was just a man taking photos of the hot chicks at run club. Um, what's even better. Soon after that, though, we did we had an email. Yeah, we got a message, and then an email, a dm. I don't know how the brisbane city council was on instagram, but they slid into our dms and were like you need to call us about. It was when we were getting like four or five hundred people, yeah, um, and we went back and forth. We went back and forth for a while. We did get some really good advice from someone. I don't know if I should. I don't know if I say too much.
Speaker 2:We did lean on, like different people in the community to like offer us advice and I think, when it actually came down to it, we weren't doing anything wrong Like there was actually yeah, in terms of the legislation, we we were within it, we were within our rights yeah, and we just stood very firm on that, and I think the council is going to like, if you work against them and if you're an arsehole, it's going to be very difficult for you moving forward, like, I think, in building any kind of relationship, even if it is with your local council or like some random person that doesn't like you running out front their house.
Speaker 2:Like if you approach it in a way that you're just doing your best, you're trying to do something positive for the community, just try and like work with them. I think like at first I was aggressive as I always am. At first I was on the defence, but then you take a step back and you think let's try and work with this person because we're going to need their help to get permits or run events or whatever it might be. So yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, yeah, we worked it out and yeah, as we said, like there wasn't really anything that we were doing, that was out of yeah there was nothing like we could really do, yeah.
Speaker 1:So did you have to get permits and like adhere to things, you have to sort of submit something to them because we're an event that happens that's under 500 people, and because we like yeah, yeah, we're like sorry shut it down.
Speaker 2:I think like it was fine. I think like there were other. If we were to register it as an event, there was a whole heap of different um insurances and things that we would need that would then be like financially not viable for us to actually achieve.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they kind of said it was going to cost hundreds of thousands a year to insure every runner at every event, kind of thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1:It does. It just sounded a bit silly.
Speaker 3:We're like just sign our waiver.
Speaker 1:Yeah, if you fall over, we're not liable, nor is the council yeah it's your incompetence nobody yeah it's. It's really interesting because I think it's probably something that a lot of people might experience at some point and just it, just it's enough to make them follow, like we've dealt with council issues and noise and zoning and all those sorts of things, and it's like quite scary because sometimes it's not a person, it's just this big representative of yeah, a bigger organization.
Speaker 1:Um, and particularly if you're doing something you know, that's quite fun, quite social. I'm not serious, it's not your business, it's because I'm like you're gonna sit down and work it out. But yeah, it's sort of lean into it, said you know, know what sort of the rules are. You're probably going to have someone in your community that can advise and as long as you're not breaking the rules, you're going to be okay, particularly if you're doing something well intended. It's not like you're having a rave at 3 am and you know all those sorts of rules.
Speaker 2:Who knows Headphones on.
Speaker 1:It's a good idea, though beyond the running, like, obviously people come for the running, they stay for the community and everything else. What are your peripheral favorites, post-run and the post-run traditions? You've talked about coffee. What else?
Speaker 3:yeah, coffee, honestly just coffee and chats. And we just go and sit at salt in Newstead and sit there for like two hours and chat to everyone.
Speaker 2:Really we do like social events as well, like one of the social events, our friends bought this wooden bar. Hit me out, it's like a bar facade kind of thing like a piece of furniture and it says like bar at the top and there's like places you can put like. Anyway, they take the bar now, they took it to like a few of our social events and they take it into like warehouses and they create like parties around this bar they took it to like a bakery the other day and did like a bakery rave yeah, so that's.
Speaker 2:that's kind of like came from people that had met at so-so's and then started doing that, and we've kind of like supported them through that as well, and now they've got like their whole own thing, like completely separate to us. And they just roll around, but like, a lot of like people that go to so-so's now go to their events and it's been something that's been really cool to see. Yeah.
Speaker 3:All of our friends, pretty much now are just like people we've met.
Speaker 1:Our only friends are people we've met from run club. It sort of gets like that yeah, you know. That then comes down to you what people do you want to be surrounded by? Yeah and it's going to be people that want to get up and do something early in the morning. That's at the end of the day. How many mornings do you wake up in the year and go? Oh, I'm naked 365 every morning and on a leap
Speaker 1:year 366. It's Saturday morning. You're like why have I done this? You don't bounce out of bed every Saturday morning going, woo-hoo, let's go do it. It's like oh, there's that sort of little moment.
Speaker 3:And then once you're up and you're going A hundred percent and I think, like so many, like probably every single week, we'll be like on our way there, like so tired after like a massive week, and then afterwards every single time I'll be like so tired. That was the best ever. Like that was so much fun. I'm so excited for the weekend.
Speaker 1:I love it here, like I'm always just so pumped afterwards.
Speaker 1:But it's funny because it sort of speaks to adherence and commitment in the sense of like it's not easy for the person that can run a marathon just to wake up and go run it and everything else it's like every moment is moment on moment and it's drip on drip on drip and then that sort of you know, as those little drips go, it becomes this bucket that's full and you've run most weekends, most Saturdays through the year. So, in line with that, on a personal level, the commitment, the adherence, the community, the running like, what have you personally benefited from outside of? Yeah, sure, I've got so-sos and I feel great that I've actually done this thing.
Speaker 2:When I look over my shoulder and look back at the two years, I think, like I don't know if it's going too far to say that having so-sos and having that community has made me a better person, but I've been. It's something that I've shown up for two years every single week, week in, week out, unless we've had like holidays, like it's something that I've shown up for two years every single week, week in, week out, unless we've had like holidays, like it's never a week where we wake up and we say I'm not going, we just go and we do it.
Speaker 2:So we have that routine, we have something that we're committed to. It's allowed us to like new opportunities with like business and forming like relationships in like that kind of sense. It's allowed us to become better at public speaking and standing up in front of people and having the confidence to go and have a chat to pretty much anyone, like people you've never met before, and put yourself out there like. In pretty much like all aspects there has been something that I have learned and grown from so-so's and I'm sure, like you, might have other things to add, but I feel like it's made me a better person in so many aspects of my life.
Speaker 3:I think as well, just like having that community has quite literally just changed my life.
Speaker 2:How about moving from Melbourne?
Speaker 3:Yeah, because I moved up from Melbourne to Brisbane when I was like 22, so about seven years ago. She's lonely. The first two years of being here I had no friends. Literally no friends would just, you know, spend my weekends, you know baking cakes and stuff like well, the baking's gone downhill.
Speaker 2:There's been like I know it's now here no cooking has been done.
Speaker 3:Um, and then I think, yeah, like when we started SoSos, like just made so many new friends and like now feel like I will walk out the door and I'll see 20 people I know, without trying to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can't be incognito. Which is probably a con, but yeah.
Speaker 3:It's honestly so nice just having like such a community of people and, um, I think, even like we were talking about before, just like within that community, there's so many people that can then help you in so many aspects of your life, and I think that's something that um has been a bit like lost in society lately. I feel feel like, with you know so much social media and everyone like working from home, and I think post-COVID, like that sense of community is something that people really like want again and like it just makes such a difference in your life when you have all those people that are like supporting you and can show up for you in different ways, like in your life and in terms of what you need.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Through something as silly as just going for a run. Yeah, Literally Like getting like legal advice, getting like you know all this stuff from like all these people who come to run club and like that you've connected with yeah. You talked about being able to talk to people randomly speaking in front of public. Speaking in front of people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in a professional sense what skills have you developed more of? Oh, heaps, to be honest, I think like a big thing for me some days like public speaking, I nail it and I'm like yep.
Speaker 3:When you get a laugh from like you're on the megaphone like announcing everything for Run Club, and you make a joke and some people laugh and you're like, yes, it's so tough out there.
Speaker 2:I do crack a joke every week, though, and sometimes. I'm like sometimes it's yeah, crickets, and we're like anyway. Yeah, you'll know, because there'll be a laugh from me, that's like a ha-ha and then like a trail, but I think, like now getting up, some days in front of like a few hundred people and it doesn't feel scary.
Speaker 2:No, like you just have the confidence to be able to like handle those kind of situations. I think as well, like in a commercial sense, like obviously outside of so-so's, I run my own business being able to build relationships and have more like commercial conversations, especially when we do negotiate with brands. I think it's been good to understand that side of things and that's really helped me. I'm trying to think what else there would have been, maybe you go.
Speaker 3:I don't know, yeah, I don't know what else I've got.
Speaker 1:You've probably touched on it most.
Speaker 3:Probably a lot of things.
Speaker 1:The biggest thing is, you know when someone, professionally, is developing, it's like we either idolise people or we hold, you know, the senior people in the organisation or whatever on such sort of high pedestals and it's sort of realising everyone's pretty normal. Most people have many a floor and when you start to really just sink your teeth into the work, you know you guys have obviously now worked with bigger brands. At the end of the day, you know, first of all, what does it feel like being the asset that they want to involve themselves with, rather than you going up to you know a big brand and going, hey, we'd love to feature your product and they have all the power. How's that?
Speaker 3:been.
Speaker 1:How's navigating that been.
Speaker 3:It is interesting because I feel like we're like, oh, like that's nice new balance wants to work with us it's nicer because, like we don't like we have full-time jobs.
Speaker 2:We don't have a lot to lose, like yeah so when we do go into those things, we do what works for us, we do what aligns with so. So it's like we had some buyers agents come to us one time and they wanted to do a collaboration and even though we could chat, gpt the shit out of it and figure out some kind of like connection between a buyer's agent and a run club, it's just not authentic to us. Even if they were going to pay us, it's like no, that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 3:So like we've had car like car wrapping brands or like just like the most, some like really rogue things and we're like I don't think that, really like I don't think you can insert that into a run club really it's nice having the power, though, to pick and choose like who you want to work with and what actually makes sense, and I think that's why it's kind of stayed like authentic to so-sos as well.
Speaker 2:We're not just trying to make money from it and grow this business, we're just trying to have a good time and if there are things that align, that also will you know financially benefit us like.
Speaker 3:obviously we will say yes, but I think it's not our like main prerogative in terms of like the run club, Like we didn't start it. Obviously we accidentally kind of started it, we didn't go like come out from the get-go we're trying to strategic trying to monetize it and yeah exactly, and we
Speaker 3:we do actually get. We've probably had like hundreds of run clubs um or people who are wanting to start run clubs. Message us and say hey, I'm looking to start a run club. How did you monetize it? How do you do this? And we're like well, if you do it, if you're doing it for those reasons, probably don't do it. Yeah, because that is just not the point at all and it's just not really a, you know, viable business model. No, it's hard, unless you're going really hard in it.
Speaker 2:It's like an events business Exactly. You are having people showing up for an event week in, week out.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Unless you're doing some kind of like performance and then and then you like performance coaching or something you need like an actual background in that and some qualifications. If you're doing it for the vibe. You have to create a vibe that people actually want to go along.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing, when people are like, how do you get people to come? And it's like just be a vibe like be fun, be cool.
Speaker 1:I don't know Like I can't teach that. It Like I can't teach that. It sounds easy, but it's so hard. Yeah, it's just so interesting, because that's what my question was you know from your six months in, you guys had great growth. It's super exciting.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then 12 months, after that, six months, it's like ah, you know, like there's only 200 people this time versus you know when it started, you would have been stoked with that. So how have you managed that? How have you kept the vibe, the energy, the enthusiasm going and, you know, sort of moving forward? What are you sort of thinking, or does it just?
Speaker 2:flow, naturally. Yeah, as soon as it gets quiet, it gets busy again, like it ebbs, and flows.
Speaker 1:It's a nice problem to have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're not tied to like a certain number of people coming or anything like that, because it doesn't change things for us. Obviously, when it gets too big, it's harder to manage. But I think, like, what we want to create is we want to create something that people want to come back to, where they can meet new people, whether that's a friend or a business partner, or a partner or something else. Hottie of the week we haven't even done money of the week, but just like something that people want to be a part of.
Speaker 1:I think if you have that energy in that community, people will keep coming back yep, yep, and it's just that consistency and being reliable in those, I suppose, almost pillars that you would coincidentally set yeah be it the social run club, be it your organization. You know, I sort of look at our stuff that we do here and we need that certain degree of consistency. It's like this is something that, no matter what your weekend was like, on monday night we do this session. It's brutal but it's dependable yeah it's a big fix for people.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it goes a long way I think, like when things do start to get a little bit quieter, if we feel like, oh, like not as many people are coming, we know what we need to do. We need to get back consistent again with posting content. We need to engage the community more online. Maybe we need to throw in a social event or something like that and they're like key levers to help build and grow and maintain our community so I think like we, we know when we're slacking, yeah, yeah and it always is right like, like how many organisations look for another reason to blame the market or whatever reason it's like.
Speaker 1:Just take responsibility, it's us.
Speaker 1:Yeah exactly, and there's so many, probably business lessons that you, coincidentally, have already just shared and are experiencing, even though it's not an enterprise and it's not a business that you're trying to run Like, you're enjoying the benefits of just doing the due diligence of good business and you know as it goes. Yeah, if you were to sort of think back sorry, if you were to jump a year in advance and then think back in the next 12 months, what is something that you want someone to have said about their experience at SoSo's in the next 12 months?
Speaker 2:who have said about their experience at so-so's. In the next 12 months, I met the nicest people at so-so's or I made like anything to do with like we get it all the time someone who has moved to Australia they're living in a backpackers, this is a very new story moved to Australia living in a backpackers. They were really struggling and they're thinking about moving home. They came to so-so's and they've made so many friends and now they're like sticking around. I want people to come to so-so's and make friends yeah find a sense of community.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think exactly like that's the biggest thing, it's just like being part of it and I think like it is very daunting for people if they're coming alone. Um, and we do get a lot of messages from people being like I'm really scared to come along because I'm coming by myself. Is that okay? And we're like yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:What do you say to that person? Because there's probably people that'll listen to this, that are going. I've thought about it, but we'll be like hey the hardest thing.
Speaker 2:The run is not the hard part. The hard part is coming along for the first time. The hardest exactly the run is not the hard part. The hard part is coming along for the first time and not knowing anyone, or coming with a friend like that's.
Speaker 3:That's the biggest hurdle once you have done that and like there's so many people who are just like out there standing by themselves, just go up and say hi, because I can guarantee they're probably wanting you to come up and say hi, like that's the whole thing they're doing they're feeling the exact same way you are.
Speaker 2:They're standing there. They're thinking I'm here by myself. Everyone's looking at me. Am I gonna make any friends? Like no one. You are the center of your own universe. No one else cares about you as much as you do. Yeah, go over and introduce yourself to someone funny.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we get that in the gym sense and it's oh, I'm really scared. And what people say this about me. It's like they're thinking the same thing about you?
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:So it's sort of this like cancelling out prophecy.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Don't worry, you know, just go and have a crack.
Speaker 2:But also be that person that goes and introduces yourself to someone Like go and say like hey, You've got nothing to lose and like even if they're not going to be your best friend that you've ever met, that's fine you said hi, it's a skill, right and that's and I say you know tarry and interns that come in.
Speaker 1:I can sit in a lecture about anatomy and physiology and programming and everything else, but the skill that you need to learn is go and introduce yourself to that member and tell them who you are, what your role is here and see if you can help them. Yeah, so hard to do, so much harder than sitting in a rope learning something you would have experienced, particularly moving to a new city. You've now experienced it a hundred times over in the run club alone. So it's such a simple thing to sit here and say on the podcast it's so hard for someone to go and do it, but once you do it once, it's easier. The second time you do it a hundred times.
Speaker 3:Exactly All, but once you do it, once it's easier the second time.
Speaker 1:You do it a hundred times, exactly. All you need to say is hi.
Speaker 3:Hi, Hi and nothing else. And then they'll say hi. And then you say what are you doing here?
Speaker 1:What are you here for? Is this your first time? Yeah, and you're away.
Speaker 3:Are you here by yourself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, my favourite one is if it kind of gets just compliment something.
Speaker 3:Yeah, love your shoes.
Speaker 1:Are those shoes good?
Speaker 3:Are those running shoes good Like literally anything.
Speaker 1:And there's your conversation.
Speaker 3:There you go, so-so's on tour Is that something that you guys will ever do? I think probably not, unless I mean like in terms of like expanding to other cities and that kind of thing. Like we, I feel like we have had like people ask about that and especially like when we first started, people were like start one in like Dallas, or start one in Melbourne.
Speaker 2:Start one here. Hey Karen, no worries moving to Dallas tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Great idea.
Speaker 3:Because I think, like for us it's we are very protective of like the vibe and everything that we have with so-so's and we don't want to like. We don't want someone else to start like an offshoot of it and then it not be the same or like you know, I think, I think that kind of thing would be a bit scary for us, it's true. We don't need world domination. No exactly, and I think that's the's the thing, like we're just happy with it as it, like yeah, there's no benefit to us if we're everywhere exactly, and there's plenty of other run clubs.
Speaker 3:There's a million other run clubs like we don't need to be everywhere you just can be the inspiration for all the others.
Speaker 1:Yeah, write a blueprint for them. Yeah, well, it's pretty special. You know how many times have you stopped and gone individually? Wow, like I'm really proud of it, have you given yourselves that opportunity?
Speaker 2:I feel like I often don't until someone else says like it's actually crazy what you've done and I think like, oh sorry, when we stop and reflect on I don't know the people we've met and and like the relationships that we've built and the opportunities, like some of the things. I think the first opportunity we got was working with lululemon doing their global run day and we were maybe like 40 people would come to run club and we were like this is huge this is like whoa they gave us a free outfit.
Speaker 2:This is insane. I would, I lost it. I was like my, like my life peaked at that moment and then it's like peaked again and again and again.
Speaker 3:Um yeah, I think, yeah, it's. It's been crazy to see, like, some of the stuff that it's given us the opportunity to do, but not only that, like, because I think like that's like such an aside to, yeah, more so, the fact that it's like now such a community, and it's so like it's just funny how well known it is as well. Like I've been at festivals where I'm walking through the crowd and people have gone so-so's and I'm like hi, like I'm fine now, like I've had a few drinks right now Like, don't, don't do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know about it. Yeah, do you know what? It's just so funny.
Speaker 2:The community, I don't know how like I think sometimes we do reflect and when we do it's pretty special. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Probably not enough yeah 100%, but you know that's not what you did it for as well. It's not to sort of pat yourself on the back. No, exactly yeah yeah, yeah, it's just about turning up and you know, probably you probably get it a lot your future plans, what's next? What's next? It's just like I don't know. I'm just going to go with it.
Speaker 3:We're just vibing as long as it feels good yeah, just vibe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, it's really special. So from someone in my industry, looking at it like this is exactly what it needs. We don't need another fancy gym with really hard training that is really unappealing or intimidating. It's about actually just getting people together, having them move their body and put their phone down and get out from behind the screens and you guys have nailed that. So commend you on that and please don't stop.
Speaker 2:Thank you, in whatever way you take it, whatever vibe you bring.
Speaker 1:Thank you for not only doing that but being so open to sharing your story and how you guys have done it, because it's pretty special and I think a lot of people are learning a lot from you guys. So keep it up.
Speaker 2:Thank you, thank you for having us, thanks, guys, thanks for coming on Cheers for coming on.
Speaker 1:Cheers. Thanks for listening to today's episode. For more regular insights into soft, be sure to check us out on instagram or facebook, or visit our website at scienceoffitnesscomau. Once again, we thank you for tuning in to the science of fitness podcast.