Like many women, we were introduced early to a narrow version of wellness — one that focused on appearance, discipline, and how you’re perceived. Over time, both of us started unlearning that definition and asking a bigger question:
What would it look like to build a life that feels well, not just looks good?
We lost touch for a while, then ran into each other again a decade later at a house party in New York.
By then, our lives looked very different.
Katrin was building her startup, married, firmly on one path. I was preparing to leave a 9–5 and training to become a full-time hypnotherapist.
But the conversations picked up exactly where they left off — only deeper.
We talked about work and ambition. Money and uncertainty. Dating and identity. The pressure to have it all figured out. The parts of building a life that usually stay private.
And we kept coming back to the same realization:
So many women are doing everything “right” — and still feeling alone inside it.
In my work as a hypnotherapist, I see this every day: the fears and blocks people carry around money, career, and belonging. The fear of being behind. The fear of asking for more, while always feeling "not enough". The fear of being “too much.” The quiet belief that certain rooms aren’t meant for them.
And through building FRICH — an app designed to break money taboos with direct, no-shame answers to the questions people are usually afraid to ask — Katrin saw the same pattern: women want clarity, but they rarely feel safe enough to ask.
Different worlds, same pattern: women are incredibly capable, but they’re often navigating the most important parts of their lives in isolation.
And wellness, as it’s usually sold, doesn’t address that.
It doesn’t always make room for the conversations that shape our choices and our freedom — how we relate to money, how we build careers, how we find community, how we invest in ourselves and each other.
So we built Onda.
Onda is a space where vulnerability is not only accepted — it’s celebrated. Where ambition and personal growth can coexist. Where you can be in transition and still belong. Where women feel included, inspired, and supported to expand what “wellness” can mean — including financial wellbeing.
We hosted our first Onda event and invited women we trusted — founders, creatives, operators, women in transition, and women who were simply curious.
We included a panel and a group hypnosis session to anchor the evening, but the real intention was to create a room where conversation could turn into connection — and connection could turn into momentum.
The response was immediate.
People stayed longer than planned. Conversations carried past the stage. Two women even became co-founders.
Since then, we’ve hosted seven Onda events built around the themes we wish we’d had access to earlier — self-defense, breathwork, fundraising, dating, and building a life that actually fits.
Over time, we started seeing what happens when the environment is right.
At one Onda event, a conversation turned into an introduction. That introduction later led to a $250,000 investment in a member’s startup.
Not because she was pitching. Not because she came looking for capital. But because opportunity emerged through trust, proximity, and real relationship.
That moment reinforced something we deeply believe:
In a culture that often encourages women to invest heavily in how they look, far less emphasis is placed on the spaces where they can grow, build, and support one another over time.
At Onda, we’re interested in a broader kind of well-being.
The kind that comes from community. From being supported and challenged. From having room to grow personally and professionally — without having to choose between the two.
Some women come to Onda to find connection. Some come for inspiration. Some come to build, invest, or explore what’s next.
All of that belongs here.
As Onda grows, we’re continuing to build deeper forms of access — through community, mentors, and private market investment opportunities — grounded in the belief we started with:
When women are in the right rooms together, meaningful things happen.
If any of this resonates, we’d love to have you with us. Subscribe to follow along for upcoming events, stories from the community, and the conversations we’re creating around wellness, money, career, and belonging. We’re still learning as we go — and we’re excited to take you with us.
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