Startup Stories: Featuring The Village App
Today we are excited to be featuring Ashley Stone, Founder of The Village App.
The Village App is a platform that efficiently connects people to their personal support network, builds friendships and encourages community engagement. Their mission is to rebuild local communities so that people can get a little more support when they need it.
The idea came to Ashley in a moment of need: when a surprise third pregnancy turned out to be twins, she realized she needed help but she found it very difficult to connect with people and ask for help.
She knew how powerful a hyper-local support network is and that there was a community of people around her who genuinely wanted to help, so the idea for The Village App was born.
We first met Ashley in January 2020 when she attended a Volition Pitch Mastermind, and then she joined us again as a pitcher at Volition Amplify Live in February 2021.
In May 2021, Ashley won Top Pitch at our BC Startup Showcase, delivered as part of Discovery Foundation’s Regional Investor Readiness Program. Since then, we have had the pleasure of showcasing Ashley on our weekly IG Live Founder Chats and she is now a client of ours through the Discovery Foundation’s Coaching program.
Without further ado, we are honoured to introduce you to Ashley!
Hello, Ashley!
Welcome to Startup Stories! I know we have crossed paths a few times now, but as it was a pitch event that landed you here for this interview today, could you provide a quick refresher for our audience on your experience with pitching?
Well, I started my business during Covid so I’ve only pitched virtually, which is actually kind of nice because you can have some notes hidden and nobody sees them. One of my first times was actually in a Volition Pitch Mastermind at the beginning of 2020 and that was really helpful.
After that first experience, I pitched at a couple different events, and then participated in Volition’s Amplify Live Pitch event in February 2021.. When I got second place at that event, I won a coaching session with Paul and I had him review my pitch because I was pitching to investors the following week. That was really helpful and he helped fine-tune some things.
Glad to hear it! It’s been really exciting seeing your pitch and company grow over the past seven months. So, what are your next steps?
We are working on a soft launch, and will be following with a full launch this September. With the upcoming launch, we are going to do a paid marketing campaign and get media coverage, while also hosting events. We will be focusing on a concentrated amount of members and users locally.
One of the events we’re particularly excited to host is “Curb It”: one full weekend where people will have the opportunity to exchange free items within their neighbourhood. They will be able to use our app to let people in their area know what items are available on their driveway and so on.
With this event, our goal is to boost our reach organically and grow our user base.
Beyond that, we are building new feature sets for organizations like food banks and women’s shelters or anything that depends on a donation from volunteers to function.
So, what has been your greatest challenge as an entrepreneur?
Trusting the process. As a non-technical founder, it is hard to have patience while someone else brings my idea to life.
The Village App is in my head 24/7, from thinking about social content to pitching and fundraising, but not everyone has or can have that same passion and I’ve learned I need to respect that.
Given all of this, what is one piece of advice you would give to someone just beginning their startup journey?
Show up and make yourself known!
Sign up for everything, ask questions, and share your idea. No one has ever gotten anywhere by staying quiet about their passion.
I’m always amazed when I take part in webinars and virtual calls with 50+ people and no one is engaging in the chat. I always take that time to introduce myself and share relevant comments. You never know who else is reading it and what seeds you’re planting.
People have a fear of others stealing their idea, but a business is 1% idea and 99% execution. I know that someone could steal my idea, but it’s so much work to execute it that you might as well have your own passion and your own idea if you are going to be putting that much effort into it.
Speaking of which, as you may know, we define Volition as ‘the will to do what you want and to get it done’. What is your volition?
Seeing the lack of genuine community, but the desire for it by so many people is what fuels me.
My passion came from a place of need. I had a surprise third pregnancy that turned out to be twins and I needed help as my husband works out of town. I was looking for a community of people around me who genuinely wanted to help me but I found it really difficult to actually ask and connect to those people.
I’ve seen time and time again that particularly young mums really struggle with that. I’ve had so many great people show up for me just because I asked, and I want to make it really easy for other people to figure out that they don’t have to be struggling hard by themselves.
That there are a lot of people out there that want to help them.
So–what is your ask today? How can the Volition community support your vision?
We’re looking for beta testers and connections to large groups (e.g., churches, non profits, support groups, etc.) who would be willing to share The Village App with their community and give us a try.
We are also doing a raise right now looking for community driven investors who share our passion for community and actually help people.
Is there anything else that you would like to share before we sign off?
I’m so grateful for the opportunity to pitch at Volition pitch events!
I found your events on Instagram, and I didn’t know your organization, but honestly I’m so happy I applied to pitch.
I highly recommend Volition to anyone I come across who’s just starting out or needs pitch practice or anything like that, because I feel like you have my back.
I see Volition as a group of people who are easily accessible and easy to talk to and who offer a wealth of knowledge and opportunities. I really appreciate what you guys are doing!
Thank you! We appreciate your support. So, how can people best connect with you?
www.thevillageapp.co
@thevillageapp.co
