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Founder@ Interview
Interview with Linda Meek
“Don’t spend time waiting for everything to be perfect… perfect is overrated. Just do it! .” – Linda Meek
Today we feature Linda Meek , the founder at Start Running – Stay Running. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
We are Linda and Simon and we co-founded Start Running Stay Running. We provide an online running community focussing on educating, motivating and celebrating the new runner.
Anyone can be a runner if they just believe that they can. I (Linda) come from a Social Media background and an ‘ordinary’ runner that was always doing it wrong. Making the classic mistakes of not doing strength training, not stretching, not fuelling correctly and always being injured. Simon is co-owner of C&S fitness and has built up an amazing community in the heart of Bridgwater
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
Start Running Stay Running was born at the start of Covid in May 2020. I (Linda) had just lost all my social media clients in one afternoon, and Simon had to close his gym to the public and take it all online.
Being a returning runner myself, I took myself out a few times a week for my own fitness and mental health and recognised that there were lots of friends posting on social media about starting to run and now knowing how to go about it.
On a run myself, I thought about creating a safe space for runners. To ask the questions, share their runs and not feel intimidated by those that have been running for years that make you feel so inferior and unfit.
I went home and wrote pages of notes of what I would want to see in a new running community and the pain points new runners have.
I took my idea to Simon (who owns the gym I go to) and Start Running Stay Running was born.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
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We first took on a group of coaches, including an awesome run coach, nutritionist, sports therapist, Pilates instructor and a mindset coach to work alongside Simon who would consult on the Strength and Conditioning side.
We first set up a free Facebook community group in June 2020, then launched The Inside Track coaching membership in September 2020, or Virtual Run Challenges in December 2020 and last month we launched our first cohort of ‘Coached to 5K’ which is literally taking people from the very beginning with a big push on mindset alongside the run coaching.
The ethos of our business is to get the non-runner out there and start running and give them the tools to keep running. Our hashtag is #A2Binjuryfree. They do this by following a plan from our run coach, accompanied by strength & conditioning and stretch & mobility sessions each week. With other experts in their back pocket to call on, our runners can be sure that they won’t have to guess anything when it comes to their running journey.
Our Virtual Run Challenges are there to help celebrate our runners’ incredible achievements and keep them motivated to move over the course of a season.
Our latest programme – Coached to 5K is in its third week, but already we are seeing how important mindset is when it comes to running and that it’s not just a case of putting on trainers and plugging in an app!
While our headquarters are based in Somerset, we have members from all across the world with our furthest flung subscription coming out of New Zealand!
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
The aha moment came, ironically, when I was on a run! Thinking about how much there is to consume when you first start running and all the different information that gets thrown at you when you start. Being relatable has been a big part of our success.
I am certainly not special when it comes to running. I have made all the mistakes in the book and have spent so long on the bench injured as I was always doing it wrong.
When I took the idea to Simon, he was keen to get involved with the running community and help them get stronger – which ultimately will help them keep injuries at bay and improve their running.
Together we put together an awesome team of coaches to help with questions and give tips.
I wanted to create a community where you would feel good about sharing your one-mile run – whatever the pace. For me, that means showing up myself, being authentic, sharing the highs and the lows and celebrating every runner and every run.
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
Perfect your processes! When these are slick, things go so much smoother! From signing up to completing forms for medals. It can quickly get out of hand!
Shop around. Get several quotes for things. You can easily pay double on certain things like marketing materials if you go with the first thing you find.
Choose something and get that right before moving on to something else. In hindsight, we might have left our Virtual Run Challenges a little longer to concentrate on The Inside Track membership as you start to spread yourself too thin with your messaging.
On the plus side, this has given us some great exposure with the community posting their achievements and their medals.
That I would end up eating, sleeping and breathing my business. There are so many elements when you start a business and as soon as you get the opportunity, start to outsource the stuff you don’t want to do or can get done by someone that can do it quicker or better than you.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help – if you don’t ask the answer is always NO.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
There are plenty of days when I am doubting myself. I think that happens to many entrepreneurs. I still find it hard to even see myself that way!
My younger self would be worried about what people thought of her… I no longer worry about that. I put myself out there, look silly more times than not and it’s ok.
To the people that doubted me? All I can say is that I’m still here doing it… and most importantly, loving what I do!
We’re nearly halfway through our interview so it’s a great time to ask how does your business run. What three tools make your business run better?
I don’t think I could live without Canva! It’s just the best thing for putting together great content for everything! From website blogs, social media posts and even merchandise.
Having the Pro subscription is a must!
JotForm is a great tool for us with our sign ups for our running medals and collecting information for our programmes.
Content Cal is my go-to for scheduling social media across all our platforms and is great to re-use evergreen content and planning on multiple channels.
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
That I would end up eating, sleeping and breathing my business. There are so many elements when you start a business and as soon as you get the opportunity, start to outsource the stuff you don’t want to do or can get done by someone that can do it quicker or better than you.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help – if you don’t ask the answer is always NO.
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
We were awarded the #SBS award (Small Business Sunday) from Theo Paphitis in the first few months of our launch.
It was incredible to be acknowledged for our business idea and how we are helping the new runner out there.
I also need to mention when we attended our first National Running Show. I took a step back when I was at the National Running Show in September at our stand full of our running medals and merchandise and couldn’t quite believe that this had all come from an idea on a run!
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
Our big focus is on getting people running – and giving them the belief that they can do it. I would like to take this into secondary schools and work with teacher and children on the benefits of running both physically and mentally.
To run the London Marathon is on my bucket list!
To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Don’t spend time waiting for everything to be perfect… perfect is overrated. Just do it!
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Start Running – Stay Running”
To learn more about Start Running – Stay Running Visit www.startrunningstayrunning.co.uk
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