Elizabeth & Dale are the co-founders of Sweats & The City, ORRO and most recently, theheard. They launched Sweats & The City when they saw a gap in the market for boutique fitness studio reviews. This has since grew to their own fitness app, ORRO, which hosts hundreds of hand-picked instructors, all for one monthly price of $19 and their self-care and wellness recommendation app, theheard - where you can find the best providers in your city.

**Photo Credits:** **Lindy Lin Photography**

What inspired Sweats & The City?

Sweats & The City was created out of a shared need for a fitness community. We were roommates at the time and really into exploring NYC's booming boutique fitness scene. When we got home from work at the end of each day, we’d talk about the fitness classes we had tried. We both sought a review platform to give us honest insights into all these classes: how sweaty we’d get from workouts if they had showers and blowdryers, who had the best instructors, and so on. Because we couldn’t find a review site, we decided to write our own reviews and send them out to our friends. Eventually, we put them on a blog, and Sweats & The City was born!

Can you explain the ORRO App?

ORRO is a virtual fitness + self-care app that we created as a product of the pandemic. At the time, we were running around NYC, reviewing studios as our business's bread and butter. Once the pandemic hit, we—along with the rest of the world— started exploring our virtual options for work. We noticed a trend in virtual fitness: some incredible instructors had started their own methods + platforms, and some had lost their studio jobs and wanted to continue teaching. Since we had spent years cultivating our community, we thought to give them a platform to share their amazing workouts and reach a wider audience. We also knew so many platforms already existed; consumers don’t want to subscribe to multiple platforms, they want a curated, one-stop shop. On top of that, people want a curated schedule to ease the decision-making around their workouts and self-care. With years of experience reviewing classes and seeking out the best studios and instructors, we put our heads together and created a platform and app to encompass all of the above. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial here!

What’s your go-to healthy snack?

Dale: It changes by the week! But as we enter the fall season, I love having a sliced honey crisp apple with my homemade apple dip! The dip is yogurt, peanut butter, a little maple syrup, and cinnamon.

Eliz: I'm a huge cereal girl lately. I love to combine Seven Sundays, Purely Elizabeth Granola, fruit, raw almonds, or whatever I have with almond or cashew milk.

What is your favorite workout?

Dale: Variety is definitely the name of the game for me, so I could never stick to just one! However, I always love a good mat pilates, or mat sculpt class.

Eliz: Virtually, a 30-minute mat Pilates class. IRL, a reformer class.

How has creating SWEATS & THE CITY personally impacted/benefitted you?

Dale: Sweats & The City really changed how I view health and fitness for my mind and body. Experiencing and reviewing several different fitness methods, wellness trends, and eating styles has led me to figure out what works best for me. I also have really come to a great place of balance from a lot of exploration.

Eliz: From a job perspective, Sweats & The City has shown me that you can 100% create and work your dream job—if you're not currently doing what you love, that dream job does exist! And personally, like Dale, it's allowed me to carve out my own unique recipe for feeling my best: food, fitness, self-care practices, meditation, all of it.

What are your future intentions/plans for your career?

We built different aspects of Sweats & The City to make fitness and health more accessible and convenient for our community, and we plan to keep doing that! We launched ORRO in January, and our healthy prepared meal delivery service, Nourish, just a few months after. Most recently, we co-founded a new, exciting project: theheard! This app is where all our city recommendations live: from our favorite lymphatic drainage massages, to fitness studios, to facials, doctors, and so much more. It's the ultimate destination to find and share recommendations!

What advice would you give to someone that wants to make a healthier lifestyle change?

Start with one small change. Think of it more as what you can easily add to your lifestyle, rather than what you have to remove. Maybe it’s adding in a 10-minute walk, going to bed before 11, or eating an extra serving of veggies. The key is to avoid drastic life changes that aren't sustainable. Instead, look for small, sustainable habits that you can apply long-term. This prevents burnout and creates lasting change! □