Community Builders Speak Series: Do Everything with Heart. Because if you don’t, then there is no meaning to it.

This Community Builders Speak Series was inspired by the first article I wrote a couple of weeks back on The What, Why and How of Community Building. I have had the privilege to meet amazing people in the fitness and wellness space in the last two years and I wanted to highlight what these self-employed individuals understood as Community Building and how they were building Community in their respective businesses.

I am hoping that by speaking to these entrepreneurs/business owners and sharing their story, it can bring greater relevance to others, and will inspire and motivate others to understand the true meaning of Community Building, from a non-social services and non-sales angled approach.

Many are already building Community with their client and follower base, but they do not even know it! This series is for you to learn from different individuals in different stages of their entrepreneurial and Community building journey, and apply it to our own situations, and hopefully reap the benefits from it.

Sofie Chandra & Eugene Lim – Adidas Runners Singapore

Today I speak to Sofie and Eugene, who are extremely active in the running Community, having started The High Panthers, and being the pioneers (and creators) of the very popular Adidas Runners Singapore Community.

Below is our conversation that has been transcribed and edited for you.

Tell me more about yourself and your business 

Sophie started Studio 155 and I she is my boss. We are a content creation agency and our mission is to create, curate and customize for our clients. 

I started The High Panthers eight years ago to raise funds and awareness for charities not in the media spotlight. Members of the Community have come and gone, but the number of active members are now about sixty.

We are also part of a global movement called the Adidas Runners, which were predominately started and maintained by creatives. We represent the brand to lead the team of creators for weekly on-ground as well as online engagements and initiatives. This has been around for three years.

What is your understanding of Community?

Community is what brings like-minded people together. We do it for humanity, compassion and love.

Everyone needs to be aligned in the same direction and have the same vision to be headed towards from the beginning.

The High Panthers (THP) and Adidas Runners (AR) both have similar goals of bringing people who enjoy running or want to know more about running, together. Both are about building Community from ground-up. The agendas might be different, for example THP is to raise funds and awareness for charities whereas AR is brand-led and to raise awareness for the Adidas brand, but the goal of bringing the Community together is the same. And that’s why they have been successful.

What were the challenges you faced when initially starting the Community?

When we first started AR, it was a huge responsibility to undertake because Adidas as a brand wanted to start the run club and we were the ones who were sort of like tasked to make it work. There was also a lot of anticipation and somewhat fear because the potential we knew was immense and yet there was the unknown of something we had never done before. When its brand-led the stakes are higher and therefore more stressful!

But three years on and we’ve moved from the initial 10 pax to a pre-covid oversubscribed 100 plus runners per week. So there has been success.

The challenges were very operational and on-the-ground. It was figuring out frequency of runs, logistics of location and safety, as well as figuring out the format and ways to communicate information.

We had the privilege to see how things were done in other countries where AR had already been set up to try to incorporate those processes into the Singapore context and culture.

How did you get feedback to know what the Community was looking for?

For Adidas Runners:

We spend quite a lot of time on-the-ground to talk to different people. Some message us privately to feedback on what they want or how things could have been done differently or better. One of the main feedbacks we got from many people was that they wanted to join the sessions but felt intimidated because they were too new as runners, or that they did not know anyone. Other very real questions and concerns included running pace, as well as running ability. 

But in general, the consensus was that people wanted to join the AR Community because of everyone’s perception of it. So apart from it being brand-led by Adidas, which is an international powerhouse, we were doing something right.

Because the response was always so overwhelming, we had to implement a balloting system. This was more for logistics reasons. It was good to maintain that exclusivity but did rub others the wrong way saying that we were being too elitist. But of course, we were not, and anyone who has come for our sessions will know that and can attest to it. 

But I think it is important to know that Community does not equal to everybody! We cannot please everyone. But if we know who and what this Community is for, we will then be able to build from there. The message must be clear and consistent, and the Community must subscribe to those agendas and believes.

We must keep to the agenda and goals to why the Community was started for in the first place, but then also listen to feedback and input from the members, to tweak and adjust accordingly.

For The High Panthers: 

It has been eight years with THP and things have changed slightly in terms of operations. More people have joined to give different opinions, but our main focus and goal has not changed although things might now be phrased or said differently. We’ve had to edit the description a few times these years but by and large the core remains the same.

We are still a ground-up passion project with no revenue, so we rely mostly on resources from sponsors, partners or people from the Community. 

The main challenge has been to manage the growth of the Community and deciding the next line of leaders and facilitators. In the course of the eight years, we have been meeting more people and learning how other run groups/clubs do it. They appoint captains! 

Another challenge is that because all individuals in the Community are not paid for their work, responsibilities assigned are not a priority. Even so, sometimes work is not of highest quality, or timelines are not met. They simply are not motivated to go over and beyond the role, as opposed to if they were a salaried employee.

What rules do you set to ensure sustainability? 

Having the right people in the Community is important, because this helps with succession. The people need to believe in what the Community is doing, or what the founders of the Community were trying to build from the beginning.

The question on how to develop that ownership comes from having alignment of goals. How vested the members are in the goals and agenda of the Community determines how committed they will be. They should be doing what they’re doing not for anyone else in the Community, but for the believe in what the Community stands for.

Another way to ask this question would be, “What are the ties that hold the Community together to stay committed?”. It boils down to each individual, and how he/she identifies with the Community.

But we also have to accept the fact that the group or Community might not stay around forever. If there is no more ownership and alignment with the initial goals, then there will be no succession, and therefore the Community will have to disband and move on separately.

How do you measure growth of your Community? 

I think numbers definitely are a good way to show growth, so the size of the group or Community. How strong or engaged the Community is, and the number of active versus non-active members because people come and go.

But most importantly it is the impact and influence on people outside of the Community that shows the growth of the Community. It might seem intangible to measure impact and influence, but I’ll share a campaign we did with THP to push out virtual runs during the circuit breaker.

We invited members of THP to map out hearts with their runs and post it on social media. This act of solidarity for support surprised us and made us realise that we are all “closer” than we think we are. Runners and people who were not part of the THP Community also participated in this engagement exercise and the word spread to so many others through the different social channels.

On a personal note, getting personal feedback and texts on how a campaign or initiative had helped someone, is also meaningful enough for us to put a high value or number to the measure of Community!

What advice would you give to those wanting to start a Community? 

I think it’s important to understand what’s your purpose and what you are doing it for? What you want to achieve out of it? Once you have a good grasp of it, everything else more or less falls in place.

Have thick-enough-skin because and don’t be too bothered with what others might be thinking or saying. Know the value you want to give and that you can actually give.

Understand that the bigger the group, the more problems you will have, so know how big you want to be and anticipate the problems that come with that big idea or grand plans.

Put guidelines in place to be a part of the Community. This is not to be exclusive or elitist, but it’s about protecting everyone else in the Community. Having the respect for partners and sponsors that support the Community. If someone does not fit or adhere to the guidelines, then he/she is booted out or not included in the Community.

Lastly, don’t beat yourself up over it if the Community dies a natural death. There is absolutely no harm in starting what you are passionate about. It is ok to just do and fail. Your ego might be bruised, or you might have some judgement from societal pressure, but if you haven’t had much financial investment, learn to accept and embrace it, and then move on.

Parting Words

Do everything with heart. Because if you don’t then there is no meaning to it.

About Alex Loh

I am a consultant and coach in the fitness, health and wellness space, business owner, loving husband and doting father.

My compass is guided by the desire to help people. I help individuals and business owners to find purpose. Together we unlock fruitful solutions, experience growth and achieve targeted success. Having successfully built and maintained communities over the years, my focus is to help businesses and organisations harness community as the vehicle to connect, and build credibility, trust and authentic relationships.

Come speak to me about Developing Wellness Strategies, Finding Purpose, Building Communities and/or in Optimising your Life! 

Photos from Eugene & Sofie Instagram accounts