Groups of ladies go to downtown Austin to stroll with strangers as the sun rises or sets. By forming new friendships and spending time with their existing ones, these women establish their own small community.
No Girl Walks Alone is a women’s walking club founded by Maddie Scales in August 2022. It offers free walking groups every Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. On August 13, the club will celebrate its third birthday with a celebratory walk that will feature food trucks, permanent jewelry, and pre-walk flash tattoos.
“It was really important to me all along to be a consistent place for people,” Scales said, referring to the several community groups. We mean it when we claim that we are there every Wednesday at the same time (and) location. On Christmas, we went for a walk—and we walked in the rain.
According to attendee Mikaylee Supak, the absence of opportunities to network after graduation can make it challenging to venture out. But the club has a wide variety of people with different characteristics, so it’s not hard to make friends. According to Supak, meeting people at a walk club feels more deliberate than at a run club.
“You can have real, not out-of-breath conversations when you’re running instead of when you’re walking,” Supak added. Thus, it’s excellent for meeting new individuals. The walk club is how all of the girls in my friend circle met each other here in Austin.
Many individuals, like attendee Alyssa Inch, found this club through a TikTok post, which showcases videos of Austin and its residents’ lifestyles. Inch discovered this all-girl walking club when looking for things to do in Austin after moving here.
Everyone was essentially in the same situation. According to Inch, they had recently moved and hoped to meet some new individuals or at least form a good group. We had a group of five girls strolling together at the conclusion of the first walk. I still hang out with those girls today, and that was a really rapid method to make friends.
In addition to helping girls meet new people, No Girl Walks Alone wants to make downtown walking safe for them. Even though Austin is a large city, Scales claimed that walking in groups fosters a sense of camaraderie among women who feel safe in their homes. Although it can be unsettling to walk alone, Scales asserted that there is strength in numbers.
According to Scales, this club is a friendly method to meet new people and gives members more self-assurance that they deserve love, companionship, and a sense of belonging just the way they are. To achieve this degree of belonging, they don’t need to alter anything about themselves. There is a lot of love to give as well. People arrive ready to make connections, which fosters a sense of community and improves mental health.
