This is as-told based on the conversation with Megan Roupfounder and CEO The Sculpt Societya digital fitness and wellness company headquartered in Los Angeles. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In my 20s, I struggled with body image and negative self-talk. I feel so many women can relate.
I live in New York City, and the fitness world seems to focus on long, intense workouts, and the messaging doesn’t support it. The community I’m looking for doesn’t exist.
I started The Sculpt Society in 2017 as a place where women could come for approachable movement classes, and feel supported.
Sometimes, only two people show up for class. But I know that if I have one person in the class and can influence how they feel about their body and confidence, they will tell their friends, and word will spread.
That’s what happened: My class was full, and we grew on social media.
In 2019, I launched The Sculpt Society app as my online community expanded and digital fitness began to grow.
Currently, I am based in Los Angeles. As the business has grown, I have grown with it. I just turned 40, and we opened our midlife program to create an open, honest conversation about perimenopause and menopause. I want to take my community with me through every stage of life.
Today, we offer 1,000 on-demand classes and specialized programs for every stage of life, including bridal, prenatal, postpartum, and now midlife. Membership is $24.99 a month or $189.99 annually. We have over 350,000 members worldwide.
Sculpt Society’s midlife program offers fitness and educational content. Courtesy of Megan Roup
Empowering women during midlife
The midlife program was launched in February. It includes online workouts for women over 40 that incorporate strength training, mobility, deep core, pelvic floor, cardio – everything you need in midlife.
The program also features doctor-led conversations, educating women about what happens to their bodies in perimenopause and menopause, including bone density, nutrition, sexual fitness, and mental health.
We have a symptom support feature that lets you choose a move based on how you’re feeling that day, whether you’re low on energy, experiencing mood swings, or having trouble sleeping.
Before launching the midlife program, we conducted a test program to get member feedback. We shared a Google Form on an Instagram story, which generated hundreds of responses. Others visit our customer support email, expressing interest in participating. They were very excited. We asked them what they liked about it and what they’d like to see more of.
My goal is to empower women to feel confident at every stage – that’s really me.
But from a business perspective, I think midlife is an underserved market. There are many women who are looking specifically for movement programs for this phase of life. I hope we can be there to support them as they search for it.
Roup says his team interacts with his community through social media, DMs, and email. Courtesy of Megan Roup
Stay in touch with our community
Another initiative we launched in January is called Gizi, which includes recipes that women can make at home. We also partnered with registered dietitians and certified intuitive eating counselors to create a food freedom guide, offering guidance to help women shift their mindsets around food.
Everything we do comes from a direct line to our community. We always listen to their needs and what they want.
They interact with us on social media. I talk to members by DM, and they email us. Our app has a community platform where members can chat and connect with each other.
I’ve been paying attention to this conversation, and I’ve seen all the comments on the training videos we’ve posted. Our community is really loud in the best way possible, and they know we’re listening. They feel seen and heard.
I am truly passionate about bringing our programs to life and listening to our community. I’m building a practice and community that I look forward to in my 20s. When I hear from members and see the impact I can make in their lives, that is the most rewarding thing.