A Virtual Collective For Womxn: Meet Cass Wendell, Founder of #GIRLGETAFTERIT

By Emily Merrell

Cass Wendell is making waves in the womxn space, from her #GIRLGETAFTERIT merchandise to a presence across the country. Montana based Cass is taking the virtual networking and community world by storm. Learn more about #GGAI’s offerings and what’s next for Cass.

SDS: As the founder of #GirlGetAfterIt, can you tell us what it is and what the words mean to you? 

CASS  WENDELL: #GIRLGETAFTERIT (or #GGAI for short) is a wellness community that brings womxn together through sweatworking events and gear that gives back. We host a variety of in-person and online events meant to change the way we do wellness. It’s never about the workouts we do or the food we eat. It’s about feeling supported by a girl squad that gets it. We also donate a portion of our sales to a new featured organization every quarter through our gear that gives back program. 

If I had to define what the words “girl, get after it” meant to me, it would be the feeling you get when you feel genuinely supported. When you find others who are in your corner and rooting for you no matter what, you feel as if you can literally accomplish anything. Getting after it is dreaming big, doing good and empowering your community to do the same. 

SDS: What inspired you to create a community like #GGAI? 

CW: When I was 22 years old (7 years ago – wow!), I lost my dad to a stroke. I became emotionally closed off and felt extremely isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world. I wasn’t truly resonating with anyone who was in my circle – so instead of searching for a squad, I created one. I started hosting monthly “sweatworking” events in my home community of Bozeman, Montana in hopes of connecting with other women who were interested in the same things as me: health, wellness and moving your body in a way that felt good. Turns out, other women were craving the same things.

SDS: What is one piece of advice you wish you had known when starting your business? 

CW: That’s it’s okay to create your own lane. When I first started out, I would look at what everyone else was doing and think that I had to fit into their mold in order to be successful. It wasn’t until I honed in on what I was good at, what I enjoyed doing and what made an impact that I truly felt like I could create a life and a business that would succeed.

SDS: What’s been your greatest “win” or accomplishment with the brand so far? What’s been the biggest challenge? 

CW: Oh my – that’s always such a hard question because as a Capricorn, I’m always thinking about what we haven’t accomplished yet. But, I will say that there have been some major cool wins along the way. We landed an Ecommerce Co-Brand Partnership with lululemon recently (one of the first Ecommerce-only brands to do so), we’ve hosted sweatworking events across the country (plus one in Canada!) and our in-person community has grown to five cities across the state of Montana (with more on the way soon.) And the biggest challenge? Asking for help. I’ve been a “solopreneur” for six years and always felt like I could achieve anything and everything that needed to get done. Oh, was I wrong. It wasn’t until this year that I started hiring contractors and team members to help me achieve our goals. It’s been epic ever since.

SDS: How do you see the #GGAI community expanding beyond the IRL events? 

CW: Eeek! Well, it’s been a big goal of mine to launch an online community creating a digital space for womxn empowering womxn. In 2021 we will be doing just that! We’ll be taking the vibe, feel and structure of our in-person sweatworking communities and bringing them to life in digital form. There will be movement, wellness, connection and community all while making an impact – in true #GGAI fashion.

SDS: Where can we find more information about your products and upcoming experiences? Anything we should be keeping our eyes out for in the future? 

CW: You can find our gear that gives back line-up on our website here! We’re always getting creative and releasing new designs. To stay in the know on all things #GGAI, I recommend hopping on our email list. We’re also big Instagram fans, and would love to connect with you at @girlgetafterit. Definitely keep an eye out for our Digital Squad – launching 2021!