HI BESTIESSSS! WELCOME BACK, this week we are joined with Anna Olson! Anna is an event planner both professionally and personally, a photography hobbyist, and a girl with a tiktok & Instagram account that she uses to connect adults in Atlanta: ATL FRIENDS. ATL Friends is a place where creatives can meet each other and collab, though not exclusive to the creative community.

This week we talk the origin story of ATL FRIENDS… and how this all started from just a tiktok. The first tiktok didn’t get traction for a few week then leading to the first meet up of a solid group of 100+ people from tiktok

Anna talks how this community was tarted this community on “accident” but was actually fate. It may have started as an accident she was really equipped with the right tools to keep it going through what she does at work.

This week we talk living in her purpose. She had a great job and great friends but something was missing.We talk how hard it is to make friends as an adult. Atl friends was birthed out of a place of crippling loneliness and it has evolved into a beautiful community.If you are struggling with loneliness and wanting friends and are living in Atlanta ATL Friends is a new space for you.

Anna founded the group and now there are a group of leaders who help make people feel welcome. They understand how it can feel to walk up into a group of 100+ people. Anna encourages you to checkout the instagram/facebook/discord to get connected virtually before your first in person meet up if you are feeling anxious to just show up. It can be scary but rest assured Atl friends is a very inclusive and accepting diverse group of people and every type of person you can imagine.

We talk about vulnerability and how vulnerability can lead to incredible life changes. When you share about your life you will be able to connect with others. we are all better together and all struggle. People feel so alone with life and think they can’t share and open up, but there’s power that comes from your vulnerability.

We talk her heart for people and where it comes from. Part of it comes from her Mom. It makes her feel fulfilled to help others feel better. It shows up in Atl friends, her work, her personal life, and many other areas. She thinks it’s hard to be human and the human experience is hard but if we can band together it make the experience better.

We talk exponential growth from tiktok and ATL SCOOP. We talk building her team and knowing when she couldn’t handle things on her own.She talks what an Atl friends meet up is like, how the ATL Friends community has grown in such a short period of time, we talk collaborations, dream collabs, and how all of this has forced her and her team to be innovative.

Anna Is beautiful inside and out. Its a true testament to growth and change. She birthed this community from one of the darkest times in her life, and now she has become the beacon of hope to others struggling with loneliness.

The best is yet to come. If you are in Atlanta or the Atlanta area and need friends, hi bestie, we’re here for you :) 

instagram.com/tanatalkspodcast

instagram.com/atlfriends

ATL FRIENDS DISCORD: https://discord.com/invite/w3dH3XpTea