Why I decided to build in public

We haven’t opened our doors yet. No smoothies are being blended. No customers are walking through the door. And yet, it already feels like we’ve built something.

If you had told me a year ago that I’d be filming behind-the-scenes content and sharing all of this on TikTok instead of spending my days in Excel spreadsheets, I would’ve laughed.

But here we are. The fit out works for our first Elevate location is being completed this week. And as surreal as it feels to say that, we’re officially opening our doors on 23 June 2025.

But this post is not about the launch. It’s about what came before, and the decision I made six months ago that felt absolutely cringe, and deeply uncomfortable:

I started building in public.

Before we had a physical store. Before customers could buy our product. Before our website even looked remotely professional. And somehow, sharing the messy unfiltered bits, changed everything.

When I left my job in Private Equity to build Elevate, I had a vision, a personal reason for starting, and a very real desire to do things differently but I had no clue on how to approach social media and most importantly I didn’t want to share anything that would not be a ‘finished product’ as I was afraid of what people would think.

I was building something I wished existed. A brand that makes healthy eating feel exciting, not restrictive. A place where you can grab something that’s both delicious and genuinely good for you, and you know you can trust.

And I figured… maybe I’m not the only one looking for that?

So after months of putting it off, I finally caved and posted. It was a TikTok post sharing my story with unfiltered pictures, the kind of thing that made me cringe even thinking about sharing it. I almost didn’t.

But it took off. Nearly a million views in a couple of days.

I couldn’t believe it. Suddenly, DMs were flooding in. Comments from strangers saying, “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I can’t wait for you to open. This actually feels different.”

That’s when it hit me, people don’t just care about the final product. They care about the process. The real stuff. They want to feel part of something that’s being built, not just marketed to.

Somewhere along the way, our community grew close to 12,000 people across TikTok and Instagram, before we even opened.

Organically, no big ad spend. Just showing up consistently. Being honest. Letting people in.

And now, as we get closer to launch, those early supporters, the ones who’ve followed since the first awkward video feel like part of the team. Like early believers. Founding members of whatever this becomes.

It’s made every slightly embarrassing post 100% worth it.

If you’re building something and you’re waiting until it’s “ready” to share, let this be your reminder that ready is a moving target. You don’t need perfect branding, a finished product, or a polished script to start showing up.

You just need to be honest. People connect to people, not perfection.

We’re not open yet but something real is already being built. And if you’d like to see how it looks IRL, you can come to our soft launch by booking here.

If you’ve followed, commented, shared a post, or even just watched from the side lines, thank you. You’ve helped turn this from an idea into something that’s actually happening.