When Ania Wysocka was away at college, removed from her help community and primarily on her personal, she began affected by panic assaults. Her first intuition was to make use of her telephone to assist soothe her, however she couldn’t discover something useful.
Since Ania could not discover what she wanted, like many entrepreneurs, she got down to make her personal useful resource. The result’s Rootd, an app that gives aid for nervousness and panic assaults. It seems her thought resonated with others.
Not solely is that this her first enterprise, however it’s additionally, for probably the most half, a one girl present. Though she works with a couple of contractors on particular duties, she undertakes every little thing else herself. At present Rootd boasts greater than 2 million customers in over 150 international locations and Ania is incomes 5 figures per 30 days.
Maintain studying to seek out out:
- What precisely led her to create her app
- The method she adopted
- What the app entails
- The way it works precisely
- Her advertising and marketing methods
- How she approaches content material creation
- Why she translated the app
- The sources and instruments she makes use of
- Her best accomplishment
- What she needs she knew when she began
- Her greatest mistake
- Her recommendation for different entrepreneurs
Meet Ania Wysocka
Hiya, my title is Ania and I’m the founder and creator of Rootd, an app for nervousness and panic assault aid that I’ve bootstrapped to over 2 million customers in over 150 international locations.
Why She Created Rootd
Rootd got here to be on account of private expertise.
Like many individuals, I went by means of life considering that nervousness and panic assaults wouldn’t occur to me and that those that did expertise them have been just too “wired.”
However when my first panic assault got here out of nowhere throughout my last 12 months of college, I spotted that the misconceptions I had about nervousness and panic assaults have been incorrect.
I used to be distant from dwelling, on scholar loans, with no household physician, and I couldn’t discover or afford the help I wanted. My intuition was to succeed in for my telephone to seek out an app that might assist me course of what was occurring, however I couldn’t discover something.
The best way you perceive panic assaults after they first strike can have a huge effect in your therapeutic course of.
How She Created Rootd
As soon as I’d executed the analysis and found the methods and techniques wanted to handle and overcome my panic assaults and nervousness, I knew I needed to make use of this data mixed with my graphic design abilities to create a useful resource for others in a format tailor-made extra in the direction of my demographic.
The idea for Rootd was shaped as paper and marker notes, illustrations, and wireframes in my pocket book. In the future I created a disgruntled monster illustration and that little man has gone on to develop into Rootd’s mascot Ron, who serves as customers’ companion and supporter all through their journeys within the app.
After a ton of labor refining these concepts and navigating my very own journey with nervousness, my ardour for the concept of Rootd was too robust to disregard and I got down to convey it to life.
For model one, I turned the work in my notebooks into actual wireframes and mock-ups utilizing Photoshop. Then I discovered a student developer and labored with him to publish an app to the App Retailer and Google Play, which I launched on World Psychological Well being Day.
This primary model of the app had approach much less options and performance than the Rootd of right this moment, however what it did have was Rootd’s core values and elements of stigma-breaking design and accessibility.
Because it nonetheless is right this moment, the massive pink panic assault button was entrance and heart within the app and fully free to make use of.
Rootd began out with this very area of interest give attention to panic assault aid, which enabled it to right away resonate with customers and achieve 5-star critiques.
As I discussed, Rootd’s first model was launched on World Psychological Well being Day. This helped present it with a extremely clear story for a launch-day press launch.
How the App Works
While you open Rootd, you may first see the Rootr, a panic button to convey a swift finish to panic assaults based mostly on the newest methods in Cognitive Behavioural Remedy (CBT).
You may discover peace of thoughts by studying about the place nervousness comes from, how our our bodies and minds expertise panic assaults, and why this all is likely to be occurring to you inside Rootd’s classes.
You may apply respiratory, journaling, checking in and listening to visualizations, guided physique scans, ASMR, and nature sounds to get rooted when feeling anxious.
How A lot Cash Ania’s Making
The app is monetized utilizing a freemium subscription mannequin and I’m at the moment incomes 5 figures per 30 days.
I work on it lot of nights and weekends, however my ardour for my enterprise is so robust that I nonetheless get pleasure from this even when it’s tiring.
Her Important Advertising and marketing Technique
One beauty of the app shops is that after clicking “publish,” your product is straight away obtainable to each iPhone or Android proprietor internationally.
After all, they must find out about it to really obtain or use it, however the potential to put it of their fingers is taken care of.
Probably the most highly effective driver of progress thus far has been engaged on Rootd’s app retailer optimization, as this drives natural progress.
On the app shops, your key phrases, screenshots, description, rankings, critiques, downloads, app reliability, and extra all complement one another, so constructing a tremendous answer and clearly and attractively presenting it are just about important foundations.
We optimize all of these components to rank as excessive as doable inside the shops.
Her Content material Creation and Translation Course of
I’ve had success with discovering methods to create stories round Rootd.
Originally of every 12 months, I take out the calendar and plan what Rootd’s large story for every month will likely be.
For instance, October is World Psychological Well being Day and March is Worldwide Girls’s Day. Then each month I’m diligent about following by means of with new options, new in-app occasions, and new tales.
I’m continually working to make Rootd extra accessible for customers and addressing consumer wants in addition to a press launch to share the information.
The truth is, translating Rootd into Portuguese was one of many least “businessy” enterprise choices I had made. Somebody had despatched me a WHO article that had direct quotes from folks describing their private struggles with panic assaults and nervousness. I may relate to the quotes and determined to translate Rootd on a whim.
Years later, and Rootd has supported a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals throughout Brazil and Portugal. At present Rootd is offered in 10 totally different languages, and our different localizations have been additionally impressed by private experiences and messages from customers in numerous international locations the place the languages are spoken, and this ended up bringing loads of heartfelt testimonials from everywhere in the world.
There are occasions the place choices made by intestine intuition could be actually nice for the enterprise.
Ania’s Favourite Sources
I really like the “My First Million” podcast. It’s truly led me into a brand new neighborhood of fellow entrepreneurs and founders which has been an exquisite addition to my life, because the journey of a bootstrapped solo founder could be onerous and lonely.
Rootd truly received a shoutout on a current MFM episode which felt like coming full circle
Her High Instruments
Rootd is constructed utilizing Artistic Cloud, Figma, Trello, and the App Retailer and Google Play, amongst others.
Her Biggest Problem
Rootd is bootstrapped, and I constructed the primary model with just a few thousand {dollars}.
All my actions throughout the enterprise shared the theme of most influence for minimal value. Wanting again, that helped construct a tremendous basis for Rootd to thrive from.
Her Greatest Accomplishment
In the end, the factor that has labored greatest is having an intimate understanding of the issue and answer. I’ve lived with nervousness and panic assaults and I constructed the answer I wanted. Seems it’s an answer that hundreds of thousands of others resonate with, too.
I’ve discovered a ton. Rootd is my ardour most days, nights, and weekends, and I’ve given a lot of myself to it and it’s given a lot again.
To this point Rootd has been featured within the app shops greater than 100 occasions, been App of the Day and within the Developer Highlight in a number of international locations, and been featured in publications equivalent to Girls’s Well being, Time Journal, Healthline and extra.
What She Needs She Knew When She Began
Beneath are three issues I want I knew once I began out.
1. Keep away from attempting to mould your self into the “definition” of a pacesetter, as a result of this definition adjustments over time and is influenced by numerous elements. It’s significantly better to make use of your private strengths to steer than fear about wanting or appearing like the normal thought of a pacesetter.
2. Be as clear as doable in your administration, particularly in speaking your required deliverables, related timelines, and who needs to be answerable for every aspect. This reduces miscommunication and related frustration.
3. Deal with constructing one thing that helps your customers.
Her Important Mistake
My greatest mistake has undoubtedly been permitting the opinions of others weigh me down.
I used to let the doubt of others actually get to me as a result of it got here from individuals who had extra expertise underneath their belt and who, on paper, I knew I ought to look as much as. Whereas a few of these folks did have nice perception to share, I shortly discovered that we will solely actually know and supply recommendation on what we actually know.
None of them had launched an app within the well being and wellness house based mostly on private expertise and their doubts ended up being unfounded.
Ultimately, Rootd proved loads of these opinions incorrect, however I nonetheless remorse the time I spent doubting myself and Rootd once I heard them, and the way which will have impacted some choices I used to be making.
Her Recommendation for Different Entrepreneurs
It’s vital to have faith in your self and take a second to mirror on the place you’re in life, as a result of it’s doubtless you’ve already achieved many superb issues to get to the place you already are.
Additionally know that bootstrapping is totally a viable choice.
