How Bijvoet sisters merge business, technology and exercise to improve mental health with Wellnamic

How Bijvoet sisters merge business, technology and exercise to improve mental health with Wellnamic

U of T students and sisters, Edina, Nicola and Ronesca Bijvoet, create digital solutions with a dynamic approach to wellness 

-- article by Jenefer Savoeung, published August 24th, 2022

Edina, Nicola, and Ronesca Bijvoet are active sisters, who spent their youth in training studios preparing for dance competitions and now, after university, at pitch and startup competitions. Edina, the eldest sister, is a University of Toronto (U of T) Kinesiology graduate and is an incoming Masters of Science candidate at U of T's Mental Health and Physical Activity Research Centre. Nicola is a third-year student at Rotman Commerce with a minor in Computer Science and she also works in Products & Technology at PwC. Ronesca, the youngest sister, is in her first year of the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at the University of Toronto. Each sister brings a different perspective and set of skills, ranging from health sciences, business, computer science and technology to their venture, Wellnamic.

Exercising an Idea

“It’s kind of fun that I can like actually tie [the start of Wellnamic] to a moment,” Edina says in an online interview, describing a memorable third-year lecture at King's College Circle. In this class, Edina connected to research studies on how exercise can improve mental health. “In some cases, it was just as effective [as] antidepressants, and I was very impressed with that,” Edina says. She couldn’t ignore the objective data behind how exercise can improve wellness and shared the studies with her sisters. 

“When Edi brought the idea to me, I thought: “Can we take this idea and can we innovate it into something that we can actually use to help people?” Nicola says. Her primary role at Wellnamic is business strategy and finding ways to make their idea accessible to average consumers. “I love that [Wellnamic] connects my love for technology and innovation with health and exercise,” Ronesca says. Ronesca offers a technological perspective to the group and creates mock-ups and designs envisioning what Wellnamic can do, “[everything] was really collaborative,” she adds. 

The Power of Three

“I would never have thought, to be honest, to do [Wellnamic] with other people, because I think we always have had a really strong family unit,” Edina says. Recently, in 2020, the Bijvoet sisters applied for and won the U of T COVID-19 Student Engagement award for their science web series for kids that explain science concepts related to COVID-19, called Coronavirus Uncovered . 

“We’ve kind of [been] working together from the start,” Nicola says, comparing their experience to when they had regular performances as competitive dancers. The Bijvoet sisters have been in dance competitions from ages three, five and six until entering university. Nicola explains that competitive dance and the process of creating a start-up share similarities, “we learned how to build something up for it to be ready to go, whether it be to the market or the competition,” she says. 

Edina adds that their closeness also helps them face certain stresses and challenges together, “so we can bring up conflicts and stuff, and then we'll you know hug and make up right afterwards.” Nicola adds that her sisters are a safe space to share ideas, “there's really no barriers,” she smiles. “I [also] feel really lucky that we're all in different disciplines [that] compliment each other really well,” Edina says. 

Caring for the Body and Mind

“Despite being an active person, I'm not saying I always want to work out,” Edina admits, “but since that lecture [I would say to myself,] 'you know I’ll probably feel like a lot happier, and my day will probably go a lot better' I thought.” Edina shares that this change in mindset helped her see that exercise builds resilience, helps one manage stress and maintain wellness. “Being dancers, we never really saw exercise as like a weight loss tool,” Nicola adds, “it was more of a lifestyle type of thing and just something that made us feel good, and we'd love to bring that to other people as well.”

Wellnamic is a digital solution 'motivated for activity' and incorporates features that encourage habit-tracking and seeking long-term progress through gamification. “If you satisfy certain parameters within the exercise,” Nicola says, “then, that can lead to these positive changes that we're seeing in the brain, these chemical changes.” Wellnamic provides users with personalized exercise prescriptions, coaching and support, community, and coping protocols, which are all presented in a gamified platform that promotes social connectivity and self-reflection. The platform includes community engagement, where users can also interact and compete with friends. 

Users also have avatars which “allows [them] to feel personally connected to their journey,” Nicola says, noting inspiration from digital pets/avatars in games like Tamagotchi and Webkinz. “[In some cases] people take better care of their online personas better then they take care of themselves,” Nicola adds.

Mental Health Today

Wellnamic has a strong focus on younger users, who gravitate towards digital platforms and mobile solutions. “Young people have been very much affected by the recent [COVID-19] pandemic, [in] not being able to have the types of social interactions that you're supposed to have when you are growing and developing,” Edina says. 

Through media, newer generations have been having more conversations about mental health but there are still many cultural and sociological barriers to wellness. “Something that we covered a lot in kinesiology was barriers to exercise,” Edina says, explaining their goals to create an affordable platform, where users require minimal resources and can easily exercise at home. Wellnamic also uses objective data and research to create simple and useful programming. “At the end of the day, we really do want to have a social impact and help as many people as possible,” Edina says, “We don't want to only help...upperclassman. We would always have an alternative for as many people as possible, across many different communities.” 

Edina says the process of building Wellnamic has been highly iterative with encouragement, guidance, and support from start-up incubators UTSC The Hub and The Hatchery. In January 2022, the trio presented and won top 5 in the Hub’s annual Startup Intake Pitch Competition, where they were awarded seed funding to grow their idea. “Ultimately, we are focusing on [developing] this gamified digital tool to bring exercise to the hands of consumers for the overarching goal of wellness and mental health,” Edina says. The Bijvoet sisters continue to grow their individual skillsets to help them tackle and grow Wellnamic together.

 

Join Wellnamic’s journey at https://www.wellnamic.com/ and contact the team at info@wellnamic.com

 

More of Wellnamic’s Founders: Edina, Nicola and Ronesca Bijvoet