Our Women’s Collective
We Built the Room
We've All Been Looking For.
By Bre Russell & Meredith MacLean · Co-Creators, FemThrive Collective
I have a question for you.
How many networking events have you attended in the last two years? How many breakfasts, panels, luncheons, happy hours, and women's circles? And of all of those how many times did you walk away feeling like you'd actually made a connection?
For most women I talk to, the answer is rarely. Or never.
Not because the people weren't great. But because the format was never designed to create anything real. You get 45 seconds to introduce yourself (or walk around the room trying to insert yourself into conversations to introduce yourself). You exchange cards. You go home and follow up with no one.
We didn't want to fix networking. We wanted to build something so different that the word 'networking' doesn't even apply.
That's what Meredith MacLean and I set out to build when we created the FemThrive Collective. And today, I'm thrilled to share that it's real, it's open, and our very first event is just around the corner.
What Is the FemThrive Collective?
The FemThrive Collective is a private, referral-only membership community for women founders and women in business built on three things that most communities get wrong.
✦ Access You Can't Get Anywhere Else
We don't hold events in hotel conference rooms or co-working spaces. The Collective opens doors to extraordinary venues and experiences that most people only dream about like Wing & Barrel Ranch, SF Yacht Club, member only wine estates, poolside afternoons at beautiful private clubs. Novelty is the fastest path to genuine connection. When you do something unforgettable together, you become unforgettable to each other.
✦ Experiences Designed for Real Connection
Every event we host is intentionally designed to move you from stranger to someone's person not through sit down dinners or name tags, through shared experience, movement, laughter, and the kind of conversation that happens naturally when you're doing something new alongside someone else.
We call it the holistic container: wellness and ambition in the same room, depth alongside delight. You leave every Collective gathering knowing more about the women in that room than you would after a dozen traditional networking events.
✦ A Membership That Actually Means Something
You cannot simply sign up for the FemThrive Collective. You must apply and be referred by a current member. Every application is personally reviewed. Every new member is vouched for.
The result is a circle of women who show up differently; more openly, more generously, more honestly because the trust was established before anyone ever walked through the door.
The right room changes everything. We protect ours.
Meet My Co-Creator: Meredith MacLean
Every great thing I've built has had heart at the center of it. For the Collective, that heart is Meredith MacLean.
Meredith is the Executive Events lead at Salesforce, which means she designs and produces world-class experiences for a living. She knows what makes a room feel different the moment you walk in. She understands the details that turn a good event into something people talk about for years. Meredith is also a former Raiderette now turned incredibly fit Pilates, fitness, and line dancing instructor!
When Meredith and I started talking about what the Collective could become, something clicked immediately. Her expertise in executive event production combined with my decade of work advising women founders and building communities created exactly the right partnership.
She brings the heart. I bring the architecture. Together we're building something neither of us could have built alone and I am endlessly grateful she said yes to this.
Our Founding Members
Every great community has a founding cohort, the women who believe before there's anything to see. Ours is extraordinary. These are the women who said yes first:
Maren Bean - Owner, XCore Pilates (Novato, Petaluma, San Anselmo)
Olia Rosenblatt - Owner, Mishka Dog Cakes
Anj Ahearn - Attorney / General Counsel, Tia Women's Healthcare
Amanda Luu - Event Floral & Scenic Design, Studio Mondine
Alissa Miky - Founder & CEO, Aqua Theon / OoMee
Kristel Acacio - Founder & Executive Coach, Reverie Leadership Coaching
Jessica Callahan - Staff Program Leader, Strategic Initiatives at Sunrun
Steph Brown - Personal Stylist & Owner, SB Styles
Julia Boyce - Nurse Practitioner
Melisandra Campos - Owner & Dance Instructor at Bayside Dancing
Roberta Marcos, Sr. Finance Manager at Dialpad, CEO at TGA
Catherine Gunarso, Owner of The Shack Ice Cream and Founder of Everlace Design Co
Kelsey Phelps, Medical Director of Rural Health at Petaluma Health Center
Founders. Executives. Coaches. Attorneys. Creatives. Leaders. These women in business are everything the Collective is and everything it's becoming. We are beyond honored to have them in the room with us.
Our First Event: Pilates & Pinot
The moment we've been building toward is finally here. Our very first FemThrive Collective event is happening on July 10th and we could not have dreamed up a better way to kick off this season.
🥂 Pilates & Pinot
📅 Friday, July 10, 2026 🕐 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
📍 XCore Pilates, Novato, CA
Join us at XCore Pilates in Novato, at the beautiful studio of our Collective Founding Member Maren Bean, for an energizing Pilates class followed by wine, bites, and the kind of curated conversation that actually goes somewhere. This is the first time the full Collective will be in the same room together. Come ready to move, connect, and celebrate something that's been a long time coming. This event is free for Collective members.
The Partners Making It Happen
We didn't just want sponsors for our first event. We wanted partners; women-owned/led businesses, local makers, and brands whose values match what we're building here. We are beyond proud to introduce the incredible businesses showing up for Pilates & Pinot.
🤸 XCore Pilates · @xcorepilatesnovato
Our home for the night.
Our very first Collective event is hosted by none other than Founding Member Maren Bean, who opened the doors of her beautiful XCore Pilates studio in Novato for the occasion. Maren has built something special at XCore: a high-energy, results-driven Pilates experience with studios across Marin and Sonoma. Hosting our first event in her space is not just a venue choice. It's a statement about what this community is built on: women supporting women from day one.
🍷 Larson Family Winery · @larsonfamilywinery
Five generations of Sonoma wine - and the pinot to prove it.
The Larson Family has been farming their land in Sonoma's Carneros region since 1877 long before Sonoma wine was fashionable. Today their 77-acre estate produces award-winning wines that are sold exclusively at the winery, through their wine club, and online. Their motto, 'We drink what we can, and sell the rest', tells you everything you need to know. We are thrilled to have Larson Family Winery wines at the pinot at Pilates & Pinot. Carneros estate wine, women in business, and a Pilates class. This is exactly the kind of evening we had in mind.
🧀 Chef Nef's Charcuterie · @chefnefscharcuterie
The community built one beautiful board at a time.
Nefty is a former chef at Airbnb's San Francisco headquarters who traded the corporate kitchen for something more personal and more meaningful. Now a Marin local, she creates handcrafted charcuterie boards designed to bring people together. Her mission is to build community, relationships, and lasting memories through food which makes her a natural partner for an event built on exactly those same values. We could not be more excited to have her boards at our table.
✨ OoMee · @drinkoomee
Marine magic and a founding member story that gives us chills.
This one is extra special. OoMee, the award-winning marine plant beverage founded by our very own Collective Founding Member, Alissa Miky, is pouring at Pilates & Pinot. OoMee is a first-of-its-kind beverage powered by Seabiotics™, a proprietary blend derived from red seaweed and agar agar- an ingredient rooted in centuries of Japanese wellness tradition. With zero added sugar, 20 calories, and flavors like Strawberry Hibiscus, Blueberry Elderflower, and Peach Lemon, it's the kind of drink that makes you feel good from the inside out. Alissa was recently named to Forbes Japan's Top 100 Women, and OoMee was just awarded Best New Drink Concept at the 2025 Beverage Digest Awards beating out products from some of the biggest names in the industry. The brand is now in 700+ retail stores nationwide including Sprouts, Raley's, and Bristol Farms. We are so incredibly proud of Alissa and so honored she is a part of this community.
These aren't just sponsors. They're proof of what happens when women show up for each other.
What's Coming Next
Pilates & Pinot is just the beginning. Here's what the rest of the 2026 season looks like for Collective members:
Float & Flourish: August 16th, Rolling Hills Bay Club, Novato (poolside afternoon, curated connection, summer vibes)
Rodeo & Revelry: September 19th, at Wing & Barrel Ranch, Sonoma County (a special day for our group including Rodeo activities, BBQ, live music and line dancing)
Chart Your Course: October 2026, SF Yacht Club (sailing the Bay with women who are charting bold paths in every sense of the word under the sky during fleet week)
Plus monthly wellness events, the Guest Speaker Series, private wine tastings, and more. All curated, all intentional, all designed to give you something worth showing up for.
How to Join
Membership is $39/month, no contracts, no catch. But the Collective is referral-only, which means you can't just sign up. You need to know someone already inside, and they need to refer you.
Know a member? Ask them to refer you and submit your application at femthrive.com/collective
Don't know a member yet? Email us directly at bre@femthrive.com and we'll help you find your way in
Applications are reviewed within 48 hours and once you're approved, you'll get instant access to the community, the events calendar, and the private member platform
Apply at femthrive.com/collective
$39/month · Referral & Application Required · Cancel Anytime
A Note From Bre
There's a particular feeling I get when something I've been building in my head becomes something real in the world. A lightness. A feeling of flow. A kind of disbelief that it's actually happening.
That's what I feel right now.
The FemThrive Collective is not just an events community or a membership club. It's the answer to every time a woman has walked out of a networking event feeling like she almost found her people…but not quite.
It's the room Meredith and I are building on purpose, with intention, for women who deserve the best life has to offer.
With so much love and excitement,
Bre Russell & Meredith MacLean
Co-Creators, FemThrive Collective · femthrive.com/collective
