Today we’d like to introduce you to Camille Cooper.
Hi Camille, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In my 28 years, I’ve lived a lot of different eras, and graduating college in the middle of a pandemic didn’t make figuring out the life I wanted to live any clearer.
Like a lot of people, I realized that making and maintaining friendships as an adult had become surprisingly difficult. So many of the spaces that used to bring people together naturally seemed to have disappeared, and I noticed how isolated many people around me felt.
While completing my chemical engineering degree at the University of Virginia, I intentionally pivoted into tech. I enjoyed engineering, but I couldn’t picture myself spending my career in a factory. Startups offered creativity, ownership, and the opportunity to build things from scratch. Even then, though, I knew that professional success alone wasn’t going to fulfill me—I was always searching for work and communities that felt deeply human.
Years later, I lost my role as a full-stack manager during the acquisition of the last startup I worked for and, somewhat on impulse, left the company entirely. I was burnt out, navigating some major personal inflection points, and threw myself back into my yoga practice. Yoga had been part of my life since I was a toddler practicing alongside my grandma on the beaches of Virginia.
After completing my 200-hour yoga teacher training, I started offering free classes in Pease Park simply to get my teaching legs under me. What I didn’t expect was that those classes would become an experiment in creating the kind of community I wished existed.
We hosted a few classes. People started coming back. Friendships began forming. Attendees started asking for more opportunities to connect.
Those conversations led to social events—at first, just gathering people for free things I knew were happening around town. Eventually, they led to me hosting my first adult Spelling Bee.
ROW has always grown at the pace of its community. In fact, that first Spelling Bee can be traced back to a night on my best friend’s couch watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee after we misplaced the TV remote.
Today, ROW has grown into a community-centered wellness organization focused on helping people build meaningful connections through movement, shared experiences, and intentional gathering. What began as a free yoga class has evolved into something much bigger: a space where people can find community, try new things, and create a life that feels a little more connected.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not
.
One of the biggest challenges has been trusting the process before everything feels perfect—which, to be clear, it still doesn’t.
There hasn’t been a clear roadmap for what we’re building. In many ways, I pride myself on intentionally bushwhacking new paths when what currently exists around Austin doesn’t quite create the experience we’re looking for. I genuinely don’t think anyone is doing exactly what we do at ROW. Connection—to each other and to the city we call home—is always the goal. Everything else is simply a consequence of that pursuit.
I still spend plenty of time wondering whether people will show up, whether a new idea will resonate, or whether we’re creating something people are genuinely excited about. That’s why I’ve been so grateful for the trust our community has placed in us and for the people who continue to come back month after month.
Another challenge has been balancing growth with authenticity. It’s easy to get caught up in metrics and numbers, but community doesn’t scale the same way products do. Our regulars have always celebrated the fact that we’re willing to keep experimenting and trying new things, and we’ve worked hard to grow without losing the welcoming, personal feeling that made people fall in love with ROW in the first place.
Whenever I feel lost, I reach out to our regulars.
Some of our most successful events exist because attendees suggested them, volunteered to help, or encouraged us to try something new. ROW has truly been built alongside the people who participate in it, and that’s one of the things I’m most proud of.
As you know, we’re big fans of Relentless Optimism Wellness. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Relentless Optimism Wellness exists to help people build community through wellness, social experiences, and shared adventures.
We don’t fit neatly into a single category, and that’s intentional.
We host everything from yoga classes on Lake Austin and inside restaurants, breweries, and plant nurseries to a monthly choose-your-own-book club, campy craft nights, overly committed and delightfully nerdy challenge events, and, of course, our adult Spelling Bee. We also organize regular meetups where we find cool free or low-cost experiences around Austin and experience them together.
While the events themselves vary, the goal is always the same: creating opportunities for people to connect in real life.
The fact is, if people don’t intentionally make time to decompress, life usually won’t give it to them. We create spaces that make it easier to say yes to your life—to be curious, playful, connected, and a little less isolated.
What sets ROW apart is that we don’t see wellness as something that only happens on a yoga mat.
We believe community is wellness.
Movement matters, but so does having people to text when you want to try a new restaurant, someone to grab coffee with after a tough week, or a group that makes a city feel a little smaller.
We’re probably best known for creating spaces that are genuinely welcoming to people who come alone. A large percentage of our attendees show up without knowing anyone, and our regulars instinctively spread themselves out to welcome new people. That’s something we’re incredibly proud of.
Over time, our community has created a culture where new people are welcomed in rather than left standing on the sidelines.
Brand-wise, what makes me most proud is that ROW has become something co-created with the community. Many of our events, partnerships, traditions, and even inside jokes exist because attendees helped shape them. It feels less like a business serving customers and more like a community building something together.
At this point, the community and my friends have become almost impossible to separate. I’m just the one who enjoys dealing with logistics.
What are your plans for the future?
We’re in an exciting season of growth, which means a lot of our focus right now is on staying true to ourselves while thoughtfully leaning into the momentum we’re experiencing.
In the near future, we’re expanding our wellness programming, launching new partnerships across Austin, and creating even more recurring experiences that help people build lasting relationships rather than simply attend one-off events.
Long-term, who knows?
The only thing I know for certain is that I want there to be a day when, on any given night in Austin, someone can check the ROW calendar and know they’re going to have a great time surrounded by good people.
More than anything, I’m excited to keep building alongside the community that helped get us here.
However we grow, it’s going to be for them.
Pricing:
- $0-15 generally for yoga and social
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Relentlessoptimism.co
- Instagram: relentlessoptimismwellness
- Other: https://partiful.com/co/00SANW6zvpzYJXu3cHkF
