Media Backgrounder
A global community that connects and empowers women in midlife and beyond, one Ramble at a time. Our motto is: everywhere is in Rambling distance with Sole Sisters!
Sole Sister Ramblers started the way the best stories do — with a chat between five long-time friends.
During the pandemic, five Canadian women found themselves scattered across Florida, Singapore, Panama, and Toronto. To stay close, they decided to participate in virtual walking challenges together.
The friends created a chat group to log their miles and post pictures of their walks while chatting about the ups and downs of their daily lives. They referred to their walks as Rambles and named their chat group the Sole Sister Ramblers.
Their Rambles became the highlight of their day and enriched their friendships and lives in beautiful and surprising ways. So, in 2021, they decided to share Sole Sister Ramblers with the world and launched a website, a Facebook Group, and the Rambler Cafe Blog, with a brightly colored winged shoe logo.
This is how one simple group message became the spark for a trailblazing global movement connecting and empowering women in midlife and beyond.
The community grew fast, and it quickly became apparent how much our members craved in-person connections. So, in 2023, Sole Sister Ramblers launched their first Sole Circle on Vancouver Island, Canada. Sole Circles are how our global community connects locally for in-person Rambles.
The response to our Sole Circles was immediate and overwhelming. Founder Jill Thomas says, “It was chaos; we were out of our depth. It felt like making popcorn in a pot without a lid—we immediately knew we were creating something special.”
Today, Sole Sister Ramblers has tens of thousands of women participating in Sole Circles in six countries and almost 100 cities. Founder Tara Romoff says, “We’re growing faster than any of us could ever have imagined."
Founder Naomi Weisman says, “It was a wonderful moment when it dawned on us that women on the other side of the world went for a walk and made some new friends because of us. I was so excited to connect with other Ramblers when I visited New Zealand and Australia from my home in Canada!”
Today, our Sole Circles have hosted hundreds of Rambles, with members participating in a myriad of activities, including urban strolls, wilderness hikes, pickleball, golf, weekly lunch dates, book clubs, belly dancing, kayaking, cold-water swimming, yoga, dragon boating, and visiting galleries, museums, wineries, live music, and festivals.
Founder Jill Cohen Morris says, “Rambling is what brings Sole Sisters together, but our Sole Circles are about so much more. Being part of our community provides our members with a profound sense of belonging. For them, Sole Circles are about connections, friendships, and memories created through shared experiences.”
Shortly after they launched Sole Sisters Ramblers, Jill Thomas's sister was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 52, and she died 14 months later. Jill says, “Sole Sister Ramblers carried me through one of the most difficult times in my life and made all of us realize that sharing the depth of our friendships with other women is what Sole Sister Ramblers is all about.”
Founder Jane Witherspoon says, “Sole Sister Ramblers has taught us the importance of friendship and community during a time when many women feel invisible and rudderless. Midlife and beyond is a time when women find time to focus on themselves after years of caring only for others. It is a time of empowerment but also of loss. Women need close friends and community to navigate all of this.”
We believe that unpredictably wonderful and potentially world-changing things happen when women connect and empower each other in joy-filled communities. It's a great feeling to know that we are playing a role in making this happen.
READ MORE > Our Story, Sole Sister Ramblers