Othership cofounder and chief executive officer Robbie Bent kicked off his presentation by having attendees imagine a secret garden with lavender, a fire and smiling people.
“You see an ice bath, 32 degrees, freezing cold. You might be a little scared. When you jump in with the support of your community and when you come out you feel transformed,” he said. “You feel alive. You feel brave. Now this is a real space that exists.”
This is what Bent is hoping to create with Othership, a Toronto-based social wellness concept that offers sauna sessions, ice baths and emotional wellness classes and has global expansion on the horizon.
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“Everything at Othership is about building belonging in a new way,” he said.
Coming out of a primarily virtual world following the COVID-19 pandemic, people are still struggling to find in-person connections. According to a 2023 advisory from the U.S. surgeon general, loneliness is a public health concern and “the mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.”
Bent is trying to counteract that with his business. “People, especially in the 20- to 40-year-old demographic, want experiences. People are lonely,” Bent said. “People want to be seen. They want to belong. They want to connect.”
This new approach to socializing is aiming to provide people with a way to connect without having to go to a bar or consume alcohol. “There’s another option,” Bent said. Instead, Othership has three flagship offerings: guided sauna and ice bath sessions, emotional wellness classes and social hours. “You come into the space. You use the sauna. You use the ice bath. It’s always guided, but it’s a way to connect. Nobody’s on their phone.”
Aside from jumping from sauna to ice bath, Othership offers focused emotional wellness classes, such as its Rose Thorn Bud session, which focuses on the good, the bad and the future.
“This is a whole new way, a guided class format to experience your emotions, like the future of group therapy in a way that is accessible and light,” Bent said.
As the brand aims to compete with bars, social hours have become a core tenant of Othership, during which guests can experience the tea lounge, music and live performances. While it’s early days, if the Toronto location is any indication, consumers are hungry for these sober social sessions.
“There’s a secret that we’ve stumbled on. It’s really emotional health and wellness and so this isn’t fringe,” Bent said. “It’s not for people that have traditionally been interested in yoga and spirituality.”
As the brand has built out the model in Toronto, expansion is now top of mind. According to Bent, when it comes to expansion Othership has “$18 million built in the pipeline,” and will soon to open in Flatiron and Williamsburg in New York.
While Othership also has a popular guided breathwork app, the social component really thrives during the live events, of which the brand has hosted more than 50. Recently, Othership has doubled down on these types of live events, even outside the studios. For example, as the app received 100,000 downloads in New York, the brand hosted a concert in the city in partnership with Daybreaker to provide Othership users a place to meet in real life.
“The real magic comes from allowing people to create their own communities,” Bent said.