VINA STORY: HOW HEY! VINA HELPED INSPIRE TWO WOMEN TO CREATE BRUNCHITUPNYC

In a city of millions of people, it may seem rather frustrating to feel alone. But, the truth is, it’s not as abnormal as one might think! Searching for friends with the same interests and values as you is a tough task, but the girls at BrunchItUpNYC have made it a little bit easier for us vinas.

Molly and Leyssa are two 20-somethings who decided that they wanted to foster a girl gang for other vinas who may have felt alone in the sea of people in NYC.

“It’s so important to have a group of girls you can rely on,” they said. “Whether it’s for a much-needed girl talk, or a night out partying, we all need a solid support system!”

And they gave us just that! BrunchItUpNYC was created by these powerful vinas when they felt there was a genuine need for a consistent meet-up event where girls could feel comfortable coming alone to make friends.

Your 20s may feel like a strange period in your life; you might witness others your age getting married and starting to have kids while you’re popping Cheetos in your mouth and watching the season finale of The Bachelor. If you maybe feel as though you fit into the latter category, perhaps this brunch-bunch is made especially for you.

“A lot of us actually are not very new to NYC, but are looking for friends that want to travel, explore and live life to the fullest,” Molly and Leyssa said. “Most of us are in our mid 20s, and a lot of our friends are settling down or moving out of the city.”

This makes BrunchItUpNYC so impactful and special for vinas. Their first brunch meet-up created on the Hey! VINA app consisted of nine other girls who instantly hit it off. “We talked about our interests, our lifestyle, our goals and somehow we all were just on the same page! We’ve already planned a girls trip to New Orleans next month. I think our group is going to stay close forever!”

No initial awkward silences took away from the fun. The girls played games like “Never Have I Ever” to get to know each other and loosen up, which made for exciting conversations!

The creators of BrunchItUpNYC were able to use Hey! VINA to invite more vinas to join them.

“We heard about VINA through a friend and decided to give it a try,” they said. “VINA provided an amazing platform to promote our brunch meetups on, and the girls on VINA are friendly & looking for fun activities, so it was easy to get a group of them together!”

As for making friends and meaningful connections online, Molly and Leyssa have some advice:

“Don’t be nervous!! Everyone on VINA is looking to meet friends, so everyone feels those nerves in the beginning, but you will end up with amazing new friends, and it will be so worth it!”

Join @BrunchItUpNYC on Saturday, February 16th from 1:45pm-3:30pm for their Galentine’s Day brunch in NYC! And if you’re interested in perusing more events such as this one, check out the Hey! VINA app to meet other like-minded vinas and to create that girl gang of a lifetime.