Meet Chrissie Whittingham
Meet Chrissie – The Founder Building Communities People Don’t Want to Leave
We’re delighted to announce that Chrissie Whittingham, founder of Yoga Social Club, will be joining The Legacy Bench as a podcast panel guest at our University of Manchester event on Friday 18th September 2026.
Chrissie has built her career around a simple but powerful idea: people don’t just want experiences, they want connection.
What started as a personal introduction to yoga has grown into a rapidly expanding community-led business, with Yoga Social Club now operating across 30+ locations around the UK.
But Chrissie’s story is about far more than yoga.
It is about recognising a gap in an industry, challenging the traditional way of doing things, and building a business around what people actually need.
Chrissie admits that yoga wasn’t something she naturally connected with. In fact, she initially hated the idea of it. But after discovering the impact it could have on her own wellbeing, she began asking a different question: why couldn’t yoga be created for people like her?
That question became the starting point for Yoga Social Club.
Rather than creating a traditional yoga environment, Chrissie built something centred around community. Classes became opportunities not only to move and unwind, but to stay, talk, meet people and build genuine friendships.
As the concept grew, so did the opportunity.
What began with one community has expanded into more than 30 locations in just 12 months, reportedly without paid advertising. The business now extends beyond weekly classes into immersive wellness events, corporate experiences, female founder events, schools programmes and a licence model supporting other yoga teachers to build their own communities.
At the heart of Chrissie’s approach is a belief that community can be deliberately designed.
Whether she is bringing together people through yoga, creating experiences for brands, or helping other entrepreneurs build their own communities, the objective remains the same: create environments where people feel comfortable enough to connect.
And that idea has become a powerful business model.
Yoga Social Club’s larger events have brought together hundreds of people through experiences combining movement, live music and social connection, while its female founder events have created spaces for entrepreneurs to meet, network and build relationships.
For Chrissie, however, growth isn’t simply about opening more locations.
It is about creating a model that allows other people to grow without having to start from scratch.
Her licence model gives yoga teachers the opportunity to build their own communities while remaining connected to a wider network, turning the lessons Chrissie learned through building Yoga Social Club into something that can be replicated by others.
This makes Chrissie’s perspective particularly relevant to The Legacy Bench.
As businesses increasingly compete for attention, loyalty and engagement, community has become one of the most valuable assets a brand can build. Chrissie’s experience demonstrates that people are far more likely to remain engaged when they feel that they belong.
At the University of Manchester event, Chrissie will join fellow entrepreneurs, creatives and professionals on The Legacy Bench podcast panel, sharing her experiences of entrepreneurship, community building, personal growth and turning an idea into a scalable business.
Expect an honest conversation about what it really takes to build something people want to be part of, from finding your initial idea and overcoming uncertainty, to creating a brand that develops genuine loyalty and connection.
Chrissie’s story is a reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunities aren’t found by creating something completely new.
They’re found by asking a better question about something that already exists.
And then building something people don’t want to leave.
Follow Chrissie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_yogasocialclub
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrissie_whittingham/
