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“Mighty Networks is phenomenal in the way it can bring members together compared to any other platform I've seen.”
Ryan Bowles
Founder
Anyone who has been on a first date or worked up the courage to talk to a crush knows those initial questions don’t always go deep. But when Ryan Bowles met his now wife Calie at a rain-soaked football game, he decided to ask if she had ever lost a loved one — she had. They learned both of them had lost a parent seven years before. For Calie, it was her mom, and Ryan, his dad. While Ryan was certain in that moment he would eventually marry Calie, little did they know that special connection would also guide another big decision later.
“We've both been through profound loss and knew that we wanted to do something with that, but had no idea what,” Ryan says. “We had been helping business coaches grow their businesses online, but in 2022, we realized our heart really wasn't in it any longer. We started asking God, ‘Where do you want us?’ We wanted to find people to serve and build something that could become a legacy. It was in June 2023 that we felt God gave us the idea for Good Grief.”
After launching initially as a podcast, it was clear they had found a community in need. In just a year, thousands were listening to their weekly discussions, and 100,000 people had followed them on Instagram. They also hosted a private Facebook group. But Ryan and Calie wanted a safer space and a more organized way to provide resources; that’s when they decided to move to Mighty Networks.
Making the Move to Mighty
Ryan and Calie were no novices in community building. Prior to Good Grief, they had run a marketing business that partly helped people develop Facebook groups for coaching programs. But that experience was exactly why Ryan knew Facebook wasn’t working for him or his clients anymore.
“The problem with Facebook groups is that they don’t really allow you to connect with all your members, let them connect with each other, or simplify where content is,” Ryan says. “It's just a melting pot.”
Ryan came across Mighty Networks because his mom was a member of another community that used the platform. He knew that if she and other women up into their 80s who didn’t grow up with social media found it easy to use, then Good Grief’s intergenerational community would, too. They started their membership with Mighty Networks a year ago in March 2024, and already, more than 1000 women have joined.
“People magic is the main thing,” Ryan says. “Mighty Networks is phenomenal in the way it can bring members together compared to any other platform I've seen.”
“As we grow in our members, we're trying to connect people who are close to them so they can actually meet up in real life and feel like they have a grief buddy that's not just online,” Calie echoes.
Making a Place to Hold Space
With Mighty Networks’ customization capabilities, Ryan and Calie wanted to create a calm and clutter-free environment for their members; they also wanted to help ease the switch to their new platform from their other social media groups. Members can join for free, and when they feel comfortable, they can move forward with the paid membership. When they log into their community for the first time, they’re greeted with a welcome video and checklist, and from there they can RSVP to their first event and post about their lost loved one in the “Hall of Honor.” There are also distinct spaces for different kinds of loss, so members can come together over a similar experience.
“Each month, we focus on one of our three core areas, which is a positive mind, a healthy body, and a connected spirit,” Ryan says. “We bring in guest experts who specialize in those areas — psychologists, nutritionists, ministers. Our goal is that over a 12-month period, they move from a stage of suffocating in their grief to feeling stable and then soaring once again.”
Ryan and Calie loved seeing how engaged members helped each other heal through their grief journeys with Mighty Networks’ Streak feature. Many of the women in their community can mark months-long momentum.
“I think there can be some industries where people are just manipulating and suckering other people into being addicted to the platform for their own sake,” Ryan says. “But with the people we're helping, the fact that they're coming into a community day after day and forming an affiliation with each other is really powerful.”
From Online to IRL
When one of Good Grief’s earliest followers, Angela, joined the community on Mighty Networks, she started chatting with another member, Calie, who had recently lost her 18-year-old daughter. Angela ran a charity race for the hospice where her mom had passed away, and Calie came out to cheer her on. Since then, the two have met up for coffee and helped each other navigate their new chapters.
“Even though these women are walking through deep grief themselves, they've just got a huge heart to support others,” Ryan says. “Which is a big part of our methodology. One of the steps in moving forward is helping others.”
Ryan and Calie loved hearing about members instigating in-person meet-ups on their own so much that they decided to hold events to encourage more real-life conversations. Now, they host “Good Grief Meetup” events in different major cities where members can make new grief buddies and talk to each other face-to-face.
“That's such a powerful way to connect with someone,” Ryan says. “They’re making true friendships where they can say, ‘Wow, this person has become a best friend. Grief connected us, but ultimately it was love that connected us, too.”
