Women Walking is a winning web-based business for Petaluma resident

Joy Regan started the online meet up site that links women looking for walking partners.|

Walking is an exercise that doctors say is good for the heart, but for Petaluman Joy Regan, it’s an activity that’s also good for the soul.

“When women get outside and walk together, it makes them feel good,” said Regan. “When they go home feeling good, it affects their family, and then their work and co-workers. The positive effect it has gets out into the community. It extends itself from self to home to community - when women are happy everyone around them is happy.”

A lifelong walker, Regan is founder of the website WomenWalking.net: Walking Partners for Women. She got the idea for it several years ago after moving to a small town on the East Coast and feeling a need to develop connections to others in her new community. Walking seemed like the perfect medium to develop those connections.

“I would go for a walk and I’d see other women out walking together,” said Regan. “Everywhere I went you’d see pairs of women. I felt like I wanted a walking partner, too. I wanted to be included in the community and feel like I fit in and belonged. I thought that by walking and talking to other women, I could accomplish that and feel more included.”

Regan’s vision from then on was to create a place where women could find and meet up with other women who share an interest in going for a walk and developing a new connection. With the help of a web designer, Regan launched the WomenWalking.net website six years ago while living in Connecticut. She and her husband, Kevin Regan, moved to Petaluma shortly after that and brought the business with them.

“My primary intention is for women to think about walking in a different context,” said Regan. “It’s getting to know women in our community, exposure to new perspectives, perhaps taking a step out of our comfort zone, and last but definitely not least, having a companion to share being outside for walk.”

Regan believes that the activity goes behind the physical benefits of exercise and offers something deeper that promotes emotional and mental well-being. It fills a need women have to connect with others.

“Walking is so many things,” she said. “A man named William Ury did this TedTalk on ‘The Walk From No to Yes’ and one thing he says is that when you’re walking, you’re side-by-side. You’re not facing each other. There’s no adversarial thing. Walking side-by-side is connection. You’re together.”

Regan’s website has members in several states, but her focus now is growing a larger membership in the Bay Area, which she said is full of great places for walking.

How it works is simple. Women visit the site to see if there are other females in their area interested in going for a walk. From there, visitors to the site must sign up for membership to create a profile and directly contact other members. Prospective members must be at least 18 years of age, and of course, female.

“We don’t match people up,” Regan explained. “Finding a walking partner isn’t about being like-minded, though we all share commonalities as humans. Walking is just the point of contact and from there it’s about exploring what we have in common and what’s different. It’s an adventure.”

WomenWalking.net has three levels of membership. One month membership is $6.99. The next level of membership is $24.95 for six months, plus two months free. A year-long membership is $39.99 and includes a free T-shirt.

Regan recommends that members choose public places to meet a walking partner for the first time. Members can use the site while traveling or vacationing to locate and meet up with walking partners, as well.

“There are also different levels of walking,” said Regan. “I talked to a woman in a wheelchair a number of years ago who met up with someone in her town to walk around. She was in a wheelchair, but to have a companion to go out with for a walk was liberating for her. Walking can be anything you want it to be. It doesn’t have to be athletic. You can chit-chat or have deep conversations. Or maybe you don’t feel like talking and just want to walk with a companion. There’s all different kinds of possibilities.”

Ultimately, Regan’s hope is that WomenWalking.net brings women together to share a simple activity that’s good for them and creates new connections and a sense of community between women who might not have met otherwise.

“I want women to recognize one another as allies and create a bridge to support one another and work together and realize how important we are in everyone’s lives,” said Regan. “I want women everywhere to talk to one another and step over the hurdles that separate.”

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.