What our Walk #100 milestone taught us
- Elle Beecher
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
It was Walk #100 in Austin.
Over 100 people showed up that morning. So many that the group had to split into four smaller groups just to move down the trail together.
Two years of Saturday mornings at 8 AM had led to this: a testament to what happens when people commit to consistent connection instead of one-off experiences.
This milestone wasn't about one magical walk that changed everything. It was about the accumulation of moments, conversations, connections over time. What happens when you show up, again and again and again.
One hundred walks. Thousands of people. Countless conversations that mattered.
That morning taught us something profound: transformation doesn't happen in isolation. It happens through repetition, not perfection.
Here’s what two years of Saturday mornings can do... through stories shared by our beloved regulars in Austin, Texas.
The Compound Effect 💪
JT Winston noticed something after attending multiple walks. He didn't have some breakthrough moment on his first walk. He wasn't "transformed" in one conversation.
It was subtler than that. It was cumulative.
"More of a compound effect from attending multiple walks," he said. "My ability to comfortably engage with new people, carry conversation, and politely excuse myself to go talk with someone else have all noticeably improved. As I attend more walks, the skills continue to evolve."
Skills he didn't even know he was building... evolving without him trying.
It's like the gym. You don't see results after one workout. But after ten? After fifty? Your body is different. You move differently through the world.
Social skills work the same way. You're practicing being human in a space that welcomes practice. Where there's no judgment if you stumble. Where you can test out being more present, more curious, more yourself.
On one walk, something small happened that stayed with JT.
A stick bug was crossing the trail. Everyone stopped. Cleared a path. Waited patiently. Someone behind him had never heard of stick bugs, let alone seen one. They were in awe.
JT said: "This small moment highlighted the beauty of observation and the importance of appreciating each person's individual experiences."
A three-second moment became meaningful because everyone was present enough to notice it. Open enough to appreciate that what's mundane to one person is magical to another.
When you're present, walking slowly, talking deeply... you notice things. You notice each other noticing things. You become more attuned to the world and the people around you.
This doesn't happen on Walk #1. It happens when you've attended enough times that you're not performing anymore. You're not trying to impress anyone. You're just there. Being human. Practicing presence.
Transformation doesn't happen in one walk. It happens in the third walk, the tenth walk, the fiftieth walk. It's the compound effect of showing up, week after week, practicing being human in a space that welcomes practice.
What Two Years of Consistency Creates 😍
A week before the big day, Avinash pulled out his phone and recorded a gratitude video from the trail:
"Walk #100 is a huge milestone! Two years of showing up, week after week, putting in the repetitions of building community."
He was right: Building community isn't about grand gestures or perfect moments. It's about repetitions. Showing up again and again and again.
Over those two years, something rare emerged. Thousands of people showing up multiple times. Bonds forming across all different ages, industries, backgrounds. Walk buddies becoming real friends.
"I am always blown away at the caliber of person who joins us on the trail," one longtime walker David Kirkpatrick shared. “Year after year, the quality never wavers.”
Most events are one-offs. You show up, have a nice time, exchange numbers you'll never text. Most connections stay surface-level because there's no time to build depth.
But when you show up every week? When you see the same faces and build on last week's conversations? When you watch each other grow over months and years?
Strangers become chosen family.
You can't rush this. You can't shortcut it. You can only show up, week after week, and let the compound effect work its magic.
The Magic of Returning ✨
Erin Laverone said it simply: "Every single time, I'm so grateful I got out of bed."
Not just the first time, when everything felt new and exciting. Not just when the weather was perfect or she felt particularly social. But the 40th time, when the forecast has a 80% chance of rain and that snooze button is looking irresistible.
This is what happens when something stops being an event and starts being a ritual.
The walks become the thing that resets you. That grounds you. That reminds you who you are and who you want to be.
Brian Whitfield's journey shows why this matters so much.
He moved to Austin right when the pandemic hit.
The walks started at what he calls "a funny time" for him. Social anxiety was creeping in. He was feeling disconnected from people. The isolation of 2020 had done its damage, and he wasn't sure how to reconnect.
Then he found the walks on X, and felt a soul-level "This is for me."
He decided to try them out as a low-pressure way to put himself back out there.
No matter how he was feeling that day, he kept coming back to the walks. Even when it was hard. Especially when it was hard.
His words: "I'm grateful for this healthy and consistent time with peeps."
Attending weekly for over a year, he felt his pre-pandemic swag start to come back. He made friends he was excited to toss around big ideas with. He created new healthy routines, using the walk as an anchor on Saturdays. He even found multiple clients for his design services (including us!).
Sometimes you don't know how disconnected you were until you reconnect.
Community heals what isolation breaks. But only if you keep showing up. Only if you give it time to work.
The walks gave him a weekly container for practicing connection. For remembering what it feels like to be around people who see you, hear you, care about you.
That's worth waking up for. Every single time.
Why Consistency Matters 🏃
Here's the lesson that the Walk #100 milestone taught us:
Transformation happens in community, not isolation.
Repetition, not perfection.
You need time. Not just one breakthrough, but one hundred small growth moments compounding. You need consistency. Showing up even when you don't feel like it, especially when you don't feel like it.
You need people who see you differently than you see yourself. JT didn't know he was building social skills until he looked back. Brian didn't realize how disconnected he'd become until the walks reminded him what connection felt like.
You need a space that welcomes practice and failure. Where you can be awkward, uncertain, still figuring it out.
You need others walking the path with you.
Why are The Board Walks are so beloved? Because they provide all of this.
Walk #1 might change your Saturday.
Walk #10 might change your social skills.
Walk #50 might change your life.
Walk #100? That's when you realize you've been changed all along.
Slowly. Conversation by conversation. Saturday by Saturday. Step by step.
The compound effect doesn't announce itself. It just accumulates.
And one day you look back and realize: you're different now.
More confident. More open. More yourself.
