In every industry, one needs hope to survive these days. Now, the online wellness history can count on hope with a capital “H” thanks to Pepperdine University graduate Hope Horner, CEO of health-wellness-an-fitness connector website, BetterYou.com. And although freshly launched just last February, Horner is already giving back via her alma mater.
Part of online entrepreneur Horner’s definition of building a “better you” is remembering her roots and giving back to the institution which spiritually and intellectually helped facilitate her new endeavor. So she is currently in the process of helping create Pepperdine’s Business Plan Entrepreneur Club.
“I love being an incubator surrounded by other entrepreneurs,” she said. “We have great mentors. It’s been exciting getting to make decisions and watching them come to life.”
Horner’s partner on her Pepperdine venture, Mat MacDonell, will judge for the Pepperdine Fast Pitch Competition in spring of 2013. “Until then, we are inviting entrepreneurs in all different industries to meet with and host lectures for our students starting in June on campus in Malibu,” MacDonell said.
As they currently brainstorm ideas for these meetings and lectures, MacDonnell believes Horner will serve as inspiration to students with her enterprising DYI energy and ethos.
“Hope could not emulate those three pillars of Pepperdine’s mission any stronger,” he continued. “In George Pepperdine’s mission to create a faith-based liberal arts university in Los Angeles, he envisioned a place where ‘students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership. She is a leader in our community in her service and her pursuit of her passion. She is enthusiastic and instrumental in helping pave the road for our student entrepreneurs because she herself benefited from the mentorship of other successful entrepreneurs.”
Among Horner’s own personal mentors: Ophir Tanz, CEO of the online ad-placement company GumGum.
Horner’s BetterYou.com relaunches with better layout and features on May 14. Billed as “your online concierge for fitness, beauty, and health,” BetterYou.com links people looking for self-improvement with a stroke of a keyboard by entering a zip code into its search engine.
“We show you a list of [600] professionals to meet your criteria,” she said of her online network, which includes physical trainers, Pilates, estheticians, and other specialists. “It’s about watching the professionals prospering on their own.” One trainer, Teddy Bass, counts Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez among his clients.
For a professional in this industry, posting on BetterYou.com is free. However, a $45-a-month service includes clientele leads and a marketing component (including social media) to generate business.
Originally from Johnson City, Tennessee, Horner grew up with father who taught her by example. An entrepreneur himself, he created Nickerboppers, a nonprofit world photography portrait business. Horner, who matriculated into Pepperdine as an engineering major, has a decade’s worth of experience in the fitness business which originated on the school’s Malibu campus, where she sold Evolution International’s “personal trainer in a box”; a 90-day fitness program with pre-packaged workouts and nutritional information.
“My passion has always been business,” said the class of 2009 graduate of Pepperdine’s International Business program. Additionally, this Southern girl has had a personal trainer since she was 14.
Horner, who has made a living as a trainer at Santa Monica’s 24 Hour Fitness, a bartender, and also worked Equinox sales manager from 2006-10. She built BetterYou.com by partnering with the site’s CTO and website developer, UCLA graduate Jackson Leung.
“Since I was 13 years old, I always wanted to live in a big city,” said Horner, who long dreamt of living in Los Angeles’ Westside, where most of her site’s professionals and clients work and reside. Horner, who moved to Malibu to attend Pepperdine in 2004 and lived near Zuma Beach, still loves the coastal enclave.
Today, the 26-year-old Pacific Palisades resident counts boyfriend Daniel Marlow, currently producing a documentary series about bullying, on her personal team. And when Horner is not matching clients with trainers via her site, she enjoys yoga, running, volleyball, and hiking as her personal forms of exercise and recreation.
“One of the places I love is at the top of Pepperdine, the 9/11 Memorial Gardens,” she said. “I go there to meditate.” The accessible, down-to-earth brunette also enjoys dining at Malibu Inn, Taverna Tony’s, Bui Sushi, and Nobu.
In the weeks to come, Horner will have scarce downtime for leisure as she visits Malibu to help MacDonell prepare students to realize their professional goals.
“The more time I spend with Hope,” MacDonell said, “the more I realize that her passion and drive is contagious. She brings out the best in people and has a knack for focusing in on each person’s strengths. She is an incredible resource for our students and we, at Pepperdine, are so proud of her accomplishments with BetterYou.com.”
For more information on Pepperdine Alumni Entrepreneur Network or the Entrepreneur Club, contact mrmacdo2@pepperdine.edu.