Victoria Repa: An Inspiring Woman Entrepreneur Dedicated towards Blessing People with Health & Happiness

Today’s women are no less capable than men in the sophisticated world of entrepreneurship, Victoria Repa, Founder, and CEO, BetterMe is one of the perfect representations of female power. She has created an indelible mark in the landscape of the Health & Fitness industry with her pioneering and innovative work in making health and wellness accessible to everyone.
Victoria Repa is an inspiring female leader, innovative entrepreneur, and product strategist. In July 2017, she conceptualized and launched the idea of Online Diets and Nutrition through BetterMe.
Grown-up in a small village in Ukraine, Victoria had to suffer a lot during her studies. She had to learn herself and after years of self-education, she received a grant to attend the best economics school in the country. Upon graduation, she got hired by a large FMCG corporation to work in logistics. Even though this position could result in a good and stable career, she quickly found out that looking for cheaper and faster ways to move boxes around wasn’t what I wanted to do with her life. So, after a year and a half, she quit.
While looking for something meaningful and challenging, Victoria noticed a lot of potential in the fast-growing tech industry. She signed up for a boot camp-style product management school organized by a well-known local tech and media company, with no background in the digital industry but a burning desire to learn something new.
BetterMe- A Leading Behavioral Healthcare Mobile Publisher
BetterMe is a leading behavioral healthcare mobile publisher with over 100M users, available worldwide. With workouts, nutrition tracking, and mental health coaching, BetterMe is an all-in-one solution for a fit body and mind. It has been on the Most Downloaded Health & Fitness Apps list since 2018. There are two main apps:
BetterMe: Health Coaching is a wellness app that offers personalized workout and nutrition plans supported by real human coaches, as well as comprehensive tracking and a cognitive therapy element.
BetterMe Mental Health is a companion for a better life. With customized meditation courses, quick breathing exercises, and easy access to mental health specialists, it’s a comprehensive solution for better well-being.
Initially, BetterMe was designed for those at the beginning of their health and fitness journey. But over 5 years in the Health & Fitness market, they have grown globally and their apps are serving both newbies in healthy living and experienced users. There are thousands of various workouts, challenges, nutrition plans for everyone to find their perfect match. Around 80% of the clientele are women of every age, background, color, or physical ability. And the app serves them all based on their unique life circumstances, as there are workouts for people using wheelchairs, for seniors, and families with children.
The mission of BetterMe is ‘Creating happiness within’! It promotes a healthy and active lifestyle, not extreme weight loss, or an unattainable ideal of a ‘perfect body. Their goal is to guide users to create happiness within, through physical activity, proper nutrition, and mental health awareness.
The Core Motivation behind the Inception
“I was born in a family where everyone always had excess weight. My mother kept telling me there was nothing I could do about it. But as I progressed through the teenage years, I came to realize I could do something about it. And if I reach my goal, it might make me truly happy. Looking back, it was this experience that first got me thinking about one day creating a business around fitness and wellbeing”, Victoria proudly shared.
“So, making people happier was my core motivation behind the inception of BetterMe”, she further added.
The Achievements & Differentiating Factors of BetterMe
Recently BetterMe reached a milestone of having 100 M users in 190 countries. For the last two years, BetterMe users collectively lost 467 000 kg, which is equivalent to around 2.8 M iPhones or 840 K gold Olympic medals. Users participating in the No-Sugar Challenge avoided consuming 12 tons of sugar. They ate 64 tons of vegetables and 13 tons of berries instead.
A company’s success shall be credited to its team. The leading lady of the firm strongly believes that people are the most important and valuable asset in every company.
One of the specific features of health tech companies is that most of their clients are women. Interestingly, in the majority of cases, these companies are headed by men. As a result, companies cannot offer relevant solutions to their clients’ needs. And this, in turn, leads to the fact that the product – at best – does not meet the consumers’ expectations. At worst, it can even harm.
That is why Victoria is building her company keeping gender parity in mind. Welcoming different thoughts, ideas and beliefs is crucial to creating the best fitting product for everyone.
The Exclusive Leadership Styles
“’Prioritizing speed over efficiency in the face of uncertainty feels like the right mantra for me. It certainly helps me get through the day with some progress to display, and I hope it could help others too”, shared Victoria when asked about her leadership style.
“’In the worst case, we’ll get experience’ is another important mantra for me. Mistakes seem to have a bad reputation, but if you learn to analyze them, they will offer more insightful experience than victories as a result”, she further added.
From the Founder’s Desk
Around the time we started BetterMe back in 2016, over 90 million adults and 13 million children in the US were obese. According to research, Health&Fitness apps installs increased by 67% in March 2020. This increase was followed by an app session duration boost of 48% in May. Surprisingly, even after quarantine and lockdown measures were lifted in 2021, session duration still increased by 31%. This indicates that even though gyms are welcoming people back, users are sticking with apps, preferring home workouts and the experiences they’ve become accustomed to.
The industry is rapidly growing and changing due to high competition. Users are waiting for an all-in-one reliable solution to their problems. Our team has listened to the audience and turned 10+ specialized apps for walking, running, period tracking, male workouts, etc. into two super apps, BetterMe Health Coaching and BetterMe Mental Health.
With time, our focus transformed: we are aiming at a healthy lifestyle and mental health, as opposed to weight loss and dieting.
Key Driving Force to Progress as a Leader
Flexibility – the world around us is changing and we should change and be open to change, too. Only flexible companies stay safe during the pandemic.
Resilience – there are a lot of ups and downs in any business, but you shouldn’t let them define your story. Instead, learn your lessons and keep going.
Empathy – the most important thing for BetterMe is the team. It is crucial to building strong connections with each other.
Words of Wisdom
“Act and do not react!” Time wasted on a negative reaction can be spent on effective action. ‘Fail cheap and fast, which means trying everything that comes to mind, testing different approaches, analyzing data, and making conclusions. And then repeat the cycle one more time. And again. Remember that ‘In the worst case, we’ll get experience’.