Passed by any hordes of casual walkers in the past year? If so, you might have walked by Sara Anfuso and one of her community walks.
Anfuso, also known as @servedbysara on Instagram, has only been a Seattleite for one year, but she’s already built quite the (literal) following by documenting her life and organizing regular walks for people who want to get out of the house and make new friends.
Now with over 40,000 followers and hundreds of people showing up to her walks, she’s brainstorming how to create new partnerships + connect with other creators to keep the good vibes going.
So we met up with Anfuso — on a walk, of course — to see what the fuss was about.
How it started
Q: What did you hope to gain when you first conceptualized your community walk idea?
A: I think just making a space for people to connect and meet each other. One of the biggest impacts on my life was doing the Camino de Santiago. You can just enjoy the scenery and you meet so many people along the way. You have so much time to have deep conversations with people.
Q: What was your initial expectation when you started planning these walks?
A: I had no idea how many people were going to show up because I didn’t even have a registration list beforehand. It turned out to be around 70 — my fiance and I just looked at each other as people kept getting out of cars. (Now, Sara has upwards of 300 people in attendance.)
Q: What did you learn when you had your first community walk?
A: It was a 6.5-mile loop, and that was definitely too long for a community walk. I was exhausted trying to talk to people, navigate them, and try not to let people get hit by cars.
Q: What was the worst walk you’ve planned?
A: I did a walk that started in Volunteer Park where we walked down to the Arboretum and back and that was honestly a nightmare. The hills — I was apologizing to people like, “I’m so sorry.” I had never explored Capitol Hill before, and people were pissed. They wanted a chill walk and I made them walk up like 500 ft.
How it’s going
Q: What has surprised you most about your community walks?
A: [Aside from the overwhelming turnout of people] Just a few days ago, the author of Bridgerton followed me. I’ve also been following Leah’s Field Notes for years and she followed me out of the blue. Before all of this happened, I was idolizing them. But now I’m like, “They’re just normal people.”
Q: Can you “walk us through” what planning these events looks like?
A: I’m a planner and organizer, but I’m also very chaotic — there’s no in-between. I focus on making every detail perfect, but obviously that’s impossible. I try to choose routes that are loops and don’t have a lot of streets to cross.
Q: After the turnout you’ve received, do you have any future goals for these public events?
A: My goal is to travel to different cities and do community walks. I’ve done one in San Diego, Portland, and like five or six in Seattle. I have a following in New York and Vancouver, so I’d like to get over there.
Want in on the action?
Don’t miss out on Sara’s next community walk this Friday, April 19 at Green Lake Park. Grab some friends (and make some there) and register now.
