First made famous for appearing on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, Julianne Hough is an acclaimed dancer, singer, producer, and Emmy Award–winning choreographer. She has starred in several films and broadcasts, including cohosting NBC’s New Year’s Eve 2020 with Carson Daly and judging America’s Got Talent. She is currently the chief executive officer of her production company, Canary House Productions, which aims to showcase stories of transformation, self-[hotlink]discovery,[/hotlink] and empowerment.
Through her work and personal journey, Hough founded Kinrgy, a fitness and wellness platform focused on dance, breath work, and strength training that she has built into a methodology and community. Her movement experiences have sold out across the country as part of Oprah Winfrey’s 2020 Vision tour.
Today, Hough announced that she and Kinrgy are partnering with Therabody, an athletic recovery company known for the popular Theragun. Earlier this year, Hough invested in a venture round with Therabody, and now will serve as a Therabody ambassador as they introduce a full 360-degree integration of the Kinrgy platform with Therabody.
- Startup: Therabody
- Location: Los Angeles
- Year founded: 2008
- Valuation: Not disclosed
- Investment level: Venture
- Number of employees: 400+
- Other major investors: Jay-Z, Rihanna, Lance Bass, Justin Timberlake, Maria Sharapova, Karlie Kloss, DeAndre Hopkins, Ciara, Russell Wilson, Daniel Craig, Rx3 Growth Partners, Thirty Five Ventures, Hartbeat Ventures
Why she invested, in her own words
Founding businesses and investing in brands that I believe in is super important to me. Movement is what we’ve been doing our entire lives. If you look at babies, the first thing that they do when they hear music in their high chair, they just start moving their body. They’re not worried if they’re doing it right or wrong, good or bad—they just feel it. They’re free within themselves and not worried about judgment. There’s something like 10,000 unique movements that babies have, and as adults, we only have like 1,000 unique movements because we’ve restricted ourselves from that freedom in our body. The idea that I can help the freedom of expression through movement in adults, is one of the things that I’m the most excited about.
I became familiar with Theragun, before they were Therabody, after seeing the products in and around the dance world a few years ago. Ever since I started using Theragun, I recognize the freedom within my overall mobility. Nothing feels better when you move how you want to be moved versus the restriction that you feel when your body is telling you, “You can’t move that way.” Looking at the values of Therabody and the resources that they’re giving to people to nurture and to take care of themselves for maintenance, for longevity, is something that I never gave myself as a dancer and as an athlete growing up. I would just keep pushing, and keep going, and thinking I would never get tired or my body wouldn’t give out. But it started to, and so incorporating Therabody and their products, I feel like I actually am getting younger as I’m getting older. What they are doing for people is inspiring to me. I’ve followed along with the brand as they’ve grown, which eventually led to my investment in Therabody this year.
We’re better when we collaborate together, and that’s what I want to do in this world: Create and share all the goodness, so everybody can reap the rewards. To be able to partner with a brand who will not only teach and guide you, but to also see how they’re impacting the world is incredible. We both recognize we only have one body in life, and we don’t have an understudy to show up for us. If we take care of our body in the most nurturing way, that is going to help you live a more sustainable, free, and loving life where you can show up for yourself every day. That’s exactly what Therabody’s doing. I want to share it with my audience and my community.
I founded Kinrgy in 2018 as a whole-self fitness platform with movement, breath work, and meditation classes designed to strengthen your body, connect to your dreams, and give you more energy. It was one of the most incredible and transformational moments in my life, because it was an opportunity for me to heal parts of myself that I didn’t know how to articulate. I let my body be my language. By creating this modality and this wellness platform, it’s given me an opportunity to share my experiences that have helped me in my journey so that others can find that sense of freedom in themselves. Therabody has plans to integrate with Kinrgy and develop recovery protocols and personalized experiences for both communities, which I’m thrilled about. I love being a part of teams that are disruptive and mission-driven, because I’m able to continuously learn and engage with something meaningful. I’m looking forward to the growth.
This is an installment of Why I Invested, a series featuring famous investors from all different backgrounds and industries, revealing what inspired them to invest their own money in a new business.
