“Hi guys, I love matcha and walking, does anyone want to meet up?”

That was the question Yasmine Birem posted in a Facebook group last year. Yasmine was in the difficult process of rebuilding her social life from scratch in Montreal, a city where people are always coming and going.

Within 24 hours, hundreds of girls flooded the chat with introductions. Yasmine’s love of matcha and walking, and her need for genuine connection, were clearly shared.

One year later, Matcha Walk Club has grown from its first walk coordinated via Facebook into a thriving community where 50 to 100 members show up every week, for pilates sessions, matcha café reviews, and new friendships. 

We sat down with Yasmine about what drove her to start Matcha Walk Club, why matcha quality matters, and how she became Montreal’s accidental matchamaker. 

Q&A with Yasmine Birem, Founder of Matcha Walk Club

Yasmine at the club’s three month milestone 

Q.1. What inspired you to start Matcha Walk Club, and why did you feel Montreal needed a space like this?

Honestly, I never set out to create a club. I did not have a strategy or a business plan. I was just trying to solve something very personal.

I was at a point in my life where I felt really alone. Most of my university friends had moved away, and I suddenly found myself having to rebuild a social circle from scratch in my mid-twenties, which is much harder than people think. I genuinely tried putting myself out there. I went to different pilates studios, kept going back to the same places to build habits, hoping I would meet people naturally, but it just was not happening.

One day, after feeling frustrated and honestly a bit fed up with being on my own, I posted in a Facebook group. I simply wrote, “Hi guys, I love matcha and walking, does anyone want to meet up?”

Walking with a drink in hand, talking about life for hours with a friend has always been one of my favorite simple pleasures. At the time, I just did not have anyone to share it with.

The response was overwhelming. Within a day, more than a hundred girls had joined a group chat and started introducing themselves. There was clearly something there, a shared need.

So I decided to organize a first walk. A small café, Mina Mina, was the first to say yes, even though I had received quite a few rejections before that. We were around 25 girls at that first event. I had no idea what I was doing, but it worked.

I started documenting everything on Instagram, and the second walk quickly grew to more than 50 people. Then I introduced pilates events, combining two things I personally love, and they sold out almost instantly. From there, it naturally evolved into weekly pilates sessions and monthly walks.

What it showed me is that there is a real need, not just in Montreal but everywhere, for genuine connection. Our generation went through such a formative period during COVID, and I think a lot of us crave connection but do not always know how to create it.

Montreal is also a very cosmopolitan and transient city. People come and go, and many are looking to meet others, just like I was.

What started as something I did to make friends became something much bigger than me. Now during events, I also try to intentionally match people based on shared interests, age groups, or energy. It is almost like a soft form of friendship matchmaking, and seeing those connections happen in real life is still the most rewarding part.

“Sunday Ritual” Matcha Walk Club’s Sunday reset for movement, meditation, and matcha 

Q2. Why matcha specifically, what does it represent for the club and its community?

Matcha started very simply. I have been a huge matcha enthusiast for years. I switched from coffee about four years ago, and it significantly reduced my anxiety, so it became part of my daily ritual.

To be honest, it could have been anything. If I had been obsessed with coffee lattes, maybe it would have been a Coffee Walk Club. Matcha just naturally became the anchor.

I was already creating content around matcha in Montreal, reviewing different spots because I am very particular about quality. That mindset carried into the club.

Now that matcha has become a major trend, almost every café offers it, but a lot of it is low quality and does not really respect the product or its cultural origins. For me, that matters.

Within Matcha Walk Club, we are very intentional about the experience we offer. The matcha we serve is sourced and prepared by someone who truly understands the product, its grades, its preparation, and its culture. It is not just about aesthetics or hype.

What is interesting is that the girls in the club are just as picky as I am. It has become part of our shared identity, appreciating quality, slowing down, and turning something simple into a ritual.

Matcha Walk Club’s one-year anniversary at Royalmount Shopping Mall in Montreal

Q.3. Has running Matcha Walk Club changed you in any unexpected way?

Completely, in more ways than I ever expected.

I went from feeling quite lonely to meeting between 50 and 100 people every single week. That alone is a huge shift. Beyond that, I unexpectedly found myself building something that resembles a business on my own.

I had to learn everything from scratch. Working with cafés, studios, and brands, negotiating partnerships, organizing events, handling logistics, marketing, content creation, editing, and even accounting. I had no background in this, I was just figuring things out as I went.

It also pushed me into a leadership role, which can feel intimidating. Being the one making decisions, taking responsibility, and sometimes feeling like an impostor has all been part of the journey.

At the same time, it has given me so much purpose. I have created real friendships through the club myself, and I get to build something that truly aligns with what I love.

It feels like a blessing. I am incredibly grateful, especially for my family, who supported me from the very beginning and encouraged me to keep going even when it was uncertain.

Q.4. Your events span everything from pilates and ballet to closet sales and movie nights. How do you approach planning, and is there a deeper ethos guiding what you put together?

At the beginning, it was very instinctive. I always say I am just a girl trying to bring her vision board to life.

I would think about what I would want to do with my friends and then make it happen.

As the club has grown, my approach has become more intentional. There is now a stronger focus on creating a full experience that feels curated, thoughtful, and aligned with what the community expects and deserves.

At its core, the ethos has not changed. Everything is designed to make people feel good emotionally, socially, and physically. It is not about performance or intensity. It is about creating moments that feel light, aesthetic, and genuinely connecting.

Q.5. You’ve described this community as feeling like a family. What role do your members play in making that possible, and are there any moments that have stuck with you?

The community is everything. Matcha Walk Club is not just about the activities, it is about the conversations that happen during and after.

As people talk, they naturally open up. There is something very disarming about walking side by side or sharing a moment after a class. Connections form quickly and often go deeper than expected.

You start seeing the same girls come back, follow each other on social media, and make plans outside of the club. By the end of events, it feels natural to hug goodbye, even if you only met an hour before.

One moment that really stayed with me was after the very first event. A couple of days later, I randomly saw some of the girls hanging out together. That is when it really hit me. I had helped create those friendships.

Another emotional moment was celebrating the club’s three month milestone during an event. There were hugs, a lot of gratitude, and a shared feeling that this meant something special to all of us.

It also feels like a family because of the relationships built behind the scenes, with the instructors, collaborators, and partners who have supported the club from early on. Those connections are just as meaningful.

Q.6. What’s next for Matcha Walk Club? Any events, directions, or dreams you’re excited about?

It is funny because a year ago, I could not have imagined any of this. The club did not even exist yet.

Now I have so many ideas. I would love to organize retreats that allow for deeper connection and reconnection. More outdoor and rooftop events during the summer. Maybe even bringing the concept to other cities one day.

At the same time, my priority is to preserve what makes the club special. That feeling of safety, warmth, and leaving an event thinking, I feel good.

There is also potential to expand into products, maybe launching a matcha line or creating pieces that extend the lifestyle beyond the events.

I do not know exactly where it is all going yet, but that is part of what makes it so exciting. It really feels like I am building something alive, evolving, and full of possibility.

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Matcha Walk club recently celebrated its first anniversary at Royalmount Shopping Mall in Montreal on May 9th. The group celebrated their milestone with a Pilates+ Matcha morning with over 80+ attendees, a matcha bar by Whiské Matcha, and ballet-inspired pilates. 

What started as a Facebook post is now a movement, and we can’t wait to see what Yasmine has planned next in Montreal and beyond.

To stay updated on their events, follow @matchawalkclub on Instagram!