Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis
Co-Founder, Bosa - A community-powered platform to help you achieve your goals.
THE BACK STORY
Everyone could use a little help from time to time, especially when it comes from others who have faced – and overcome – the same challenges.
Parents never have an off season, let alone an off day. They are on the clock 24 hours a day, every day. This is not a fact lost on Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis, which is why Bosa is focusing first on helping parents achieve their goals.
“In its most simple form, Bosa helps you achieve your goals through community. The platform manages your mental load and matches what you want to do or learn with experts and coaches in your community who can help you make it happen,” says the company founder, detailing the purpose and usefulness of her company’s app. “The app simplifies your life by helping you easily connect with the knowledge and support of your friends and family, experts and broader Bosa community. Our vision is to empower people to achieve their ideas, dreams and aspirations, and we truly believe that by doing so they can change the world.”
Bosa seeks to not only help you achieve your goals, but also to connect experts to the people they’re aiming to serve. An example of this could be a busy parent who wants to create an organic kitchen centered around real, whole foods to improve their family's nutrition, but doesn’t have time to find credible resources and tips to help. Bosa will be able to assist by automatically connecting them to an expert in "real food" who can provide actionable online resources and a community to make it happen.. As a result, the expert also expands their awareness and impact. Instead of relying on fragmented social media and content outlets, Bosa is poised to be the place where connections are quickly made – empowering both busy people in achieving their goals and experts in reaching and building a community around their passion.
APP-PLYING HERSELF
Set to launch summer 2023, Bosa is co-owned by Tarpeh-Ellis and her best friend and fellow Midwest native, Ejimofor “EJ” Oruche. Meeting during their days as undergrads at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT), the duo both moved to Los Angeles to pursue their respective careers: Tarpeh-Ellis in local government, accelerators, and a venture capital firm specializing in investing in women, people of color and the LGTBQIA+ community; Oruche as a product leader for tech startups and for CBS All Access (now known as Paramount+).
Despite potential for upward trajectory at their respective employers, Tarpeh-Ellis says she and her partner realized that pursuing any other interests outside of work would be difficult. That led to the realization others might be facing the same issues – something they wanted to help resolve. Given her expertise in venture capital and his in digital technology, the best friends’ journey was ready for a new chapter.
Explaining they derived their company’s name from a news feature that described “bosa” as a “victory after a long journey,” Tarpeh-Elllis hopes all the research and preparation she and her partner have done will make their app’s users feel triumphant.
“We said, ‘Let’s create something that helps people get stuff done in a more sustainable way that is mindful of your energy so you can actually do some of the things on your plate. Whether you want to learn to eat more organically, maintain an exercise routine – whatever it may be – in talking with other parents and women in our community, we realized they didn’t have the support they needed,” Tarpeh-Ellis says. “We took our personal experience and started connecting with our community … When we launch, we will continue those conversations to make sure the product is what they need and that is what excites us: To make something for people that changes their lives.”
WHY MAIN STREET VENTURES MATTERS
Money – and having plenty of it – obviously helps any business thrive. Tarpeh-Ellis readily acknowledges this, which is why she says utilizing an organization like Main Street Ventures (MSV) makes a lot of sense, especially when it comes to using your business’ dollars wisely.
Calling MSV “genuinely true champions of Cincinnati-area businesses,” Tarpeh-Ellis says any entrepreneur looking for a hand up versus a handout would be wise to invest in themselves by contacting Main Street Ventures.
“MSV is the best partner and that showed from day one … They have shown up in many ways for our team beyond funding! They have connected us with in-kind resources and corporate partners, provided mental health workshops and opportunities to connect with potential customers and fellow founders,” she says. “They’ve essentially helped us grow our network and community which we could not have done on our own.”
Avoiding feeling alone is central to not only Bosa’s business model according to Tarpeh-Ellis, but also launching a successful entrepreneurial venture.
“Keep going especially when it comes to looking for and filling out grant applications. It can get tedious with little return on investment, but there will be a breakthrough,” she says. “Push through to find your people who will show up for and cheer you on.”
