Meet Olivia Deramus | Founder & CEO of Communia

We had the good fortune of connecting with Olivia Deramus and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Olivia, how does your business help the community?
Everyone talks about mental and physical health, but no one ever mentions social health – which focuses on the quality of our relationships and community. If we have less positive connection, we actually live shorter lives and every other aspect of health is worsened. Ironically, in an increasingly isolated and polarized world, we need this third wellbeing pillar more than ever. Communia is taking a tool that has worsened our social health dramatically, social media, and is repurposing it for the use its consumers have always instinctually assumed it was intended for – authentic connection and community support. In this way, we’re providing a uniquely intuitive and accessible health tool for the demographic that needs it most. Women, 60% of whom experience online abuse, with that stat rising further in younger age groups. That stat and others like it become even more urgent when we acknowledge that women are experiencing the loneliness crisis too, with over 70% of us saying they feel lonely. So what happens, then, when we turn to mainstream social media to try to find a solution – only to get harassed for it? A toxic cycle I’m determined to break.

What should our readers know about your business?
Social media platforms are failing women and causing real world harm. I first realized this when I became one of the millions of women who have experienced sexual assault my freshman year of college here in the LA area. When it happened, I didn’t feel safe on campus and I didn’t have the support network you need when going through any type of difficult life moment, so I turned to social media to try to find other women experiencing similar things. Upsettingly, I found very few spaces online where real women were talking to each other about what they were going through or even feeling. When I did see women sharing, they were usually harassed and shamed for it. At best, platforms like Instagram are a highlight reel – at worst – places where digital misogyny is encouraged to fuel the tech platform’s bottom line. This dynamic prevents more than half of social media users (women) from using the internet as it’s intended: to connect authentically with others and find important information. I finished my degree in international relations while being sued by the perpetrator of my assault for reporting him. During those parallel experiences, I further realized that social media could solve so many societal issues like loneliness, and in doing so even be used as a health tool, if only there was a platform built with radically different priorities. I graduated around the same time the legal battle ended, and I had a choice between pursuing personal justice for myself or using the financial resources I had come into for that to build a social alternative that could improve other’s lives in a way I had desperately needed in my own experience. I chose building. Today, what I built is called Communia and we’ve helped hundreds of thousands of women through the power of healthy, harassment and judgement free social connection. It hasn’t been easy, the tech industry is notoriously male dominated. If I’m honest, I’ve encountered consistent sexism throughout my journey building the app. But is it a surprise, given the kind of abuse those same tech bros encourage on their platforms? The power of women’s community has helped me persevere every time, both professionally and personally, and we outperform other social apps with vastly larger budgets without manipulative practices. The dominant thinking in tech is that angry content, dopamine addiction, and data exploitation is the only way to build a profitable social business. That’s not true. Women make up the majority of social media users, so there’s a huge market opportunity – along with societal good – in paying attention to what we need from tech products. In fact, 40% of Gen Z and Millennial women are looking to leave social media altogether because of safety and health concerns. Through Communia’s success, I want to force this industry out of its frankly archaic way of thinking that increasingly harms our societal and personal health. Despite tackling serious issues, I really want people to know that part of Communia’s success is because we’re a really fun and uplifting platform to be on. It’s because we’re a more protected platform (we require everyone to verify their identity before they can communicate among other measures) that we can do things like share funny and vulnerable stories about our dating lives without being sexualized for it, or create expressive content via the social journaling feature as we know we won’t be judged for it. Then, if we end up having a bad day or go through something terrible, we know we can turn to the app we’re already using for fun to find comfort and support from other women who have been there too.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live on the West Side, and before I moved here as a college student, I always fantasized about the surfer lifestyle. I’d start them off with a swim/boogie board in Marina del Ray, my favorite swimming spot if we’re not making the drive to Malibu, and then do a walk or bike down the front to Shutters on the Beach to have a drink on their terrace overlooking the ocean. I’d take them to the Sunday silent disco on the Venice part of the beach the next day, and eat at Si! Mon for dinner. Crudo e Nudo is another great fish focused restaurant with a seasonally changing menu, and I’m convinced Locando Portofino is the best Italian restaurant in LA. Abbot Kinney is a fun shopping experience, and I’d take them to The Grove because it’s been in so many movie scenes. The Venice canals are also lovely to walk around, and I’d take them on a driving tour just to look at all the cool LA real estate. I love how there’s so many random different types of architecture here. Going for a horse ride in the Malibu hills is also a great first timer activity and I’d make sure to take them to a comedy show too. Preferably at the Largo. This is a hot take but – I think the independently owned Main Squeeze smoothie bar is 10x better than Erewhon, but I’d take them to the latter for interesting plan snacks for their flight home.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Amanda Nguyen and her upcoming book, Saving Five. She has no idea who I am, but when I was dealing with the aftermath of my sexual assault, she was the person I looked up to when I couldn’t imagine a future for myself, or even a healed version of myself. Sharing our stories shifts narratives and changes lives. Her story and activism helped me see that I could own my survivor experience to make something empowering for other women. I haven’t read her forthcoming book, but I know it’s going to have a similar positive impact for so many people.

Website: https://www.ourcommunia.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olivia.deramus/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-deramus-90b4a1191/