On a recent evening in downtown Minneapolis, colorfully clothed women donning pearl headbands and flowery claw clips sat alongside colorful umbrellas in an alleyway near Target Center.
It was a DIY charm-making event at Tropico Sweets and Bar, hosted by the women’s social community She’s Invited. Music was playing, but it could barely be heard over the endless chatter of women either maintaining connections or hoping to make new ones.
Despite struggling to make friends, She’s Invited founder Frida Torres Macal understood the importance of having them and craved a group of girlfriends for memorable hangouts. Her background as founder of social media marketing company That Social Invite meant that she was primed to make it happen. She attended paint and sips and clothing swaps feeling like these events were lacking something: consistency.
So, she created She’s Invited, a community of women in their 20s and early 30s that connect monthly at events planned by Macal. She’s Invited celebrated its one-year anniversary in March of 2025.
A 2022 study cited by the U.S. Surgeon General in 2023 says that only 39% of adults in the U.S. said that they felt very connected to others. Often, people’s first longtime friends are a product of forced proximity that they have to maintain as they get older. Maintaining this proximity gets harder as options for hangouts and activities seem to shrink with age.
“If you don’t go clubbing every weekend, it’s gonna be harder to meet people and, you know, it’s not like high school where you see a ton of different people every day,” event attendee Madison Moeller said.
Macal took almost six years to overcome the intricacies of making connections in a new city. It’s an issue she’s heard about from other women as well. “I have heard from other girls where they just moved here for a job, or they’re out of college and they don’t have the same friends anymore. And, they’re looking for friendships,” Macal said.
Eight percent of Americans say they have no close friends, according to a Pew Research Study released in 2023. That may seem small, but that is approximately 27.2 million Americans who don’t have non-family members in their support groups. Health organizations, including the Mayo Clinic and the American Psychological Association, have stated that a lack of friendship can have an impact on one’s mental and physical wellbeing.
Although She’s Invited events are most commonly attended by a narrow demographic of women in their 20s and 30s, the events foster a diverse environment for both newcomers to Minneapolis and long-time residents. For Fathima Mohamed, who’s been to five She’s Invited events, it’s a celebration of girlhood that exposes her to a range of people. “I think like, especially as an adult, it’s harder to make friendships, and things like this help you tap into that and just explore different personalities and cultures, and there’s beauty in that,” Mohamed said.
The variety of women attending She’s Invited events could be attributed to the community’s social media where Macal uses her expertise to craft a plethora of posts. All of the attendees interviewed for this article said that they found She’s Invited through social media and, most commonly, through Instagram, which is She’s Invited’s most followed account.
The first She’s Invited event was inspired by Macal’s mother, who has an interior design business and creates different types of home decor. Macal wanted to start with an activity that she was comfortable with and decided on a candle painting event in the community room of her apartment with about 12 girls.
Now, She’s Invited events often sell out and Macal has businesses reaching out to host these sought after events with a focus on women-owned or co-owned businesses. Last Thursday’s partnership was a collaboration between her and a friend who does social media for Tropico. “So, it’s like a win-win,” said Diana Angulo, Tropico’s social media person. “Frida gets more community on the spot, and I’m gonna make content for them, for Frida and for Tropico.”
In addition to its business benefits, She’s Invited offers a safe space geared toward women looking to make friends and fits into general trends in American friendships. Pew Research also mentioned in their 2023 friendship study that 71% of U.S. Adult women say that all or most of their close friends are the same gender as them. A few event attendees mentioned how She’s Invited provides a sense of security.
“Having a women-only event, it feels a lot more comfortable to put yourself out there and be vulnerable,” event attendee Michayla Thielen said. “I don’t know, if it was, I think, men and women I would hesitate a little more or I’d want to go with a friend.”
The idea of creating communities and clubs centered around socialization is centuries old, but what these communities and clubs look like is evolving and they now exist for nearly everyone, including elites, college graduates, fitness enthusiasts, and any young woman looking to make close connections in a big city.
“There’s a lot of (social clubs) in Minneapolis, but I’m trying to scope out the best one and this one is a really fun one,” Thielen said.
Kabedi Mutamba is a reporting intern with MinnPost.