Suki Waterhouse is all in on gratitude.
The actress/musician and her best friend Poppy Jamie on Friday are launching With Gratitude, an app where circles of friends can share a list of the top things they are grateful for each day — according to the Mayo Clinic, gratitude practices can have positive impacts on mental and physical health, as they release positive hormones like oxytocin. Since teasing the app on social media, the waitlist has garnered over 10,000 people.
Waterhouse and Jamie have been friends for over a decade and aren’t new to working together. Jamie is an author, podcaster and entrepreneur particularly focused in the mental health space. The duo have previously collaborated on several other projects, including a line of suitcases for Away and their own accessories company, Pop and Suki.
With Gratitude all started with Waterhouse and Jamie first adopting the practice with each other and eventually bringing other friends in.
“We have this decade-long friendship behind us at this point and have always relied on each other wherever we are. We have such a strong connection,” Waterhouse said. “I was desperate to have some kind of ritual in my life that I could go to… I was moving around so much and [felt] like I was missing out on quite a lot, so I started with Poppy and a couple of other friends [sending] 10 things we’re grateful for a day as a way of staying in touch.”
She continued: “It was the ritual that I was missing in my life.”
After doing this ritual for seven months, an idea sparked for Jamie to start something more official.
“I was so shocked [by] the fact that we had both stuck to something so routinely,” she said.
That being said, she realized the concept lends itself to this consistency.
“Even five good things about the day, it takes less than a minute…you’re doing it with a friend [so] you actually stick to it,” said Jamie, adding that it’s brought her and her friends closer. “I’d read Suki’s list, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. Oh well, this happened. This happened.’ Then I’ll call her up, [and] be like, ‘I read this, what happened? Go into detail.’”
After realizing how viable the concept was, Jamie connected with a friend at a tech company and together, they pursued building the app.
“I thought this actually would be the sweetest, easiest app to build,” she said. “The app is really simple. Every single day [it] asks you to look for the good things.”
With Gratitude app interface.
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On the app, users can create different circles to share their lists — think a group for family, a group for friends and a group for work colleagues. The app prompts the user to share at least three things they are grateful for each day, keeps track of each day’s list and provides a daily inspirational quote.
While Waterhouse and Jamie have fallen in love with the practice, early testers have also reaped the benefits. The team has had family, friends and even the With Gratitude tech team testing it out.
“The guys that we got onto the app f–king love it,” Waterhouse said.
For both Waterhouse and Jamie, one of the most impactful aspects of the app is recognizing the good things even when having a bad day.
“You need your friends to help you see the silver linings,” Jamie said.
“If I’m going through a difficult time, I always know I can go and look at [what my friends are grateful for]… Seeing the things that we are grateful for, even when f–king hard life stuff comes our way, it reinforces such a healthy dynamic in our entire lives,” Waterhouse said. “The fact that we’re doing this daily practice together, always seeing the positive things in whatever it is that’s coming to us, has attracted [us] together to the light. You’re in this manifestation of finding the positive and the light together.”
With Gratitude’s daily check-in.
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She continued: “Sometimes you’re really having a day where you’re pissed, and you simply can’t think of anything to be grateful for. Those are some of my favorite: trying to watch my friends come up with things.”
For Waterhouse, the platform has been a way to track all the little moments of gratitude with her daughter, who was born last year. Both Waterhouse and Jamie agreed the app allows users to find the joy in the little things.
“Poppy put the silliest one down the other day: ‘I know this is really silly, but I’m so grateful for almond milk lattes,’” said Waterhouse. “There’s so much profoundness in the mundane.”
