Viral exercise trend aimed at inspiring confidence creates a welcoming community for women in Northwest Arkansas.

By: Emma Dannenfelser

We’ve all seen it. The girl walking down the street in her brightly colored athleisure. Her headphones are in and probably blaring a podcast or a playlist full of high-energy songs. While this might simply appear to be a person exercising or just getting some fresh air, it’s not just an ordinary walk—this is a hot girl walk. 

The viral TikTok trend “Hot Girl Walks” has made its way to Northwest Arkansas with the help of Katarina Derrick, a U of A graduate and former Razorback gymnast.  Not only is this trend inspiring women to prioritize their health and build confidence, but it is also creating a community for women in every walk of life. 

Hot Girl Walks may be a peculiar idea to some, yet they have become a daily ritual for many women across the globe ever since a TikTok made by creator Mia Lind blew up in January 2021. In the TikTok, Lind describes the rules and conditions that turn an average walk into a Hot Girl Walk, which consist of some basics like the walk being outside and around four miles long.

However, the most vital part of a Hot Girl Walk is found within the psyche, allowing only thoughts about your goals, what you’re grateful for and how hot you are. Any form of “relationship drama” is also explicitly banned from being in your head for the duration of a Hot Girl Walk, according to Lind’s initial TikTok.

After graduating in 2022, she found herself lacking a solid community after most of her college friends moved to different states, a scenario that is common after college for many. Derrick decided that she wanted to act by creating a group where women can go to find a community and support system.

“I just wanted to get girls together. Maybe it’s girls who are just coming to college or girls who just left college like me,” Derrick said. “You know sometimes your schedule just doesn’t line up with your friends, so I was hoping have a set time that they could put on the calendar and just know that’s what they’re doing that evening.”

From this idea, Derrick created the TikTok account “hotgirlwalknwa”, where she posted her initial video advertising the group’s first-ever organized walk. The TikTok immediately went viral, garnering nearly 200,000 views, 20,000 likes and over 800 shares.

“Everyone always says ‘I didn’t expect it to blow-up’. And while I was hoping it eventually would, I was not expecting that first one go crazy like that. But I’m super glad it did because it helped to jump start things,” Derrick said.

TikTok videos like Derrick’s had been blowing up throughout the summer in cities like Dallas and Austin, so for many the trend coming to Northwest Arkansas was a long-awaited moment, said U of A graduate Sydney Combs. 

“I’m really glad that we have Hot Girl Walk group locally now, because I’d been seeing them on Tik Tok and I was really hoping someone would start it, but it just wasn’t gonna be me!” Combs said, with a laugh.

The group’s first walk was held on Aug. 10 and began in a parking lot near Dickson Street.  Nearly 60 women of all ages showed up, coming from various cities and walks of life. 

“There was such a diverse group of people that showed up, it wasn’t just college girls from Fayetteville. There was a woman from Bentonville who was married, and people even drove all the way from Fort Smith,” said Loren Davis, a recent U of A graduate and friend of Derrick’s. 

The group followed the Razorback Greenway trails south for around one mile, giving the women plenty of time to mingle with as many of their fellow “Hot Girl Walkers” as possible.

“I think of the Hot Girl Walk kind of like a dating app,” Davis said. “There are so many people in your area that you’re never going to meet, and Hot Girl Walk is kind of the catalyst for matching you with people who want the same things as you. In this case, it’s great because we’re all here collectively to get together and create a community.” 

Since the first walk in August, Derrick has planned and hosted not only two more Hot Girl Walks, but also monthly events such as workout classes at Pure Barre or Nooma Yoga and post-walk happy hours at JJ’s, as well as wine and cheese night’s at JJ’s Live, Derrick said.

Along with the organized walks and events, Derrick has also put together numerous giveaways supporting local businesses like Honeyville, Tanning with Marg and Scarlet Letter seltzers, according to the “hotgirlwalknwa” Instagram account. 

Organizing and planning events for 60 or more women from the internet is undeniably no easy feat. Derrick attributes her past as a Razorback gymnast for her success and ability to handle gaining such a large and public platform virtually overnight.

“From competing at meets and being around that many people I’ve gotten used to hyping other girls up, which I’ve been able to do on the walks and at our events,” Derrick said.

Soon, Derrick aims to plan more events throughout the year, specifically more classes and indoor activities as the region’s weather begins to turn colder. 

Something that many college graduates experience, is the sudden loss of connection. For example, people can move away, get married or go back or go back to school and these changes make finding a new social standard difficult for many recent graduates, Combs said. 

“It’s been challenging to kind of meet everyone where they’re at and even just getting groups together. At this time in our lives everyone is so different and they’re individual ideas of fun are so different or what they want to use their free time for after work,” Combs said.

Derrick and “hotgirlwalknwa” has created an environment and community that makes being active and finding new ways to connect with new friends more accessible to people who may not have had those opportunities or the confidence to try them before, Davis said. 

“Kat is such a badass,” Davis said. “There’s all this stuff that she’s made available to people who may not have normally thought to try these things.