We were lucky to catch up with Tess Millhollon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tess, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

After spending time solo backpacking Australia, I was deeply inspired by my life changing season of solo traveling. I found confidence and healing through that time and I’m is determined to help more women have life changing solo adventures of their own.

While I was overseas, I spent a lot of time staying with locals. Not only did this save me a LOT of money, but it also gave me authentic experiences while abroad. When seeing the safety challenges in many current accommodation services, I set out to create a whole new platform where women can connect, stay with each other, and have unforgettable experiences together.

After years of dreaming and working, the app’s MVP was soft launched on October 7, 2021 and was approved into the Google and Apple app stores on February 3, 2022. The community has been growing organically ever since with over 2500 downloads across 70 countries. We’re now taking the big step of developing the app professionally and the new version will be released summer of 2025.

This is just the beginning for HerHouse and we’re thrilled to make a difference for women who love to travel alone.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

HerHouse is a community that brings background checked solo women travelers together so that they can host each other and find safe and free accommodation all across the world

HerHouse Brand Story: Something happened to me in college that forever changed the way I thought about safety as a woman. After I graduated 2 things happened:

1. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life
2. I needed to reclaim my body.

I needed to find myself, my confidence, and frankly I needed to get away from men. At that time I was working with a network marketing company that was opening up in Australia. A friend of mine casually asked me, “Tess- why don’t you go? Start making connections down there.” Little did I know that this idea would set a new trajectory for my career and life in general.

The thought of having total freedom in solo traveling- meeting new people, and having the adventure of a lifetime was intoxicating. I became obsessed with the concept- binging youtube videos, researching Australia, and starting to network to see if I knew anyone down under. I ended up selling everything I had and 7 months later I was on a one way flight to Melbourne.

While I was overseas I was often hosted by locals. I had a knack for networking and finding places to stay along the journey. This was important to me because it primarily helped me save money. But something else happened when I was staying with locals.

I was able to get immersed in the culture of the area and it allowed me to see Australia like a local. They introduced me to their friends. They invited me to their barbecues. They showed me their favorite coffee shops, beaches, and where their kids went to school. This not only gave me memories I continue to cherish to this day but also life long friendships. One recently sent me Australian baby blankets when my son was born!

Those short 6 months of solo traveling was a deeply life changing experience. That season helped me recognize who I am on my own- without the pressures of family, friends, or career. It helped me foster an ability to make my own decisions- to know what I need or what I want, and clarity on how to achieve results. I had total freedom to wear, go, and eat whatever I wanted. I spent countless hours alone walking the beaches and exploring cities all while praying, healing, and gaining confidence. I was able to become a published author by telling the story of how I yacht-hopped up the east coast of Australia. It ultimately led me to my purpose in life of helping other women have life changing solo travel experiences too.

When I got back to the United States late 2017 I told my friends how I stayed with locals regularly and they were astounded.

“How did you find these people?”
“How did you know they were safe?”
“They hosted you for free? People do that?”

Time and time again while overseas I had people excited to meet, host, and share their city with me. I know in my heart that there are good people all over the world who want to help solo women travelers.

But we have a hard time finding each other.

That’s when I knew that I had to create a platform that enabled women to feel empowered, safe, and connected through solo traveling and staying with locals around the world. But we don’t just want free accommodation. We want a community where we can ask questions, find encouragement, and travel inspiration.

I yearned for a place where women can come in and say, “If she can do it, so can I.”

Fast forward to 2021 I was able to build the MVP for HerHouse myself using no code software. From 2021-2025 we’ve had over 2500 women download the HerHouse app across 70 countries. From there the magic of HerHouse began to manifest.

Hannah from Denmark was able to begin her working holiday in New Zealand by staying with Ellen in Auckland for a couple weeks. They went hiking, kayaking, and wine tasting. Having a safe place to land with a kind host made the transition overseas exciting, memorable, and easy.

Marion from Australia was able to house sit for another HerHouser on the Danish island of Fyn- giving her 6 weeks of free accommodation for her adventure.

Dani from California stayed with Kayla in Denver. She ended up loving Denver so much that she moved there and immediately had a great friend group through this connection.

And the stories continue to pour in. It’s literally a dream come true!

Now we’re getting the app officially built by a professional development team to help our members easily connect, make friends, and find adventures together!

This is still just the beginning for this beautiful community and we’re thrilled to not only help make travel easier, safer, and more affordable, but to also give the solo travel community a dedicated space to connect, share stories, and make life long friendships.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

5:30am. The morning is black and thick with humidity.

I make my coffee and sit in the stillness. Bird songs fill the air.

After my quiet time of writing and prayer I sneak upstairs to my office- carefully stepping not to wake my sleeping baby.

Early mornings are the only time I find that I can get deep work done. Before having my son I would stay up until 10pm many nights developing new features on HerHouse’s MVP. I’ve been working on it for months… years now actually.

As I look back on my journey as a founder, it seems like I’ve been dreaming about HerHouse and working on it forever. But at the same time… it feels like yesterday that I first started thinking about this concept in 2018.

I even took the idea to a small business incubator in Austin at that time. The advisor proceeded to tell me that it would never work and that giants like Airbnb and the hotel industry would crush me. He warned that I would be poised for lawsuits by having a gender-specific business.

I left that meeting deflated. But he didn’t understand what I was trying to build. He didn’t understand the fear I felt as a solo woman traveler. He’s never had to deal with the anxiety women face when they step out into the world on their own.

So I held the idea close to my heart for years. It was a spark that inspired me, scared me, and totally overwhelmed me.

I think just getting the app to market with no code software was the first big hurdle. I was working for a law firm during the day and at night I would dive into what I called “developer land” where I was learning about how technology worked on the back end and how to connect my app with my website, payment processor, and email notifications.

Building the MVP for HerHouse was undoubtedly the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It helped me grow in my abilities to think strategically, creatively, and intentionally.

The second big hurdle was becoming a mother in the midst of it.

I was afraid to have a baby for years for a multitude of reasons from destroying my body to destroying my ambition. But I have found MORE vision, excitement for what I’m building, and drive after having my son. In fact, I have much better time management and efficiency in my work. It has helped me become an early bird (something I’ve been wanting for years) and has forced be to become more disciplined and focused.

The third major challenge was figuring out how to build the app professionally and get funding to make it happen.

In the first half of 2025 I was finally coming out of the postpartum fog and able to start really working on the business again. I started to realize that the app wasn’t converting new users into members and the ones that did convert… churned. In fact, my churn rate was around 80%. I began to realize that HerHouse wouldn’t thrive let alone survive with the current technology. Credit cards were racking up. I had to make a change or else I would have to shut it down completely.

I went through the very challenging process of running a kickstarter for HerHouse which got us traction but ultimately failed. However, in the midst of it I connected with Sahara, who truly understood not only the need for HerHouse but had the vision of where it could go with me. She ultimately invested in the company and now we are building the new version with a professional team.

In retrospect, I’m reminded that building a business is an endurance race. It takes incredible amounts of resilience, vision, and obsession to bring something into reality that doesn’t exist yet. Sometimes things spring up out of nowhere. But behind that manifestation is years of dreaming, building, and growing not only the business but as a founder too.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

HerHouse was completely bootstrapped up until recently. I was able to build the first version of the app myself using no code software. The first big investment made was in the course I took to help me learn how to build apps without code. I bought the 2500 course on a payment plan.

The rise of no code is making it easier and more affordable than ever to get new technology and ideas out into the world.

During those early days I put everything on my business credit card- fees for the trademark and other legal documents, logo creation, and software fees. I paid it off slowly from my day job until the business started generating revenue from founding memberships.

The concept of getting funding was completely overwhelming to me so I built it slowly with what I could afford. Within the first full year of the app being in the market, I was able to pay off all the debt the business accumulated in the first year of building.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.herhouse.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herhouse.co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HerHouse.co/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tess-millhollon/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@herhouse.co