Monica McCormick
For decades, Christi Strickland has been the person groups turn to when the work gets real. Through her practice, Circle Forth, she has facilitated restorative justice circles, hospice and medical teams, youth programs, co-housing communities, and wilderness rites of passage, and taught group dynamics to graduate psychology students along the way. Her approach draws on living systems thinking and council practice, but her greatest teachers, in her words, have been the earth and "the thousands of people I've circled with over the years."
But facilitation has always lived in the room. Christi's skill reached the people sitting in her circles, while the facilitators and leaders she most wanted to support were often on their own between gatherings, walking into hard meetings and charged conversations without a place to prepare, reset, or find others who understood the work. Her mission is to grow confident facilitators and create spaces that nourish the space-holders, and that needed to reach further than any single room.
She was on the verge of subscribing to Circle (Circle.so) when she found Movement. Rather than piece it together herself, she worked with Movement's design team to build Group HQ, a training program, resource center, and community for facilitators. It includes live micro-learning sessions, weekly check-ins with Christi, and curated tools members can pull up before walking into any group.
What led you to create an app?
I wanted to create an on-the-go toolbox, training platform and community for group facilitators and leaders. I was on the verge of purchasing a subscription with Circle when I discovered Movement.so and am so grateful I did. Movement really allowed me to turn my vision into a reality, providing my members exactly what I had in mind. The beauty, design flexibility and navigation options of the mobile app helped me take a big idea and put (it) in the palm of the hands of my members.
"I was on the verge of purchasing a subscription with Circle when I discovered Movement and am so grateful I did."
Why did you choose Movement to create your app?
Movement (movement.so) provided the flexibility and functionality in a way that I am providing my members more than a course and community. I could really create an app designed to meet the unique needs of my members.
"I could really create an app designed to meet the unique needs of my members."
Have you tried any other platforms to create something similar?
I was on the verge of creating an account with Circle and I have tried out other learning platforms. But none provided the unique elements I wanted (to) create specifically for my members, and in a way that is so easily accessible, clear and eye-catching!
"None provided the unique elements I wanted (to) create specifically for my members, and in a way that is so easily accessible, clear and eye-catching!"
Why did you choose Movement's Done For You service rather than build it yourself?
I chose the done for you service for several reasons. No doubt the designers understand the app's capabilities in a way that it would take me time (that I don't have) to more fully understand. I was looking for support in creating brand consistency across the app, beyond font and colors. The designers really helped create an overall tone and flow, and architecture of how to put together the elements in such a beautiful and practical way. Because there (were) so many different ways to put the pieces of my app vision together, I really wanted the designers' eye on how to puzzle it all together.
"The designers really helped create an overall tone and flow, and architecture of how to put together the elements in such a beautiful and practical way."
Would you recommend Movement to others?
Absolutely! The communication and support was amazing and we really created something that I can build on and add to for a long time to come. This is my home base for all I want to provide to my clients and members. The feedback I'm receiving is already so positive in terms of the app feeling both welcoming, inviting, and practical.
Post-launch I just want to say how amazing the support has been, truly. Yes, there have been plenty to sort out. Much of that is my learning curve, including a big mistake I made that y'all were heroic (in fixing), some are bugs, but I feel quite supported in quickly addressing each piece as it comes up. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the design team and everyone involved.
"The feedback I'm receiving is already so positive in terms of the app feeling both welcoming, inviting, and practical."
For facilitators, trainers, and anyone who leads groups, Christi's story is a reminder that some of the most important work happens outside the room: the preparation, the reflection, and the people who have your back. Group HQ gives her members all of that in one branded app, shaped with Movement's design team to carry the same warmth she brings to every circle. Because it's built to grow, she can keep adding to it as Circle Forth evolves, from new training to fresh resources for her community.
Early members are already describing the app as welcoming, inviting, and practical, the same feeling Christi has spent a career creating in person. As she puts it, "we really created something that I can build on and add to for a long time to come."
Check out Group HQ or find Christi at Circle Forth, on LinkedIn and Instagram.
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Ready to support your community between events or gatherings, not just during them?
Whether you're a facilitator, trainer, or group leader juggling Zoom links, shared folders, email threads, and a community platform like Circle, Movement brings your training, resources, live sessions, and community into one branded app your members can open anywhere. Build it yourself, or work with our design team to shape it with you. Your people already gather around your work. Movement gives them a place to keep coming back to.
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Whether you're offering courses, events or programs, selling digital products, or hosting a private community, Movement gives you everything you need in one place: content and video hosting, chats, events, directories, and more.
It’s designed to be intuitive for you and seamless for your audience—so you can focus on delivering value, not managing tech.
For coaches who are tired of stitching together tools like Kajabi, Squarespace, and Facebook Groups, Movement offers a simpler, more scalable way to grow your business and deepen client connection—all under your own brand.
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