Rosa's #IMakeApps story
Name: Rosa Mei
Profile: Movement fanatic
Role: Founder & CEO
Apps: 7 Minute Chi, Meditation Moves, Taichi Temple, Super Funky and Gymnast Fit
Country: Czech Republic
Rosa is a professional dancer and martial artist. Former member of the US wushu team and a black belt in aikido, she is the first female disciple of Tong Bei kung fu. Her dance company Cie 13 performed in 22 countries worldwide. She also speaks 7 languages.
She compulsively created a bunch of apps to teach movement: 7 Minute Chi, Meditation Moves, Taichi Temple, Gymnast Fit and Super Funky. Download Rosa’s apps on Google Play.
What types of apps do you make?
I make apps that teach busy people how to move and meditate. Even if you only have five minutes a day to train, you can progress. People can do moving meditation in seven minutes, learn a new dance in one minute, learn all the fundamentals of tai chi in two hours, or train like a gymnast in a rigorous 10-minute set. These short, yet high-impact training sets let people fit them into their hectic lives. They can also customize their training to what they enjoy most.
How did you get into dance and martial arts?
I always had too much energy and was gumby levels of flexible. My parents were engineers and really didn’t understand why I wanted to dance. I got full scholarships to study electrical engineering and Russian linguistics, but I chose dance because it fascinated me more than anything else in the universe. My mom was an IBM engineer and was so embarrassed by my career choice, she told her colleagues her daughter studied “dance law.” I said, “What’s that, ma? Gravity?”
What eventually interested you in technology and making apps?
Before I made apps, I worked in multimedia design for about 15 years; I’m a compulsive creator. I’m really great at making site-specific dance operas. In a sense, apps are the ultimate site-specific tool. You can train in your kitchen while making coffee or on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Any time, anywhere.
How do you balance your dance and martial arts passions and your app business?
I do my dance and martial arts training really early in the morning and teach classes and workshops in the evenings and on weekends. I design my apps during the day and work with additional software engineers pretty much around the clock.
What has it been like using Android and Google Play to create and distribute your apps?
Google Play is an amazing platform for developers because it really gives you complete freedom to create—and then your product gets put in front of a worldwide community. And Android devices are affordable and state-of-the-art, giving developers a wider reach and impact.
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