Anna Bilych on Les Amis and Why Loneliness Is the Career Killer No One Talks About

The loneliest place for an ambitious woman isn’t an empty apartment – it’s a crowded networking event full of people she’ll never see again. Across the country, professional women are quietly abandoning the tired playbook of dating apps and generic social clubs, opting instead to invest their limited time in curated, real-life experiences designed to foster genuine friendships.

That’s where Anna Bilych, co-founder of Les Amis, comes in. She understands this hunger for connection intimately. After years of relocating from city to city to advance her tech career, she found herself professionally successful but personally isolated, surrounded by LinkedIn contacts but missing the kind of friends you’d call on a random Sunday. That isolation became the catalyst for Les Amis, a members-only platform that has grown exponentially since its April launch in the United States, posting double-digit monthly growth as women discover what Bilych learned the hard way: friendship isn’t a luxury – it’s essential infrastructure.

The app uses AI-driven matching to connect women based on values and lifestyle, then brings them together through everything from intimate dinner parties to weekend getaways. It’s part of a larger cultural shift that’s redefining wellness beyond green juice and meditation apps, recognizing that loneliness poses health risks comparable to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day, and that for women especially, deep friendships are among the strongest predictors of longevity and resilience.

We had the honor of speaking with Bilych about why professional women are ditching superficial networking for substance, how constant career moves create burnout cycles that undermine both personal well-being and work performance, and what the rise of friendship-first platforms reveals about what this generation actually values.

Bilych also shares the specific moment she realized her social life was broken, why building a company around friendship forced her to protect her own, and her advice for any woman who’s ever felt the particular ache of being surrounded by people but still fundamentally alone.

Check out our full interview below with Anna Bilych.

Anna Bilych, Co-Founder of Les Amis

You moved from city to city pursuing your tech career—a reality many of our members face. What was the breaking point that made you realize traditional networking wasn’t fulfilling your need for genuine friendship?

Anna Bilych: I had just relocated for a new role and found myself at yet another after-work networking mixer. I remember standing there, surrounded by small talk with people with whom I will never match – we were too different, totally different age, background, interest etc.

What I missed wasn’t contacts, it was genuine connection – people I could call spontaneously on a Sunday or share life’s big and small wins with. That moment made me see how broken our social infrastructure was for ambitious women constantly on the move.

As a woman in technology, how did the isolation of career-focused moves impact your professional performance and personal well-being?

Anna Bilych: It was draining in ways I didn’t fully recognize at first. Loneliness doesn’t just stay in your personal life – it leaks into your confidence at work, your ability to show up as your best self. For me, moving city after city without an emotional safety net created burnout cycles.

Once I built real friendships, my professional performance improved, not because my skills changed, but because I felt grounded and had a community around me who supported me.

What specific challenges did you encounter trying to build meaningful friendships as a busy professional woman, and how did these experiences shape Les Amis’ design?

Anna Bilych: Time was my biggest enemy. I didn’t have the luxury of trial and error – going to random events or swiping endlessly. I needed a shortcut to depth.

That’s why Les Amis combines AI-driven matching with curated experiences: you meet people who are truly compatible with you, in contexts that encourage bonding beyond “what do you do for work.”

You mention friendship is “emerging as the next frontier in health and wellness” – what research or trends are you seeing that support this shift, especially among professional women?

Anna Bilych: There’s a growing body of research showing loneliness is as detrimental to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. At the same time, we see wellness shifting from being about individual optimization (diet, gym, meditation, skincare) to relational health.

For women especially, friendships are one of the strongest predictors of longevity and emotional resilience. That’s not a soft need; it’s a fundamental pillar of wellness.

How are the friendship needs of career-driven women in their 30s and 40s different from what previous generations experienced?

Anna Bilych: Earlier generations often had more static lives: same city, same job, same social circle. Our generation is global, mobile, and ambitious. That brings opportunity but also fragmentation. Women in their 30s and 40s are looking for friendships that are intentional, not accidental – rooted in shared values and experiences, not just geography.

What’s driving women away from dating apps and toward friendship-first platforms? What does this reveal about changing priorities?

Anna Bilych: Dating apps promised connection but often delivered exhaustion. Many women are saying: I don’t need more swipes, I need more substance.

The shift toward friendship-first platforms shows a reprioritization: companionship, community, and trust are becoming more important than just romantic pursuit.

Many of our members struggle with surface-level networking versus genuine connection – how does Les Amis create depth in friendships rather than just expanding social circles?

Anna Bilych: We’re not about numbers – we’re about resonance. Our AI matches you based on values, ambitions, and lifestyle, then places you in curated micro-communities where depth is natural.

And we design prompts, games, and formats that make vulnerability safe. A dinner with ten women who share your wavelength is more powerful than a conference room of a hundred strangers.

For women juggling demanding careers and family responsibilities, how do you design experiences that fit into their lifestyle, schedule, and budget constraints?

Anna Bilych: We prioritize formats that are time-efficient but meaningful: 2-hour-long craft nights, weekend brunches, curated trips where everything is organized for you. And our pricing model gives flexibility – you can engage lightly or deeply depending on your season of life.

The goal is not to overwhelm women with “more to do,” but to integrate friendship into what already fits.

What makes a “meaningful, shared experience” versus just another social event? How do you curate for quality over quantity?

Anna Bilych: It comes down to intentionality. A rooftop cocktail is just a drink, unless it’s paired with a thoughtful guest mix, guided conversation, and small rituals that foster intimacy. We obsess over those details: the setting, the size, the flow. Every Les Amis experience is designed to create moments of belonging, not just attendance.

What was it like transitioning from corporate tech to co-founding a startup focused on women’s social wellness? How did you validate this was a real market need?

Anna Bilych: Leaving corporate was both terrifying and liberating. What gave me confidence was that everywhere I went: Barcelona, Paris, New York, I kept hearing the same story from women: I feel lonely, I don’t know where to meet people like me.

The interesting thing is that the bigger the city is, the bigger the problem of loneliness is there. The consistency of that pain point across geographies made it clear this wasn’t just my story, but it was a global need.

How do you balance being a co-founder with maintaining your own friendships and personal well-being – especially when friendship is literally your business?

Anna Bilych: It’s a constant practice. Ironically, building a company about friendship doesn’t automatically guarantee I nurture my own. I’ve had to set boundaries: carving out “non-work” friend time, allowing myself to be vulnerable with my own circle, not just in pitch decks. My friendships are my anchor – they remind me why Les Amis exists in the first place.

For our members who are relocating for career opportunities or feeling isolated in their current cities, what’s your advice for building authentic friendships as a busy professional woman? And how can platforms like Les Amis support that journey?

Anna Bilych: Don’t wait for friendship to “happen.” Treat it with the same intention you treat your career or love relationships. Say yes to curated experiences, follow up after a first meeting, and be willing to show a little vulnerability early. Les Amis gives you the structure: smart matching, safe spaces, curated events, but the magic happens when you lean in with openness.

Lastly, is there a specific mantra, quote, or affirmation that you hold close to your heart?

Anna Bilych: “Friendship is the new social currency.”

It’s more than a tagline for me. It’s a reminder that titles or followers do not measure success, wellness, and joy, but by the people you can truly call your friends.