Aussie creates health app at 17 by watching coding videos on YouTube

2022-10-22

Young Aussie who was ruthlessly bullied at high school developed a wellness app from her bedroom when she was meant to be studying for her final year exams – and it has saved lives

Alex McDonald, 20, from Bunbury WA, is the founder of wellness app HerHelp
She developed the app aged just 17 by watching coding videos on YouTube
Alexis was inspired to create an app after cruel bullies made her life hell
She wanted a place for people to find support away from ‘toxic’ social media
The app has over 10,000 downloads and recently relaunched a new design

At the age of just 17, Alexis McDonald started developing an app from scratch to help women’s mental health that ended up saving the lives of its users.

During her last year at school, when she was supposed to be studying for her ATAR exams, the now 20-year-old was learning to code to create HerHelp, an all-in-one wellness app to provide mental health support to women.

Alexis, from Bunbury, WA, was motivated to develop HerHelp, which has amassed more than 10,000 downloads, after being severely bullied during her school years and finding her experiences were not unique.

HerHelp allows users to ask others for advice and document their mental health and self love journeys and give them access to learn from professionals in a range of industries including nutrition, fitness, finance, sexual health, and fashion.

Alexis has just relaunched HerHelp in a new-and-improved version with hundreds of professional resources designed entirely by her after being quoted $2.2million by an app developer.

Alexis McDonald (pictured), from Bunbury, WA, created wellness app HerHelp from her bedroom when she was just 17 by watching coding videos on YouTube

HerHelp allows users to ask for advice and document their self love journeys and gives them access to learn from professionals in a range of industries including fitness and finance

Throughout most of her school life, Alexis said she was an ‘easy target for bullies’ and was tormented by fellow students for years.

‘I was told the world would be a better place without me in it,’ she told FEMAIL.

‘A girl wrote a song about curb stomping my head and my blood going everywhere and sang it secretly to the whole class while they laughed behind my back.’

Girls would also make up ‘countless’ false rumour about Alexis so she moved schools for her final two years where the bullying thankfully stopped.

Alexis made friends she said she’ll have for life and through expanding her social circle, realised many others have experienced bullying and issues with their mental health.

‘I met a whole range of different people from so many different walks of life and found my people but by chatting with them I realised everyone has a story, and no one went through school unharmed,’ she said.

The realisation planted the seed for HerHelp and inspired Alexis to want to create an easily-accessible space for those looking for support away from ‘toxic’ social media.

‘I hopped onto YouTube and searched ‘how to make an app’ at just 17 and went from there,’ she said.

The realisation planted the seed for HerHelp and inspired Alexis to want to create an easily-accessible space for those looking for support away from ‘toxic’ social media

‘Within six months of working secretly in my bedroom, while I was meant to be studying for my ATAR exams, I managed to get an app up on the AppStore and Google Play.’

Alexis was astonished when HerHelp took off with thousands of downloads and touching messages from users she said made ‘all the tears, sleepless night and struggles worth it’.

She’s had ‘hundreds’ of conversations with people who said the app made them smile on a bad day to those who turned to HerHelp when they couldn’t afford to go to professional services and even some people who said it saved their life.

‘I have had five private conversations with women of all ages telling me they wouldn’t be alive without the support and comfort they feel the app has given them,’ the young businessowner said.

However having being made by a high school student with no app building experience, HerHelp was ‘clunky and basic’ so Alexis set about making a new design.

She launched HerHelp three years ago but the design was ‘basic and clunky’ so she set about making a new design but was quoted more than $2.2million by a development company

Alexis put the idea on the backburner for a few weeks but the potential impact she thought the new app could have on users kept her going

‘At the end of 2019 I created a prototype, screen by screen, button by button and sent it to an app development company here in Perth and got quoted $2.2 million,’ she explained.

‘That was definitely the moment I convinced myself this new version of HerHelp would never happen. I worked at my local fish and chip shop at the time, and truly convinced myself this dream was over.’

Alexis put the idea on the backburner for a few weeks but the potential impact she thought the new app could have on users kept her going.

The updated HerHelp app launched at the end of September and includes hundreds of professional resources from dance workouts to financial advice and everything in between

Alexis said HerHelp has helped her do and achieve ‘amazing’ things from public speaking to 1,000 primary and high school students as well as winning a 7New Young Achiever Award

‘After three years, hundreds of grant application knock backs, investor meetings, company sponsorship enquires and tech networking all in my teens, at 20 I finally launched the app of my dreams,’ she said.

The updated HerHelp app launched at the end of September and includes hundreds of professional resources from dance workouts to financial advice and everything in between.

Throughout her short career, Alexis said HerHelp has helped her do and achieve ‘amazing’ things from public speaking to 1,000 primary and high school students as well as winning the 7News Young Achiever Award for Innovation and the WA Young Person of the Year for Innovation for a Sustainable Future.

But she says the feedback from HerHelp users who find support in the app is the true ‘career highlight’.

‘I created HerHelp and saw the impact it was having on people across the world, I knew I truly couldn’t imagine myself doing anything other than HerHelp,’ she said.

HerHelp is Alexis’ sole focus and she’s studying marketing part-time to grow the app to become a household name.

‘I would love it to be a place that millions of people all around the world trust and go to feel encouraged, guided and supported,’ she said.

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