SparkPeople: A (5-Minute) History

This short video clip from Fox News Chicago does a great job sharing a brief history of SparkPeople. Our Founder, Chris "SparkGuy" Downie, reached his own goals by co-founding eBay's leading competitor and selling that company to eBay as their first acquisition.

Chris first developed the SparkPeople program to overcome his own social anxiety. A co-worker named Pat then used the same program and lost 50 pounds, which changed his life. Pat then went on to start a walking group and motivate many people. Seeing Pat's transformation made Chris understand that our daily actions and words impact more people than we realize.

Chris then decided to start a new company with the mission to SPARK millions of PEOPLE to reach their goals using health and fitness as a springboard to reach milestones in all areas of life (yes, this is where our name came from). Now, Chris considers himself to be just a small part of the SparkPeople team--and that team includes our millions of members supporting each other to reach goals.

Our team loves seeing real people reaching life-changing goals on the site every day--like those featured in this video. Thanks for your support, and have fun reaching your goals!