We spent six years
learning what people actually need.

Chapter one · 2020

It started with connection.

Connected AU launched in the middle of the pandemic, when a lot of Australians were more isolated than they had ever been. The idea was plain: help people feel less alone.

So we built the things that seemed most likely to help. Letter writing between strangers. Clubs and hobby groups. Community programs, activities, wellbeing initiatives. Anything that put one person in reach of another.

We assumed connection meant people. For plenty of members it did. For plenty of others it turned out to be a garden, a novel, a Saturday of cooking, a craft they hadn't touched since school.

The through-line wasn't company. It was having something worth doing, and the small push required to actually start. Our understanding of the problem changed, and the work followed it.

Family. Friends. Hobbies. Books. Gardening. Cooking. Learning. Nature. Play.

Instead of talking to people about connection, wellbeing or screen time, we posted them something tangible. Something to read. Something to make. Something to cook. A reason to get outside.

People responded immediately — 500 subscribers in the first eight weeks. The proposition was simpler than anything we'd built before, and that turned out to be the point.

The name comes from merry — enjoyment, lightness, curiosity, having a good time. It isn't a digital detox brand and it isn't anti-phone. We like the internet. We just think it shouldn't be the only thing on offer.

Connection isn't going anywhere. It's one part of something larger: actually enjoying the life you're living. MERRI exists to hand people more chances to find something they like doing.