Helping people make real time for each other.

A note from David

Throughout my years in medicine, I’ve been fortunate to care for patients during some of their most vulnerable and reflective moments — often when they were closer to the end of their lives than the beginning. In those quiet conversations, we would swap stories, hopes, and regrets. No matter where they came from or what they had achieved, one truth surfaced again and again: the thing they valued most, and wished they had prioritized more, was time spent with the people they loved.

That lesson has stayed with me. Like many others, I’ve felt the quiet cost of a demanding career — the social connections I missed, the friendships that faded, and the family moments that slipped by. The COVID-19 pandemic only made this reality more visceral for all of us. In times of uncertainty and stress, it’s easy to become isolated and to underestimate how much we need one another.

Up n Around exists because of this. It’s a social connection platform built to help you intentionally strengthen your real-life relationships — your support system. By making it easier to show up for the people who matter most, we hope to reduce the loneliness so many of us carry and help you make the most of the limited time we all have.

Because in the end, the quality of our lives is measured by the quality of our connections.

— David Pontes, MD