Friend'em

Michael Blackard is a Certified Life Coach focused on friendship, based out of Austin, Texas, with years of experience helping people connect, learn, and grow. A Panamanian-American, Michael understands what it is like needing to walk through and navigate multiple cultures at once to persevere. Focused on helping the world be an easier place, he spends his free time building communities, volunteering his time with various organizations, and diving into wonderful adventures with his friends.Having founded Friend'em after being laid off, Michael has gone on to impact multiple communities in positive ways through events, workshops, coaching sessions, collaborations, and public speaking engagements. Customers who have experienced one of Friend'em's Speed Friending events leave with smiles on their faces and transformative perspectives on how to approach friendships as a whole. His core mission with Friend'em is to combat the loneliness epidemic and bring holistically healthier philosophies to conversations around connection.