Reclaiming Your Hue: A Podcast for Women Rediscovering Themselves in Motherhood & Entrepreneurship
Motherhood and entrepreneurship are powerful journeys—but they can also leave women feeling drained, unseen, or lost. Like flamingos who fade while nurturing their young, women often put everyone else first and lose their own hue. Reclaiming Your Hue is about the moment when women remember their brilliance, reclaim their vibrancy, and step into who they were always meant to be. Hosted by Kelly Kirk, this podcast shares faith-led encouragement, inspiring guest stories, and practical strategies for harmonizing life, family, and business.
Why Listen / What You’ll Gain
- Inspiring stories of women who found themselves again after seasons of loss or overwhelm
- Practical tips for building businesses without sacrificing your sense of self
- Honest conversations about the challenges and beauty of motherhood + entrepreneurship
- Encouragement rooted in faith while welcoming diverse women’s voices
Listen In For: mompreneur journeys · reclaiming identity · harmonizing life & work · authentic entrepreneurship stories
Reclaiming Your Hue: A Podcast for Women Rediscovering Themselves in Motherhood & Entrepreneurship
Ep. 63 with Ashley Mooneyham | Founder, Momease Solution
The Accidental Entrepeneur's Journey
When Ashley Mooneyham returned to work after having her first child, she discovered an alarming truth about breast pumping technology—despite her successful breastfeeding experience, it took four pumping sessions to collect just one bottle of milk. As a scientist with a PhD in biomedical sciences, she immediately recognized this wasn't a personal failure but a fundamental flaw in pump design.
What followed was a revelation backed by scientific research: breast pumps simply aren't designed to replicate the complex cues that trigger milk release. While studies had proven that warming breasts before pumping and adding massage during pumping dramatically increases milk output, no product combined these features in a convenient, hands-free solution for busy mothers.
Ashley's story exemplifies how motherhood can become entrepreneurship's secret weapon rather than its obstacle. "It is actually an advantage to be a mom and an entrepreneur," she explains, challenging the narrative that motherhood limits professional potential. Instead, motherhood forced her to radically prioritize her time—if she was willing to spend precious hours away from her child, the problem she was solving had to be truly significant.
With no personal capital to invest, Ashley leveraged data-driven storytelling to secure funding through pitch competitions and grants. Her customer discovery survey received 1,200 responses in just 24 hours, with 97% of respondents expressing dissatisfaction with their pumping experience. This overwhelming response validated the critical need for innovation in a technology that hadn't meaningfully evolved despite its essential role in modern motherhood.
Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, Ashley has balanced building Momease Solutions while caring for her two young children, including a son with serious health challenges. Her candid reflections on perfectionism, burnout, and the importance of community offer valuable wisdom for anyone navigating the complex intersection of parenthood and professional ambition.
Connect with Ashley and Momease Solutions on social media to follow their mission of empowering women to pump more milk in less time and giving mothers precious hours back in their day. For any mother who's struggled with pumping or any entrepreneur seeking inspiration to solve problems that truly matter, this conversation reminds us that our personal challenges often contain the seeds of our most meaningful contributions.
Connect with Ashley:
Contact the Host, Kelly Kirk:
- Email: info.ryh7@gmail.com
Get Connected/Follow:
- IG: @ryh_pod & @thekelly.tanke.kirk
- Facebook: Reclaiming Your Hue Facebook Page
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@RYHReclaimingYourHue
Credits:
- Editor: Joseph Kirk
- Music: Kristofer Tanke
Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue!
Welcome everybody to Reclaiming your Hue, where we are dedicated to empowering women to embrace and amplify their inherent brilliance. Our mission is to inspire mothers and entrepreneurs to unlock their full potential and radiate their true selves. I'm your host, kelly Kirk, and each week, my goal is to bring to you glorious guests as well as solo episodes. So let's dive in. Good morning, ashley. Good morning, how are you? Good? Good, I'm happy to have you here. It's so nice to officially meet you. I know that we were doing quite a bit of talking off air leading into this, yes, but I think it'll be fun to share with the listeners how it is that we got connected, and I will let you share that.
Speaker 1:Go ahead. Okay, so I am on the leadership committee of Empower Her and we are a group that really tries to vitalize like an authentic space for female founders of any type of business, but particularly high growth businesses, and we put on panels and events. So listeners of this podcast should definitely check the group out. I agree, and I believe you met my co-founder at one of those panel events at last year's Twin City Startup Week, I sure did.
Speaker 2:And then, a few months after that, I was at another entrepreneurial event where I met Tom Kramer and I had enough of these little seeds of drop, like hey, you should connect with Ashley with mommies. And I was like, ok, I'm going to officially do the reach out to Ashley. And here we are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I'm so glad you did, because my co-founder, rightfully so, is like you need to talk to Ashley, because I could get on a soapbox about the need for there to be visibility for mothers in entrepreneurship, because it is actually an advantage to be a mom and an entrepreneur and so often the case is that it looks like it's counterintuitive to one another and it's just not so.
Speaker 1:I love that you have a podcast dedicated to highlighting and front lighting women and mothers in this incredibly challenging and incredibly unique career path, because I want more moms to feel empowered to do it and that they're actually more than capable. It's not a shortcoming to be a mother.
Speaker 2:I couldn't agree more. I could not agree more, and I think that we should certainly dive into that. But let's start off first with what came first. For you, was it motherhood or was it entrepreneurship? For me, it was motherhood. Okay, and how old are your kiddos?
Speaker 1:So my first born is a daughter and she was born in April of 2021. And, in a lot of ways, my experience with her was the instigator for my business.
Speaker 2:So I always joke.
Speaker 1:My firstborn was the inspiration of the business and my secondborn, who I had last year, was the test subject.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's dive into that a little bit more.
Speaker 1:Yes, Share a little bit more with the listeners. So after I had my first baby in April of 2021, I was one of the lucky few who actually had a very easy and beautiful nursing journey, so I was able to breastfeed her without issues. She was a chunky, happy baby.
Speaker 2:And then all the rolls and everything.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was going swimmingly well and I remember being very actively grateful for that. But what I didn't realize is that when I went back to work at eight weeks postpartum I naively thought well, I know I can easily breastfeed, I know I have enough breast milk to more than support my growing infant girl. I will simply collect it with a breast pump while I'm at work and continue this breastfeeding journey. And I was shocked when I first started to use a breast pump at work that it took me four pumping sessions to get one bottle of milk for my baby.
Speaker 1:And I was so frustrated by it and I was lucky enough to know that I could breastfeed without issue. So I did not blame my body, which I feel like is kind of the first instinct of so many moms like what, what? What am I doing wrong and I'm not making enough breast milk. I'm too stressed right now to collect milk. It's not our bodies, it's a failure of that breast pump technology. So my instinct was immediately how do I improve this tech? Just for my own personal experience and I've got a background in the biomedical sciences, I've got a PhD so my, my natural inclination was to go to literature and this has been studied. This phenomenon has been studied where a nursing infant is giving the mother so many cues beyond suction for the mom to know okay, it's time to release my breast milk quickly and completely.
Speaker 1:My infant is at the breast. It's more than suction. It's the warmth of their mouth, it's the pressure of their jaw and their hands against the breast and all of that is working together to signal the mom. It's a very complex process, so the suction-only breast pump was never meant to get the mom. It's a very complex process, so the suction only breast pump was never meant to get the job done. It's never going to get the job done alone.
Speaker 1:And studies have shown 10 years ago more than 10 years ago now that if women warm their breasts prior to using a breast pump, they get more milk in less time. If women massage their breasts while using a breast pump, they get more milk in less time. And these are just things studied independently. It's never been done in tandem because, guess what? No product exists that combines those in a hands-free and convenient manner from others, even though it's known in academic literature. So it just never made it from the lab to the market space, and I remember I was Googling once I found anecdotally that that worked for me, but it was so cumbersome to have these hot compresses and to have my hands occupied while pumping. I was like I just need something that's going to do it for me, and I remember just being so shocked when it didn't exist. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And seriously, all I can think about is this disconnect and this is not just in this realm, in this particular space that we're talking about right now. It's in many areas of life where you're like there's a solution here and we look at that and we go it's so simple, like it really is. And how is it that you've had all of these other particular studies that have been done but just such a huge disconnect in, like that connects with that. Connects with that for this to kind of be a wholehearted solution for XYZ you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Totally, that had I'm sure that was like, and particularly acute in women's health. Yeah, across the board. I mean it doesn't really matter which aspect of a lived woman's experience you're looking at. Something could be better and it's not yet.
Speaker 2:Right, I think of. Have you met Katie Sievert with let's Talk Women? Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Adore her.
Speaker 2:She is, she's been on the podcast as well. She is, she's been on the podcast as well and the awareness around women's health is just like it's becoming more prevalent right, but it's it's only going to become more prevalent the more individuals like yourself and Katie Sieverts of the world go. Hey, yeah, hi, this is actually important if we want to continue to, like, push the needle forward. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Seriously, and also attention is not the same thing as progress. I feel like I'm getting rumblings of like almost as if it's been taken care of, just because there's a recent increase in attention to women's health issues. No, the attention is just the beginning. The attention is just calling our focus to these unmet needs across the board, and now we need to put resources behind solving them, and oftentimes it's women that are going to be the people who solve these problems for other women.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, so to kind of come back to the original start of this question, which was what came first for you, that motherhood or entrepreneurship? So you had your first and it was at that moment, like when you went back to the workforce, that you were like hmm, something's not right here, exactly. And then did you continue in what you had been previously doing yes, I did.
Speaker 1:I work at a wonderful company um superior medical experts it's a medical writing company so you currently still. You're still there yeah fractionally, so um, it allows me to work flexible hours and work remotely, and it's actually what gave me my first education on entrepreneurship, because, as a medical writer, I wrote grants for other scientific innovation companies for their health or technology related innovations and helped them secure funding to de-risk them in their earliest stages, at that ideation stage.
Speaker 1:So it gave me a crash course on what it takes to be a business with legs like what is a science idea that can make it out of that laboratory setting, that can have a huge commercial impact and market potential, and what are the pieces that you need to have in place in that puzzle to make people believe in it not just scientific bodies but also industrial professionals. So it was very synergistic. Again, I always call myself an accidental entrepreneur.
Speaker 1:I never endeavored to be an entrepreneur, but I do believe I am the perfect entrepreneur for mommies there's kind of no one more well-suited, just based off of my background and the problem I encountered.
Speaker 2:I couldn't agree more. So when did you start to kind of go full-on, dive into what is now mommy's?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I was sitting at the kitchen table and I was talking to my husband and I never give him enough credit, so this is my shout out to you, Dave. I was talking to my husband about like my frustration with the fact that this product didn't exist and that it should, and he was the first person who said my shout out to you, Dave. I was talking to my husband about like my frustration with the fact that this product didn't exist and that it should, and he was the first person who said you should do it. And I said that's crazy. We have a literal infant right now. You're crazy if you think I can be an entrepreneur. It's so high risk, it's so unpredictable, there's so much uncertainty.
Speaker 1:But I couldn't let go of this idea and I think there are kind of two people who, two types of people who enter entrepreneurship it's the people who look for the problem to solve and it's the people who can't escape the problem and need to solve it. And that's me. I just couldn't escape it, I couldn't put it down, I couldn't not try. That's how it felt and I think for me it needed to be that way. To be certain I wanted to pursue it in such a time where there was so much learning to do and introducing so much uncertainty to my young family.
Speaker 1:But, it's something I couldn't not do. So the first thing I did and this actually brings in my co-founder to the story is I googled a 10 slide pitch deck format you know like what's a 10 slide pitch deck format? And I just tested myself can I fill in this deck? Do I understand kind of how to fill this deck with this business idea? And this was before I formally started my entity and I sent it to trusted friends and entrepreneurship. In entrepreneurship that could kind of vet the idea, tell me, is this crazy or does it have legs? Do you understand it?
Speaker 1:and that deck made its way to Jenny's inbox and I didn't know that I didn't know Jenny at the time, but it feels like a movie. Ashley, yes, I sent it to a friend and he was next to Jenny and he is a guy, so he kind of pointed the computer at her and said what do you think about this idea? And she was probably the first person who was really enthusiastic about mommies and she had never met me before um and now she's my co-founder in this journey. But what's?
Speaker 2:um, I'm gonna go just a little tangential. What? What's Jenny's background?
Speaker 1:yeah, so Jenny has founded two non-profits in the childhood and family well-being space, so she's got a really good understanding of like this consumer base, but also startup operations she's an activator so she really likes to take an idea and bring it from zero to one, so she's the perfect partner in this. She's extremely organized, extremely smart, extremely capable and also very mission driven and where she wants to spend her time. That's why she founded two non-profits and although our business is structured for profit, it still has that mission behind it.
Speaker 1:You know, we're trying to empower women to pump more milk in less time, which is a huge, ubiquitous problem and would give so much more time back to women in modern motherhood, and it's something that she resonates with, simply because she's a mission-driven person.
Speaker 2:She's got a good heart Wonderful, and I had the opportunity to meet Jenny. So Jenny and I got connected at that startup of Minnesota Startup Week, the Empower Her event, and she was like you've got to meet Ashley, you have to. And I was just like yes, and then I got distracted.
Speaker 1:Yeah no, don't we all?
Speaker 2:especially at events like that. Right, like you're, that was my first time, by the way, ever experiencing like I had um, I'm not sure how much you know of my background and all of this, but I'll give you like the crash course on it. So I ended my almost eight year mortgage career back in September and my daughter was the catalyst. It just took me about a year and a half to finally go okay, I'm done. This is not serving me anymore, and I had been doing the podcast and just every single week after each interview, I'm like I love this so much and there is definitely a need to serve mothers who are entrepreneurs. What could that look like? And so that is where I started to get some of these ideas of my own, just like you speak to like, oh my gosh, I couldn't not stop thinking about what could this look like and why not try to do something like this Exactly.
Speaker 2:And then meeting Katie Shanahan I think that's how you say her last name. She's like you got to come to this and I was like I don't even have like an actual business yet, but it was going to that event and going okay, I think I can start rolling with this and just feel that empowerment and it's just like you're walking around this room you were on a panel for that too and I'm like this is incredible, these are my people. Like I loved it so much and so, yeah, to the point of getting distracted because you're just talking to all of these different women and going holy moly, there were men and women there, it wasn't just women, but you could feel the empowerment happening of that group is.
Speaker 1:It doesn't matter what stage of business you're at. It's encountering others where you realize it is a possibility. Yes, it's not a fool's errand, it's not a crazy dream. It's something that can be done and should be done, and being around other women who are pursuing their goals, whatever it may be in business. I think the whole point of that room is to be inspiring and to also make it feel accessible to you.
Speaker 2:Right. So we started to talk about this intersect of motherhood and entrepreneurship, right? I think that for a lot of women, where maybe motherhood came first, right, and then you have this idea that like spurs right, and I think far too often and we may have touched on this women go not me, I couldn't do it, absolutely not. I have children, I have young children, I have children that are in activities, like you know, whatever the circumstance might be. But there is the opportunity to actually be able to do something, whether you're starting it off, you're still over here in this, you know, quote unquote nine to five position or, in your circumstance, fractionally working, um, and still be able to passionately pursue that opportunity.
Speaker 2:I think let's let's talk about this, cause I think that it's like I said, far too often women feel discouraged because of the, the timeframe that we're living in right now. There's no better time to do it, I feel like, because there's so much empowerment for women. But then there is also this kind of tug and pull of okay, well, I still need to be mom, I need to be mommy, and so many women and wife and, yes, primary caregivers in their household, you know they're the managers of their household.
Speaker 1:Givers in their household you know they're the managers of their household. I do think that's shifting, but that will take time. So, yeah, we're juggling the maximum amount of expectations right now as women in the house, as parents and professionally. I think it's a time that has us stretched thin and that's why it's so important to have community as you pursue it. Jenny and I talk all the time how lucky we feel to have co-founders in this startup journey, but if you're doing it as solo entrepreneurship, I think looking for those communities like the empower hers spaces like you've created, so that you, you realize, you know you're in this together and the world can be better and you can be a part of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, what's the phrase I keep bumping into this? It's like we're we're expected to work, like we have no kids, and do you know what?
Speaker 1:I'm talking about yes.
Speaker 2:And it's totally the other part of that is escaping me. The listeners are probably like it's so simple, yeah, and then the opposite of that yeah.
Speaker 1:The other part of that is escaping me. The listeners are probably like it's so simple Kelly, yeah. And then the opposite of that, yeah, the opposite of that Raise our kids like we never were yes, Thank you, and I mean it's very, very true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there could not be more true of a statement when it comes to the expectations that are sometimes laid upon us as as women, when we enter into the magnificent world of motherhood. But then we're like for me personally, just reflecting backwards, I, I had, I had been in the mortgage world, which is very entrepreneurial. It's not full on entrepreneurship, but it is very entrepreneurial. You treat it like a business, you are, you're a hundred percent commission, Right. So I had all of this kind of leading into um becoming first a bonus mom and then having my daughter and going oh, I like I can't.
Speaker 2:I can't act like how I was acting over here anymore, but I still want to be passionate about what I do. I'm not passionate about this anymore. What is it that I'm passionate about Exactly? I don't know.
Speaker 1:Let's keep interviewing women and see what comes up, right, I think that's what's cool, too, about motherhood is I think there are so many parts of motherhood that actually are an advantage to entrepreneurship and not something that holds us back from being successful entrepreneurs, and you just touched on one of the most important ones, which is it forces you to radically prioritize your time, and it becomes really clear what's worth spending your time on and what's not, and who choose to pursue entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:That should be a signal in itself that that's a legitimate business you know, worth looking at bringing attention to, bringing resources to, because if it weren't, you would not spend your time away from your child to pursue it right. It is this kind of radical centering of if I'm going to dedicate my time to anything other than this all-consuming journey of motherhood. It has to be quite compelling.
Speaker 2:Yes, I could not agree more, and I am quite compelled personally by women and entering into this entrepreneur space. I mean it's truly fascinating. It really is. So, anyways, back to you, yeah, back to you, so share with the listeners and myself. When you officially went like, all right, let's do this. What year was?
Speaker 1:that Same year as giving birth, so by September of that year, I formed the entity Mommy's Solutions with the idea to create a pump enhancing bra so it's a bra that would introduce those missing infant cues to the pumping experience by warming and massaging the breasts while using a breast pump that allows you to use less suction, have the experience, be more comfortable and also get more milk in less time, which nearly all women want.
Speaker 1:Even if you have a good pumping experience, doesn't hurt to do it faster, doesn't hurt to get more milk. So yeah, I founded the business late 2021, with no resources to my name, no capital to my name, no personal capital I could invest, because that's another challenge of being an entrepreneur in motherhood is you have children to support.
Speaker 1:You have a household to support, and the young years are often the most expensive years of raising a child, particularly child care years. Yes, so yeah, the whole first year of my business was what can I do with no resources, to get this off of the ground? I need to get this off of the ground and, like I said, I had background in grant writing, so I knew that that was my first. Target is, if I just have an idea quote unquote just but a scientific precedent behind it, how do I compel these scientific organizations like the National Institutes of Health to take a chance on me to help me de-risk this idea to a point where I could attract private investment? And that's data, that's just data. Data resonates with scientific bodies, but it also resonates with investors and it resonates with audiences. And guess what? Data is easy to get, because the people we are serving are half the population.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no kidding, so we put out a customer discovery survey in maybe late 2021, perhaps the first thing I did as a company and it got over 1,200 responses in 24 hours. What 1,224. Wow, what 1224? Wow. And that I'm so grateful for that because it was lightning under my skin, right. It was like, oh, this is something I need to do. Nobody wants to take a survey, and yet the volume of responses that I got exactly like nobody wants to.
Speaker 1:So the volume of responses I got speaks to like the organic passion there is by women to see this problem solved and also how deep-rooted these pain points are 97 97 percent of responders said they were dissatisfied with their pumping experience. Imagine any other piece of essential modern technology existing with a 97% dissatisfaction rate.
Speaker 2:It just wouldn't. It is crazy. Yeah, that's not going to cut it.
Speaker 1:And we accept it. We just accept it as like oh, this is what it is.
Speaker 1:Breast pumping sucks and it's something you have to grit your teeth and get through and guess what women still do. That's the other thing that I try to convey to like a more investor-minded community or someone thinking about this purely as market potential, business potential, commercialization. You know, talk about a sticky consumer. Women are sticking with the breast pump, even though it's failing them, even though it's hurting them, yeah, even though it's taking so much time away from their work or their house or their children, and even when they're not getting enough milk to fully breast feed their baby, they are still trying and they deserve better.
Speaker 2:well, I think and we talked about this off air a vast majority of the women who have been on the podcast have spoken to that experience of nursing, breastfeeding, pumping, the challenges that they encountered with it. You know some of it is it was the latching process, but then that also created this subsequential like domino effect as well, because if child's not latching, baby's not latching, then you're one either not able to get the release that you need, which causes other issues, or then you're not actually being like the process of actually being able to supply the milk.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Too. So I just think of the efficiency that's created with this product to be able to support that, and then the mental load that it takes off of these women who are nursing Such a mental load off. I almost said some naughty words there. Like you think of like the mind trap that it creates for women. Sometimes and some of us are, you know it's like unwavering right Like, or they're like. Whatever it is what it is Like, I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself, that's kind of how you felt, in that You're like I just it's not me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it can't be. I'm nursing and everything is going smoothly, but it's when I get to this point that, all of a sudden, something changes that can't be on me, but there are women out there who would go. It is me. They would blame themselves. Why can't I get this to work when the reality of that situation is quite the opposite? Exactly so. I love, too, Ashley, that this is something that is efficiency right.
Speaker 2:It's a time saver, but it's also supporting that time with your child too. It's so cool. It's so cool. All right, let's keep. I want to, actually, so I.
Speaker 2:A lot of this podcast interview is about your story, right, but I also want to. I want the listeners to understand sort of the the behind the scenes business process, because there's only been maybe a few, like a handful of women who have been on the podcast that have kind of gone through the same process, the same road as you, where, like you're going and seeking funds to be able to grants, funds to be able to support your business. And what's cool is I'm not going to share this quite yet, but you won something really cool, too, just within the past year also, and I think that other women who are listening should hear about some of these opportunities that they have that are out there for them to be able to support. Whether they decide like, hey, I've got co-founders or I'm a solopreneur, there are so many opportunities out there for you to be able to get your business from here to here.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. That's something I also like to highlight. A lot is that, as a you know, quote unquote, non-traditional entrepreneur, simply because you know, women are underrepresented in entrepreneurship and mothers are underrepresented particularly visibly in entrepreneurship because of that conflict that we mentioned earlier. That's really not a conflict. I had to be creative with getting this business off of the ground. So, as a non-traditional founder, I went a non-traditional route to get things off of the ground, and I think that that's an exemplification of grit.
Speaker 1:you know it doesn't look the way that maybe other people have done it, but it is a way to show grit in entrepreneurship, so find your way forward. Like I said, I had no capital resources, but I did have access to women yeah so I spent a good year collecting data on the unmet need.
Speaker 1:There the huge level of problem here that we're trying to solve the amount of people that were impacting and what that impact could look like for them, and I took that data and then took the scientific literature to kind of create my bra design. And the first money I invested for my technology was a provisional patent. So that's a route that I took in order to protect my idea before making it a little more public and a little more visible.
Speaker 1:So once I had submitted the provisional patent, I did a pitch circuit and that was in 2023. So first money in the door for our company was the Hy-Vee Opportunity Summit. So literally the local grocer does food and retail at Hy-Vee. So, they have a regional pitch competition.
Speaker 1:So Midwest that happened to be at US Bank Stadium, the year the first year that I would have been eligible to do it and it travels all around to our neighboring states, but in 2023, it was U was US Bank Stadium on my birthday and I was like I feel like this is a sign, so I applied to pitch Again. This was the first pitch competition I had ever done and I think this is one that a lot of women entrepreneurs should know about, because it has different divisions for food, for beauty, for retail and consumer product, so a lot of businesses can fit for this competition. Yeah, and it was absolutely the most friendly and uplifting audience you could speak to, because it was all women and minority entrepreneurs. So people seeing this high, impossible barrier that they're facing and saying I'm going to do it anyway, yeah, I'm going to move forward, and they were so supportive and it's really a pitching is a practice in storytelling. Are you resonating with an audience? Do?
Speaker 1:they understand the problem you're solving and do they believe you're the person to solve it. That's something that's really important as an entrepreneur, no matter what sector of business you're in. So I'm a huge advocate for, like, getting in front of crowds not just people, but crowds and seeing across the board. Who am I, who am I attracting attention from in this crowd and who am I losing, and where am I losing them and how do I make sure that doesn't happen?
Speaker 1:yeah but this crowd was so, so easy, so supportive, so fun, and I ended up taking home't happen. But this crowd was so, so easy, so supportive, so fun, and I ended up taking home the grand prize that day, which was a $30,000 check, which felt like a million dollars.
Speaker 1:And that was the money I needed to match the Launch Minnesota grant that I won. So I won a Launch Minnesota Innovation Grant, which is a one-to-one reimbursement. So it's great, but only if you have money in the bank to match it. Yep, and that prize money was money in the bank to match that. So, suddenly I had $55,000 and then I did Walleye Tank the next month on St Patrick's Day another lucky day.
Speaker 2:Nice.
Speaker 1:And that is Minnesota's version of Shark Tank, so put on by Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota, and I won first prize in the junior division. So suddenly I had this one, two, three punch where three wins in a row and money in the door, and those wins were all gathered by storytelling and data. So things that you can do for free, and that's so things that you can do for free and that's so important that you can get started even with no resources, because again, I think that's another misnomer particularly in entrepreneurship, that requires investment to make it to your end goal, I've been told, and I criticized this platform for it. But I entered my information on a platform and the platform said you are not an investable company. And I dug into why. I was like why? Why would you say that that's so untrue? And one of the reasons it gave was founders should invest at least $20,000 of their own money before expecting others to invest.
Speaker 1:And I was so angry with that? Because does that mean that if people do not have personal capital to their name, that they don't have a worthwhile idea to pursue for business or entrepreneurship, it's intentionally exclusionary to people whose voices are needed to solve problems right in the world.
Speaker 1:Um, so anyway, I like to kind of be a poster child, for you can do it all and you can do it with nothing. To get started, um, after those wins, I was able to do what we called garage prototyping. So the very earliest stages of prototyping with off the shelf components, literally like fish tank, you know, pumps, bras I purchased from Target, just trying to get the product visualized and physical and kind of de-risk the functional aspects of what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:Wait, hold on a second yeah, did you say pumps from like fish tanks, fish tank pumps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, my gosh, yeah, anything that you can be creative with. So you have to get creative in those earliest stages. I wish that I had all the resources at once to get it done, but that's never how it goes, unless you are a Kardashian. So you have to think about things in a stepwise manner so know where you're going, but also be creative about how to get there.
Speaker 1:Um, because that data that we got from just our garage prototype is what we used to submit to the national institutes of health a winning grant application for three hundred thousand dollars, and that's non-dilutive funding. So that's money I do not need to pay back. It's money that doesn't require equity of my company. With that, jenny and I teamed up as co-founders and we did our MVP prototyping efforts. We continued our patent applications to secure IP and we also expanded our product portfolio. So we got a lot done with very little resources, and that's another thing that you have to get creative with. That, I think, actually comes from growing up without a lot of money you learn how to do a lot with a little so again, do not underestimate founders that don't have a lot of resources to work with.
Speaker 1:It often leads to the most creative and the most lean use of resources, so that every dollar goes farther.
Speaker 2:What I love and what I'm hearing several takeaways just in this short period of time. One I remember sitting at the event this past fall, hearing your story and hearing you say storytelling in this pitch world is so important, and that is what allowed me to stand out in a big sea of other entrepreneurs with really great ideas too. I told the story of mom ease and I was like feverishly writing it down. I remember going okay, storytelling is really important, storytelling is really impactful. I think a lot of us hear that, but go oh yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's kind of the purpose of that event too right the 90 second elevator pitch Like can you distill your idea and get someone on board?
Speaker 1:It's such an important exercise. So, yeah, what you alluded to is our most recent success, which was Minnesota Cup. So Minnesota Cup is the largest statewide startup competition in our nation. They got over 3,000 applicants the year that we participated. We made it to the semifinals, which would be 90 companies, and then made it to the finals of our general division, became the winner of the general division and we were told we couldn't win.
Speaker 2:That competition Was that the year before, I applied this past year and I literally did it at the last minute, but they provide an example and it was your, from your win this past year and I was like it's, it's so funny, like again, remember I said there was all these little seeds and I was like I gotta, I've got to reach out to Ashley. Yes, um, but yeah, I remember seeing that and um had you applied the year before that too.
Speaker 1:We made it to the finals the year before as a very early stage company and we did not advance because there were amazing businesses in our division that we are still friends with to this day, but also because we were so early stage and we were actually told it's incredible, we made it to the finals that year with how early stage we were and I think it's due to storytelling. But having made it to the finals, we got to connect with a lot of people in the competition and we were kind of told flat out reset your expectations here. Yours is not a company that wins this competition because it's not what we're known for in Minnesota, it's not med device, it's not life-saving, it's not earth-saving and those things obviously are very important.
Speaker 1:And it makes sense why they would take home the grand prize more often than not. So I did. I actually internalized that advice, not as anything negative, but to reshape the way that I thought about that competition and the opportunity it gave. It's more than winning a prize right. It's networking with peers, it's getting access to mentors, it's getting educated in what it takes to be a successful startup. And I went into it in 2024, jenny and I both did, thinking we're not doing this to win. We are doing this to better our business. We are doing this to learn to network, to find the people who are going to help us succeed and to really hone the way that we tell this story. And our biggest goal was to make it to first or second place in our division so that we would have an opportunity to platform mommies at that big stage, at the grand finale and we were so convinced we wouldn't win that we were in the very back of the room when they were announcing the winners, chit-chatting away with our mentor, just like.
Speaker 1:Oh curious, like huh, that's the person that got runner up. I wonder who's taking this whole thing Like, I wonder, very odd. And the event organizer had to come find us. And, kaylynn, she found us and she said this is going to spoil something, but I'm going to need you to come up with us. And our mentor must have had a little bird in her ear. Tell her that we won, because she had her camera ready. And we have a very funny photo of the moment we found out we were the grand prize winners at Minnesota Cup, because it is pure slack-jawed surprise on both of our faces.
Speaker 2:I'm getting chills, so cool.
Speaker 1:We walked up to a standing ovation and she also took a video of that. No-transcript was so gratifying and I think that really opened the door for the first time for us to think we've made it. We now can do this yeah, the traditional way. We've done it. We've been scrappy, we've got to this point. We are now resonating with the people who may close their doors to businesses like ours. Now they get it. We did the work, now they get it, and now we might be able to get money to make it the rest of the way.
Speaker 1:And that's what made us think it's time to fundraise.
Speaker 2:I am blown away. Okay so storytelling, but level setting your expectations too, just as as an entrepreneur, no matter what route it is that you take, right, like you talk about yours being kind of a non-traditional route, and I think that there's a lot of listeners who can, uh, level set and resonate with that right Like very non-traditional. And I think, if I am going to reflect backwards on a lot of the individuals who have been on the podcast, I don't, they just haven't I don't think that they've really been fully aware of just all of what Minnesota, especially the twin cities, offers when it comes to startups, entrepreneurship, what that looks like and how it can truly expand the networking piece. Okay so expectations, right, you talk a lot about, like you talked a lot about in that instance, you guys level set your expectations that you were not going to win that right, and I think, like, how can some of the individuals who are listening right now apply that in a different kind of way.
Speaker 1:That's a good question and I actually I think this is something really important for any entrepreneur. It's so often, particularly in like high growth entrepreneurship, where you're pursuing an exit, that there's one definition of success. Um, you, you start. The definition of success becomes so narrow, whatever it is, and I think that's something, as an entrepreneur, you need to be really careful of, because that's what kills you. Yeah, there are so many ways to be a successful entrepreneur and even if you don't achieve the vision as you originally saw it, it does not mean that you weren't successful in pursuing it. Starting it is successful. Any rung of the ladder is a reason to celebrate.
Speaker 1:And you're going to get kicked down and you're going to have to pivot and there are going to be things that didn't go your way or frustrate you or anger you or make you feel hopeless, and the counter to that is making sure that you reflect on how far you've come and the fact that you're taking a step and that you're walking forward through all of this resistance that's coming at you is a win every day, and I think that that's a hugely important way to level set your expectations as an entrepreneur is if you're in the game, you're winning.
Speaker 2:Totally. I feel like you were literally in my brain, because all I kept thinking about is, as we're talking through, what and I'm air quoting right now success looks like. What about actually taking inventory of how you as an individual are growing through this process and you speaking to that right Like that is so important, If you are literally going all right? This is where my bubble of comfort is, but I am willing to step outside of that and try this to expand what my business is going to look like. You're already winning. Yes, You're already like and I hate to do this comparison, but there are, so there is a large percentage of individuals in this world that are not even willing to consider doing something like that, and so really, honor, take that moment to honor the fact that you are going to do something like that, You're willing to do it and you are doing it and then, if you continue to repetitively do that, habitually do it how can?
Speaker 2:you not push the needle forward? How can you not?
Speaker 1:it is exactly.
Speaker 1:Even if it doesn't feel like it every day, it is, and I think that's another superpower of motherhood that I wanted to mention.
Speaker 1:In entrepreneurship, I feel like I'm a perfectionist and I'm a people pleaser, and I think a lot of women can relate to those traits being a perfectionist and a people pleaser and that is that introduces a lot of friction with taking a leap of faith in entrepreneurship, because there is no perfect way to do it and it is hard to please everybody in pursuing entrepreneurship, everybody in pursuing entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:Being a mom first gave me that buffer between what my identity is and what my business is, and I think that's a really important buffer. Even when your businesses are really personal to you, is your businesses success, failure, good days, bad days? They are not you, they are your business. There's a lot of things out of your control there and being a mother first gave me that natural buffer. At the end of the day, my most important role is still at home and the most important thing is I'm a present mom who loves her kids and they love me back, and that's where I show up every day and my business has good days and bad days, but that gives me this kind of regulation.
Speaker 2:So again it's a superpower.
Speaker 1:If you tune back into that, your identity is so much more than your business, even if your business is personal, and that can give you the freedom to take a leap, even when it's scary and even when you you know if your business fails it means you're a failure. That's not true. They're separate things and there's so much out of your control in business and it's just a matter of trying. Yeah, and trying moves the needle.
Speaker 2:Like you said, it's already a success if you try all right on the on the flip side of that, because I asked this question right at the start of all of the interviews and it's what came first for you. Was it entrepreneurship or was it motherhood? And I do feel like there are, like, if you were a mother first and then entrepreneurship came second, there are a lot of common traits that that you as women who are mothers first and then decided, hey, this is something that I want to pursue. There's a lot of traits. You literally just spoke to that in the most positive, effective, proficient way. Thank you, you're welcome.
Speaker 2:How about let's talk about I'm kind of veering off of what the traditional like interview script is here, so bear with me, but I do think that this bears like having a conversation about as an entrepreneur first and then becoming a mother. What do you think is like the superpower there that can kind of fold over and have that all harmonized together, and there's obviously not going to be any perfect answer. This was me first, like I was entrepreneur first and then became a mother, and this is pretty reoccurringly a question that's coming up for me outside of all of this is like what's the difference? Yeah, right, what are the differences? Because there are differences no-transcript.
Speaker 1:And then I think what motherhood adds, after you've become an entrepreneur, is you are modeling to your children to pursue your dreams, that anything is possible and that sounds cheesy, but that's what entrepreneurship is. And when I look at my daughter and I see her pursuing things purely because she wants to, without worrying about how they're being perceived, it's a good reminder every day that that's how I want to be operating. And you lose that in adulthood, you know. But I want to move forward with what's compelling me, what's mission driven, to move forward with the difference I want to make in the world. No matter how many no's I hear, no matter how many barriers are in place, I, until there aren't options, I have hope you know, every day.
Speaker 1:I'm problem solving and I would want her to do the same, so I think it just adds another level the, the parenthood, the entrepreneurship, no matter what order they come in. It's operating in uncertainty, finding a way forward and really staying in tune with, kind of like that child, like doing it because it feels right, not because of how it's being perceived.
Speaker 2:I love it Okay, thanks for entertaining going down that path with me.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it. I want to talk a little bit more about this community that you've talked about like how important that has been for you. What has that outside of like what you've already spoken to, being that your husband was like you should do this and you're like me no, wait what? I think a lot of us, like I, am in that same boat. I can raise my hand and say that is very much the same thing. That happened to me where I was like no way, Absolutely not. And you have that like kind of swift kick in the butt from somebody else who sort of outsider perspective right, but have so much belief in you as a person and huge cheerleaders. Who else do you feel kind of fits into that community, slash, village space for you through this process?
Speaker 1:Too many people to name honestly, too many people to name. I've found so much community, particularly in Minnesota, as an entrepreneur. I do think you know there are advantages and disadvantages to starting a business in Minnesota, but one of the advantages is the fact that there is so much genuine support and a sincere desire to help others succeed and commiserate and show up fully. You do not need to show up perfect. We're not expecting perfect. I think that that's an incredible advantage of starting a business in this community and there are so many groups that you can find peers and mentors in around the Twin Cities.
Speaker 1:So like you, said, I don't know when this comes out, but Twin Cities Startup Week is coming up in October. Minnesota Cup is a summer event that wraps up in the fall. Launch Minnesota is a local organization that does programming and Friday forums where you can learn from other entrepreneurs. The Empower Her group is specific to female founders. There's medical device networking groups. Just look around. Launch Minnesota has like a calendar that you can look at for a lot of local events. Twin Cities Startup Week will have a lot of events. If you're thinking about entrepreneurship, if you haven't taken the leap yet, or if you've taken a leap and you're feeling lonely, put yourself out there.
Speaker 1:Say yes to things. Go to events in person. It may feel uncomfortable at first but it will become comfortable and it's the best environment to show up kind of unprepared for because everybody there has something in common with you and it becomes very easy to find your people, I think, if you just show up and get out of your house, out of your office and show up at these events.
Speaker 2:I couldn't agree more, as somebody who literally threw herself into Minnesota Startup Week not even fully understanding what I was getting myself into in going to that event and and just coming away from that going feeling that like true spark of I can do this, I can do this, and then having all of these, like I remember driving back from that, ashley, and going, okay, I've got all of these ideas. As soon as I get back to the house, I need to get them down on paper, and it was the first thing I did. Walking in the door is grabbing a piece of paper and getting everything written down that had just been mulling around in my head leading up to that event, and then just level setting with myself and going, okay, here are all of the different ways that I could potentially do this as a business model.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and it's centering.
Speaker 1:You know, like being around other people is centering and inspiring, like now. I'm several years into business and I still love opportunities to be on panels and on podcasts because it gives you an opportunity to like meditate on your business, like really meditate on the why, why, the how and what you're doing next and how you're going to get there. Um, it's a. It's a good pause because entrepreneurship can feel like you've got this kind of need to keep the momentum moving forward every day and you can be so forward facing that you forget to reflect and you forget to be present, and reflecting and being present is part of the sustainability of entrepreneurship. And going to these events and talking with founders, listening to podcasts, going to panels all of that is us meditating on this journey together and helping elevate everybody to be as successful as possible and be as resilient as possible through it, okay.
Speaker 2:So, speaking of resilience, I'm going to pull from that and I want to talk through some of um, because you, you mentioned, you're a couple years into this now and that doesn't come without its own like ups and downs. Yeah, you really started off like boom, boom, boom, hitting all of these different opportunities for grants and money to come in. Were there moments on the other side of that, like the other side of that coin, where you were like holy moly, what have I gotten myself into? Do I even think I can do this?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I think it's worth saying again, when you look at the mommy's journey and I'm grateful for this I think it can look like a winning trajectory, as if it was exclusively a winning trajectory. Right, and although it's helpful to present it that way, that's, of course, not the case. You know, um, this is a very tough business to get off the ground and it's still uncertain in some ways if we can make it to the finish line, but we're gonna give it our all and be as creative as possible to get there. Um, but now we're at the point where the livelihood of our business lies beyond us, right, the fundraising part of it. So it's a matter of getting people on board. But, yeah, anyway, it's worth saying we have won grants and we have won pitch competitions. We've also been told no Lots. Both grants that we won Launch, minnesota and NIH we were told no first and we kept trying. We asked for feedback. We said you know what? What was missing here? How can we improve? And, like I said, that's a good exercise. That was true at Minnesota Cup too. You know, um, everything that we've done.
Speaker 1:If we're told no, we take it as not. Now, yeah, if they don't understand what we're doing so, particularly the male audience members whenever we're pitching if they don't understand why this is important to support success at the breast pump when it's such a short period of time quote unquote. That's our job to bridge that gap. The only side of the equation you can control is your own. So, yes, we experience a lot of challenges. So, yes, we experience a lot of challenges. And, yes, we hear a lot of no's. And the only thing we can control in that equation is how we respond to the no. And it's important to not take it personally. It's not a no to you as a person, it's a misunderstanding. Is how I like to view it. So they're saying no, I hear not. Now, they don't understand. Yeah, how do I help them understand why they should be saying yes to me? And that's kind of how I move forward.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, tons of challenges I'll never forget.
Speaker 1:You know, just as an example, I was 32 weeks pregnant with my son.
Speaker 1:I was rear-ended on 94 um, I was sent into active labor, I was in the hospital and had to submit our phase two grant and I was working on it from a hospital bed, right, and these are the things where it's like you never know what people are going through and the ways that they need to show up, and you can't control the push and pull of life and where you're needed. So I guess that's the other piece of advice I want to give, particularly to like a mom entrepreneur or a woman entrepreneur audience is letting go of the perfectionism entrepreneur or woman entrepreneur audience is letting go of the perfectionism. If it's worth doing perfect, it's worth doing at your best, and sometimes your best is half of what it usually is. And that's how I felt during that grant application where I was so frustrated initially like how could this be happening? Of course, a I'm very concerned about my son who, by the way, was delivered full term. The act of labor subsided I know all the listeners are going by the way, was delivered full term.
Speaker 2:The active labor subsided. I know all the listeners are going but wait, yes, how did that all?
Speaker 1:thank goodness, I kept, you know, kept my zen in the hospital setting and the contractions subsided after a day and I was able to cook them to full term and he came out a happy, healthy boy. Um, but just showing like motherhood and entrepreneurship they're both so demanding and they're both so important and feeling like you need to give a hundred percent to both or be perfect at both is a disservice to you as a human and as a woman. And just know, like, as much as you can show up when you can show up, whether it's a lot some days and a little other days, it's cumulatively what matters.
Speaker 1:You know, just the cumulative effort, the cumulative moving forward. It's possible and it's better for everybody.
Speaker 2:That was so incredible. Thank you, I love it and, as I like to say, a recovering perfectionist. I find myself kind of slipping back into the these, like old patterns of everything needing to be perfect, or I have to do this, or I need to be able to control this situation, and then closing that gap right Like, okay, nope, I cannot sit here and try to control this, whether it be something in motherhood or it's something in the business, I can't like.
Speaker 2:I just need to put this at ease, or it's time to delegate this, or understand what's the order of importance. Like, the true order of importance for some things, yes, prioritizing, but I think that's something that we can speak to. For other, for the individuals who are listening right now is like how quickly can you close that gap of areas of opportunity? Right, and in this case, we're oh, I'm people pleasing right now quickly closing the gap of moving back into this place of, like nope, setting the boundaries. This is what it needs to look like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a challenge.
Speaker 2:It is a challenge.
Speaker 1:I agree, a recovering perfectionist or recovering people pleaser is the best way to put that and, just like anything that you're recovering from, that's become, you know, an addictive behavior or a compulsive behavior. It requires day-to-day presence in order to counteract, um, and like I said, for me the best hacks for letting go of, like the people pleasing nature is trying to just think of this in a depersonalized way, so thinking of it like more of an equation I'm trying to figure out and maybe that's the science nerd in me.
Speaker 1:I kind of joke like this. This nerdy part of me comes out quite often and sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 1:But for those, of you like me Katie's like me depersonalizing it, thinking of it as an equation. That's helped me with my business because, like I said, my business is so personal in so many ways. But if a man comes at me and says I'm not going to give you money because I don't believe this is a real problem, taking that personally helps nobody right. And I need to get into their headspace and think why aren't they understanding this? And um, it's like the people pleaser in me is what worrying? Oh, he doesn't like me.
Speaker 1:He thinks I'm just this little girl pursuing this you know silly idea and you know like, uh, how do I, how do I be this model, um? But no, it's not about that. It's, it's about, um. You know, taking yourself out of the equation is the best hack for me of letting go of people, pleasing nature and just working towards, like, what is the puzzle and how do I make the puzzle work? How do I make this equation fit?
Speaker 2:You know, it's incredible advice. Thank you, I hope it helps others too.
Speaker 1:Not everybody is like-minded in that way, and I get teased for being a you know data nerd and science nerd and I, it's very true, I can't, but that's the other part. Be authentic, be yourself.
Speaker 2:Whatever works for you works for you.
Speaker 1:This is who I am, and I have to use that to my advantage.
Speaker 2:I love that you've literally just taken that veil down and gone. This is truly who I am as an individual and I'm going to embrace it, while also understanding that there are some of these habitual things that I had um fault faulted to originally. But I'm going to, as I've been going through this process and I'm I'm not trying to speak, I'm just kind of reiterating some of what we've conversated about, Ashley, so bear with me, but I love, love, love that a lot of this has seemingly been learned through the process of building mommies and that in itself is such a gold nugget of information for for other women who are listening and husbands too. There's a lot of husbands that listen to this podcast, Um, but like that is such important information to kind of take in, reflect on and go. How am I not taking things personally? Am I taking things too personally? Is that something that could potentially be holding me back? Yeah, I can raise my hand and say sometimes I falter to taking things too personally. Yeah, they don't like me.
Speaker 1:Well, you can't change you, but if they don't like or understand your business, that's something you can address.
Speaker 1:You know you shouldn't change yourself for anyone, and that's the important thing, too, that I wanted to mention. Um, being an accidental entrepreneur, but coming into my own as the perfect entrepreneur for mommies, I think that's something that other people should own as well. You are the perfect entrepreneur for your business because you are the one who identified the problem and came up with the solution, and you understand it. So, again, this is an exercise. Whatever your business is, it's an exercise in convincing the world or the audience or whoever you need to understand what you already know, and that's why you're the perfect entrepreneur to tell that story.
Speaker 2:So good, so good, all right. The other thing that is just I'm itching to hear more about, because we've talked a lot about business, but I want to fold in motherhood into this, as you have gone through this process of building out mommies and now we're kind of like we're there, like we're there and we're kind of in the trenches with all of it. How have you seen yourself, as a mother, harmonizing that as well, folding it all in?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, like I said earlier, I think the gift of motherhood is knowing why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm is knowing why I'm doing what I'm doing. Because when you're raising children and you see how free they are to be themselves, especially young children my children are four and one, so they have no perception of outside influence. They know who they are and what they want and they're exploring new things and they're trying new things. And if I see my daughter, you know, be scared to do a dance because she's not learning as fast as the other kids, oh, that's heartbreaking as a mom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, working through things with your children kind of illuminates these core life lessons that can kind of be lost in the shuffle when you aren't focusing on yourself and kind of meditating on your journey as much. So with my daughter it was like dancing is not about learning it as fast as the other children. Your expression, your movement, your joy in moving your body today and learning new things and challenging yourself has nothing to do with the person next to you who might learn it faster or do it differently. That's not why you dance. You dance because you love to dance and when you talk through those you know little kid problems. So often our how you're shaping a person and reminds you who you want to be too.
Speaker 2:So it's like yeah like I.
Speaker 1:I want to be the type of person who dances, even if I'm not as fast at learning the dance as others. And isn't that a just big old metaphor for?
Speaker 2:entrepreneurship. Yes, I'm like we're not talking about dancing anymore.
Speaker 1:I love.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's. That's so cool. What are, um, what are some of the like kind of let's go into like the deep personal areas here too, since we're kind of on this idea and um cusp of motherhood. What are some of the the challenges that you've experienced? Do you feel yourself being pulled away from from your children, from your family, in order to pursue some of what you're doing with mom ease or, um, do you feel like you've been able to establish some pretty like great boundaries? What has that looked?
Speaker 1:like that's evolved over time. Okay, um, so I fibbed a little bit when I said my son was born happy, healthy. He's had a lot of serious health issues his first year of life. So after my daughter was born, I'm sure, like many women can relate to, I had a pretty traumatic birth experience with her. I was in labor for 59 hours, so I was induced on Saturday and she was born tuesday after active labor for 59 hours, contractions five minutes or less apart, um, and then by the time that she was born on tuesday, it was an emergency cesarean after all of that and my body was so tired from contracting for so long that I had a postpartum hemorrhage and lost a lot of blood.
Speaker 1:It was very difficult to stitch my body back up. It was a very chaotic operating room. Things were not going well. I was aware that things were not going well. My recovery from that was very long and hard. And isn't that also just an encapsulation of motherhood? Because throughout the entire 59 hour labor the whole focus was the baby is healthy. Yeah, and she was. The baby was healthy, thank god. But I wasn't right. Nobody took care of me until that final doctor came in for her shift on tuesday, who was the doctor who scheduled my Saturday induction and said what the heck is this woman still doing here? Get her to the operating room, she's too tired, yeah, and that is.
Speaker 1:Wow, it's so important. So I tell that story to say I do pour a lot into my business and I pour a lot into my children. The challenge for me is remembering to take care of myself and I think a lot of women can relate to that and when I'm burning out because it happens when.
Speaker 1:I'm burning out and I'm too tired to feel like I have the energy to play with my kids, to go on the walk with kids, to take her to the park after she's home from school. It's time to reevaluate. Am I caring enough for myself, which doesn't feel like a natural instinct as a mom or as an entrepreneur? It's put your business first, put your children first, but you can actually give more to both if you take time to take care of yourself. Give more to both if you take time to take care of yourself and that's the lesson that I'm constantly having to relearn I burn myself out a lot.
Speaker 1:I feel like there is no choice but to burn myself out and then, ultimately, I give less to both my business and my children. When I take care of myself, even when it feels like I have no time to carve out for rest or for exercise or whatever it may be when I force myself to do it, somehow I get time back because I'm getting bandwidth back, so that I think that's the biggest challenge. I love to pour into my kids, I love to pour into my business. What I don't pour into is myself actually and, I think, more women need to.
Speaker 2:I couldn't agree more, and that is actually. That is a perfect segue into asking like what has that, in making that recognition in, in coming to that recognition, what are some of the implementations that you've, that you've put into motion to take care of yourself? I'm still working on it.
Speaker 1:I'm still working on it. So beyond that experience with my daughter, my son has also had a very challenging first year of life. He was born with a life-threatening blood disorder. Thankfully that resolved in six weeks. Then he also had um some severe growth restriction and failure to thrive earlier this year. That required hospitalization, you know, and I came in here today and he was battling a severe, severe infection. So we kind of joke if my son's ever going to go through anything, it's a full send. He's going through it to the max.
Speaker 2:You know like he's it's the most yes.
Speaker 1:And he's such a trooper. But having a son with higher needs, that is something I wasn't expecting. I have had to invest a lot more time into my son than my daughter at a similar age because of his higher health needs and because of that, all the lessons I learned from having my daughter and learning to balance motherhood and business, and also investing time in myself, went to the wayside, because the time in myself suddenly was reinvested into my high needs son to make sure that he's getting the care he needs to overcome these serious health issues. Son, to make sure that he's getting the care he needs to overcome these serious health issues. And of course, I don't regret that.
Speaker 1:But I did burn out when my son had failure to thrive when he was hospitalized. I snapped there is just nothing worse than worrying about your children and then having the emergency scenario happen and I finally, because it was smacking me in the face, I finally had to raise my hand and say please, help. And it felt like I couldn't. We were about to do this incredibly pivotal usability study for our bra that we had been building towards for a long time. The first time we were having women come in actively lactating women to evaluate our prototype, having women come in actively lactating women to evaluate our prototype, and that was when my son was hospitalized. How can I?
Speaker 2:do both. How can I?
Speaker 1:lead this study and be present for my son, who needed me, and the answer is you can't do both. So, again, thankfully, I had a co-founder and an amazing one at that, jenny who basically said please take the time you need, let me pick this up. And she did, and we got incredible results in that usability study I mean best case scenario. You know, 90% of women said they need this product, they would purchase this product, they would recommend this product, they gave it an excellent usability rating. And it's just a lesson that sometimes you feel you tell yourself you have to be the one to do something, I have to do it, it has to be me or it will not work. And it's just a lie. It's a dangerous lie, because that's how we burn ourselves out, is not raising our hand, not asking for help.
Speaker 1:And that can look like many different things. Even if you don't have a co-founder, like I'm lucky enough to, you can ask for help in so many areas of your life, so you get bandwidth back in yourself to do the most important things that actually need your touch.
Speaker 2:That's so good and I love that you, in a very raw and authentic way, you were like I'm still working on this.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:And isn't that the truth for a lot of women? 5am work, like getting up 5am, getting a workout in doing my prayer, meditation and just having some quality time to myself. I would say, as of recent and event planning was all in there, that was a huge event. I like loved every minute of it. But in moments like that, some of that stuff took a way set, like it literally took. It was on the back burner and now I can feel it, and now that's my trigger point to go okay, we got to get back into the swing of things, like now is the time to do that. Now you need to start taking care of yourself. Yes, so it's, you're not alone in that boat, ashley, is, I think, what I'm trying to say? Like we kind of go into these like waves and different seasons of like, okay, now it's time to pour more into myself, because but the the, I think something that you, just, in making this and sharing this, I think what's important to note is that how can we avoid getting to that point?
Speaker 1:Proactive self-care yes, instead of reactive Right.
Speaker 2:Exactly when you're like, desperately in need of it, and you're finally going raising the hand and saying I need help right now. There's so many different things that I could kind of go down, but I think that that's something that's warranted and a good thing to note on too. So what have? I'm intrigued to see what your guiding principles have been through all of this, whether it be faith, universe vibrations like what has that looked like for you? Um, whether it be in motherhood or in in mommies and building this business, um, I'd love to hear a little bit more about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean the touchstones that keep me going would be continually touching back with the why. Why am I doing this when it is so hard? And actually, you know, talk about challenges. We received a fundable score on our phase two grant with the national institutes of health. That would be two million dollars to bring our bra to market, which would be incredible. And at the you know, with the recent changes in the administration, that grant got delayed and may never come through. Yeah, and being faced with the loss of something. So if this doesn't go through, what does it mean? Do I stop?
Speaker 1:The resounding answer was no, you know this like gut reaction from my inside is no, I will not let this be the end of what I'm building, because it is too important to me and so many others.
Speaker 1:So I think kind of being faced with the loss of something can help you reckon with why it's worth doing, even when it's really hard, and get your priorities straight and how you think about it, like it is a privilege to do this, even if it's hard, it's energizing, it is purposeful, and those are the touch points that keep me going forward. And in motherhood would say, you know, honestly, exactly the same not to be, you know, dramatic, but I needed multiple blood transfusions after my daughter that was touch and go and my son having these life-threatening health issues. It's still. You know, life is fragile too, and being faced with like what, the what if? Like this wasn't here, I wasn't here, they weren't here, it's just such an unimaginable grief that that would cause that. It reminds me to be present every day, good days and bad days, hard days, tantruming days, cuddly days.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, everything is temporary and that is both a relief and heartbreaking sometimes you know like depending on whether it's a good day or a bad day, and it's a really important exercise in being present every day in motherhood and present every day in your business, because no day is a given and it is in like such an incredible opportunity to do both. Because they're so, they're both so purposeful and they're both so energizing and it brings a lot to your esteem to be doing two incredible jobs on this planet, you know.
Speaker 2:Oh, so beautiful, Beautifully stated Ash, so beautiful. I think that presence is something that we all, as as mompreneurs, continue to strive for, and how can we actually snap back to reality here in the moment? Um, by the way, I love that you're like not to be dramatic. That is dramatic.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you should be like, you should emphasize like that that's cut. Some of that stuff is life or death.
Speaker 1:It is Right.
Speaker 2:And not to be taken lightly by any stretch of the imagination, and so I just want to point that out.
Speaker 1:You're right. You're right, that's another deprioritization of the mom's life and the whole equation. Yeah, it's like.
Speaker 2:No, that was, that was real you know kind of a big deal. Yes, yes, it was real, it was scary.
Speaker 1:It's tough to recover from.
Speaker 2:I. I feel like we have covered a lot of ground here in the interview and I think it's time to start landing the plane, as I like to say. You have, um, you've literally just kind of answered so many of the like landing the plane questions, but I'm going to go back to some of these. First, I would love to hear a piece of advice that you would like to give a younger version of yourself knowing all that you know now.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I should have one ready for this, shouldn't I? Oh man, I should have one ready for this, shouldn't I? I think something that I wish I had known is that everybody else is a regular and fallible person too. I think when you're looking at everybody else, particularly looking up to people, you put them on a pedestal that you could never achieve in your own mind, because you're aware of all your faults and your uncertainties and the things that make you imperfect or less than, but the reality is, everybody is human even the most accomplished people, in whatever lane you're viewing them in, are imperfect and human in their own right.
Speaker 1:And the more I interacted with mentors in any space, whether it's mentors in business, mentors in motherhood, mentors in research and women's health I learned through people's vulnerability. I learned through people's vulnerability. Oh, they're just like me too, and because they're just like me, I can be just like them, you know. And so it's. It's really important. Again, I appreciate how far we've come at mommies.
Speaker 1:I'm so proud of our business, but if someone's looking at our business as unattainable, that I have a problem with Because it is attainable, it is accessible in your own lane, whatever that lane is. And I am a regular person and I am struggling, you know, and I still find a way forward, and because of that, I have this business to showcase for it and progress to showcase for it. But still, every day is uncertain and still every day I'm learning. Um, so, yeah, I think that's something I would tell myself and hopefully I can, uh, make visible to others. You know that we put on a perfect exterior sometimes. Again, maybe that's old perfectionist habits in me, but I am not perfect. I am very imperfect, and so are everybody that I admire.
Speaker 2:So it's okay, that was so cool to hear.
Speaker 1:Good, it took me a minute to come up with it. No, it was it was.
Speaker 2:It was seriously spot on and what I I keep hearing from that is just like we're all kind of in, we're all in our own respective boats, right, and some of us are paddling quicker, some of us aren't paddling as quick, but we all kind of have these like true, real, raw, authentic moments of real life experiences hitting us.
Speaker 2:You know, and let's call it the waves of the ocean that are hitting us, whether it's just little splashes or they're humongous waves that are potentially tipping our boats over, right, but like, we all have that at different moments and seasons of life, and that was, it's, it's good I keep using this term like level set, like that's a've perhaps hesitated at, on reaching out to, to talk about mentorship, perhaps, like, just to do it. The worst thing that's going to happen is they say no, because not to take it personally but like, maybe it's just not the right season of life for them right now. They can't handle another thing to put on their plate. Yes, you know, but like, then it gives you the opportunity to go okay, not, not right now. Maybe in the future, who's the person who can fill the gap?
Speaker 2:So, that's just one example of the many different examples of like understanding that we're all. We all start at zero and it's just how we get from here to here, and then from here to here in our businesses or in motherhood. Yes, the path is completely different for every single one of us. There's no perfect path. All right, you had some really fantastic advice early on in our conversation, but I'm curious if you have a different piece of advice that you would give a woman listening right now who they're nibbling on the edge of entrepreneurship. What's the advice that you would like to give them in this moment?
Speaker 1:If you're nibbling on the edge of entrepreneurship and it's coming from. If you're nibbling on the edge of entrepreneurship and it's coming from, I guess I would say, evaluate where it's coming from first, because, like I said, there are kind of two camps of entrepreneurs the ones who want to be their own boss and they're going to find a business model that allows them to be their own boss. That's also very cool, and small businesses are the backbone of America. So that's a cool way to approach it and to know that you want to be an entrepreneur and know that you want to operate a small business. So know the why and let that power your decisions moving forward.
Speaker 1:Like I said in this conversation, my why was different. My why was driven by this huge problem that I was personally facing, that there remained an unmet need for, and I had a spark of an idea to solve the problem, and that drives me forward. But if you're nibbling at entrepreneurship, figure out the why where are you coming from, and then convince yourself before you convince others. So it's hard. You people often say, take the leap, but it is hard to take a leap if you haven't convinced yourself first. So convince yourself, whatever it may be that you know this is something you need to do, and the why is the engine that powers that. So if the why is I need to be my own boss, convince yourself of that. So if the why is I need to be my own boss, convince yourself of that. And then that's the why that makes you figure it out, or my why. You know like this needs to be better for women. It needs to be, and there's such an obvious solution, and that's the why that powers me forward.
Speaker 2:So, ashley, I am so like inspired by you, so like inspired by you, and I am, I. I literally, like I said, when I met Jenny this past year, I was like where was this? Like I I wish that I could have had something like that in place, and I hadn't even heard the full scope or the full story behind the why to starting the business like you already had, like a lover of the product at that point, yes, thank you and so, like I'm sure that there are many individuals who are listening right now, that can go.
Speaker 2:Yes, that I I certainly wish that that could have been something that was in place when I was nursing, and so huge believer in the mission that you have with mommies, what you're doing. Two final questions before we wrap up. Who would be a good connection for you?
Speaker 1:Well, right now we kind of have two things that we're working on actively. One would be fundraising. So if you know of people in the community that are angel investors or investors that particularly care about femtech or supporting women innovators, those are always worthwhile warm intros. But the other side of the coin would be we're always looking to hear from moms. We're always looking to hear. Some of our best ideas came from conversations with moms about how to execute this product, and what I want to be really clear by the time that we hit the market is this was a product designed for mothers by a mother, with input of mothers. We've had over 1,700 individual responses that have informed our design and development, and it's really important to our company that that's a differentiator on the market spaces. We're holding you in trustworthy hands. You know we're holding this with integrity, this problem that we're trying to solve so good.
Speaker 2:so find us on socials okay, and that was my final question how can people get connected?
Speaker 1:yes, so we have a website I should mention. Mommy's is a cute name but it is spelled M-O-M-E-A-S-E. That's going to help you find us. Our website is Mommy's Solutions. We're also on Instagram and Facebook. We don't post a lot yet but as we gear up to launch, we anticipate kind of revving up those efforts. We're also on LinkedIn a lot. Those of you that are entrepreneurs and building your LinkedIn presence, that's probably where you can find that.
Speaker 2:Get connected to Ashley and mom ease and um really feel inspired by those networking opportunities because they really are fantastic. I can personally speak to going to the empower her event and going yep, that was just what my heart needed, um, and not that it's necessarily about feels, but it's like you know, you're in the right room when you walk out of there, feeling inspired, and you've got more ideas coming out of it than you did coming into it. So thank you so much for coming, taking time to come here and speak about your story, both in motherhood and entrepreneurship, and it's you're, you're kind of in the thick of it, as I like to say, and what better time to have conversations about how all of that is flowing than now? Um, so it'll be really interesting to kind of circle back, you know, in a year, see where everything is coming, and I'm I'm keeping a close eye on mommyommies, so proud of you. Keep chugging away, and I hope you have a great rest of your day, you too. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening and if you enjoyed this episode and know of any inspiring mamas who are powerhouse entrepreneurs, please help connect them with myself and the show. It would mean so much if you would help spread this message, mission and vision for other mompreneurs. It takes 30 seconds to rate and review. Then share this episode with your friends Until the next episode. Cheers to reclaiming your hue.
