MotherNation Circles

While leading a team of 35 attorneys at Hewlett Packard and as a leadership coach focused on helping working parents thrive, Adrienne fostered growth and development in those around her by empowering them to discover their values and fulfill their potential. With the birth of Evelyn, Adrienne, a former hard-charging BigLaw attorney turned coach and doula, mourned her former self and was unsure how Motherhood would fit into her identity. She was later introduced to the heartbreak of Motherhood when she experienced a pregnancy loss along with the accompanying grief, shame and anxiety. Perplexed by the disconnect among Mothers and frustrated with the lack of systemic support for families, she co-founded MotherNation. As CEO, Adrienne combines her legal, management and coaching experience with her relentless passion for maternal health and well-being to cultivate the Motherhood movement. She is real talk and bear hugs. All the time.

After the baby is born, maternal health and well-being is largely ignored. MotherNation creates spaces online and offline for Mothers to care for themselves and each other. Our technology platform gathers Circles of up to 8 Mothers based on location, age of children and any shared experience (i.e., Moms of Multiples or LGBTQ+ Families). We then provide the training, structures and support necessary for the Circles to meaningfully connect making Circles the sweet spot between a coffee klatch and group therapy. We also host an online community where we facilitate subgroups, host events and connect MotherNation Citizens across the community. If scaled globally, together, we could not only combat the loneliness epidemic, crush mom guilt and battle burnout but also learn from the cross-cultural variations of Motherhood liberating MotherNation Citizens to be the Mothers they want to be and enabling families across the world to thrive.

In the U.S., there are 18 million new Mothers with 4,000 new Mothers born each day. Approximately 15% of American Mothers experience a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder and maternal mortality rates are rising. American Mothers today are looking to a disparate collection of resources to manage the many logistical and emotional challenges of Mothering. They’re searching for tactics and practical support in order to problem solve, information about their own physical and mental health postpartum, and stories or emotional anecdotes that can provide reference points as they navigate their matresence journey. Logistically, they are fighting the weight of a never-ending load and the burnout that it leads to. Emotionally, moms report overwhelming feelings of guilt around how they navigate these challenges. And, in the modern era, the "village" no longer exists to support them.

Across the world, COVID-19 has exacerbated these negative emotions leaving the 116 million Mothers who will give birth this year to battle burnout in isolation with even fewer tools and resources.

Being a Mother will never be easy, but it shouldn't be this hard. Mothers need and deserve a community that cares for them and permission to prioritize their own mental health and well-being.

MotherNation is a Mothers-first community built on the idea community care through social support and objective resources will improve maternal well-being.

Through a proprietary process and machine-learning, our technology platform gathers small groups of Mothers into Circles based on their location, the age of their kids, and shared experiences. Circles meet monthly (virtually or in person), and provide a dedicated space where Mothers can invest in themselves and support each other. MotherNation provides exercises and tools specifically designed to encourage Mothers to take up space, to articulate their needs, and define their version of Motherhood. We know that this kind of growth does not happen without hard work and vulnerability, so all Mothers are required to attend our proprietary empathy and supportive listening training and honor the MotherNation Declaration of Interdependence to ensure a safe and supportive space for all Mothers. Every Mother that joins our community commits to investing in their personal growth, embracing a diversity of perspectives in other Mothers, and lifting up the other Mothers that make up the nation.

Our target market is pregnant people and Mothers with children under four but anyone who identifies as a Mother is welcome in MotherNation. We currently serve Mothers in the U.S. only but plan to eventually scale our offering and deliver MotherNation to mamas across the world.

By hosting events and building our social media presence, we grew the MotherNation community and leaned on them extensively to help craft our Circle offering. Overwhelmingly, through multiple market surveys and beta tests, we heard that Mothers feel alone and seek meaningful connection with other Mothers. We also learned that Mothers prefer a small group instead of 1:1 "Mama Match" and they are willing to host Circles in their homes but also welcome virtual Circles.

We formed a customer advisory board that meets monthly to discuss the MotherNation offerings and strategy. This group was fundamental in crafting MotherNation's new initiative, The Bridge, where MotherNation Citizens unite with the Black Mothers of our community and our country to build an anti-racist world.

MotherNation is a movement with the community at its core and the personalized small groups and wider connection online provides the community and support mamas are looking for. 

By joining a MotherNation Circle, Mothers not only find their support system, but they acquire tools and develop habits that improve their quality of life. They more confidently ask for what they need, take time to themselves, challenge others' expectations and feel free to be the Mother they want to be.

With a caring community, they change their attitude about mommy wars and others’ judgements or expectations. With empowerment and accountability, they believe they can confidently navigate Motherhood and make their own decisions. And with that resulting liberation, they begin prioritizing self-care thereby avoiding burnout and guilt.

Our babies were born hours apart and Motherhood made us new people that we are proud of, but it was not always easy. Thankfully, we had each other. We persevered through our early stages of Motherhood by proactively seeking support, education, and sanity. We were amazed at the common struggles moms endure silently and the joys left unshared. This launched us through a series of why’s:

Why aren’t Mothers talking to each other and sharing our stories?

Why are resources related to pregnancy and parenting so scattered and skewed?

Why do we constantly feel judged?

Why are there only a few perceived “right” ways to parent?

Why don’t Mothers own their strength and showcase their pride?

We wanted to change the narrative by eliminating archetypes. We wanted to make a space for Mothers to explore what Motherhood looks like for them by using their own intellect, intuition, voice, and courage. We wanted a space for Mothers to trust, not judge, each other. We wanted to bring Mothers together to exercise collective action to make the change and create the future we deserve.

Fueled by unwavering acceptance, empathy, and love in a climate ripe for a Motherhood movement, MotherNation was born.

MotherNation exists to build a more connected and empathetic world. We are starting by forming micro-communities of Mothers who will fiercely hold space for each other through all of the ups and downs of Motherhood. My passion behind MotherNation stems from my first postpartum period but my unwavering commitment to our mission is powered by my pregnancy loss experience.

"What did I do?" Those were the first words out of my mouth when the doctor confirmed my pregnancy loss. The words alone shocked me because they were riddled with guilt and shame. The heartbreak is like nothing I've ever experienced. The only thing that seemed to make me feel any release was to share my story. The more I shared my story, the more stories I heard in return. I learned that it wasn’t my fault. I wasn't silly or self-involved or soft to be so tore up over a pregnancy that only lasted 8 weeks. Most of all- I learned that I wasn’t alone. The community formed by sharing my story helped me heal.

Shortly after, I quit my job to focus on MotherNation because all Mothers deserve to be held by a caring and supportive community.

Two little humans, Evie and Jack, call me mama. MotherNation was born based on my own experience and passion but I am also living the life of our target market every day. Momming was never easy but, today, it is even harder due to the global pandemic. I feel the pain and will meet mamas where they are.

Further, my professional experience complements my personal experience. For over a decade, as a tech attorney, I advised e-health companies helping them navigate regulations, structure and negotiate contracts and maximize their growth. Then, at a Fortune 10 company, I built a team of over 35 attorneys across North and South America from the ground up. Through this experience and sophisticated training opportunities (including a mini-MBA course), I learned how to manage- including managing budgets, operations and people. But, actually, I didn’t manage people, I coached them. Simply put, I know how to motivate people. I take the time to learn about their whole self, help them uncover their potential and take specific action to meet their goals. After my daughter was born, I completed my formal coaching training and pivoted my career to become a leadership development coach with a focus on helping working parents thrive.

From negotiating contracts and hiring contractors to developing our supportive listening training, I gladly leverage my legal, management and coaching experience every day to further the mission of MotherNation. And the best part…it doesn’t even feel like work!

COVID-19 threw us a curveball that we want to knock out of the park. Our Circles were originally designed to happen in person. In March, we made the hard decision to refund the only fees we had ever collected. While the refunds hurt from a cash flow perspective, we gained the trust of our community. In addition, we accelerated our virtual Circle offering and learned that, with our model in place, magic can happen on Zoom too! Social distance does not mean social isolation so we hired a community manager to focus on our online platform. We now have a new offering available across the country that didn’t exist before. The community is growing and there is new urgency to bring MotherNation to all the Mothers struggling today because they need each other now more than ever. We are scaling not just for the sake of growth but because it allows us to better serve MotherNation Citizens. We can gather Circles more frequently and be more responsive to each Mother’s requested needs for community. You want to join a Circle with at least one other working Mother of Color expecting their third baby in November? We got you. 

Participating in an accelerator as a Mother was not easy- it required frantic meal prep and childcare arrangements, sophisticated strategy about where to pump and late nights and early mornings squeezing in homework. But it was worth it. The experience validated what all Mothers and founders know: being a Mom and/or founder is hard but we can do hard things and a community makes things easier.  And while a virtual Demo Day is not what anyone anticipated, when MotherNation was recognized as the “Most Promising Social Innovation” by Booz Allen Hamilton – I screamed and danced with my family. It was perfect.

I later learned that we were recognized, not only for the business model, but for my leadership among the cohort of founders.  I showed up to every session with completed homework, asked questions, provided candid feedback, shared resources, offered my time, challenged my peers and celebrated wins.

I was an attorney in BigLaw with an obscene billable rate. I’ve been an executive at Fortune 10 company. I am a county Commissioner and a leadership coach. But I am most proud of being recognized as a leader among my impact entrepreneur peers— because those people are changing the world.

There are allies in the ecosystem supporting Mothers including Peanut (“Tinder for Mom Friends”), Chairman Mom (a Q&A platform for working moms) and HeyMama (a lifestyle platform for self-employed Mothers). None, however, combine the convenience and reach of digital resources and the deeper community that comes from meaningful connection.

Mothers need a resource that doesn’t claim to have the answers.

Mothers needs a community that does not spend time putting “types” of Mothers in buckets.

Mothers should be encouraged to take up space, to reflect on their needs and gain the courage to advocate for their own path.

Through personalized Circles, supported by an online community platform and designed with compassionate values, MotherNation does just that.

Our proprietary algorithm is designed to gather Circles based on the individual needs of the Mother based on the Mother's own dynamic ranking of factors related to her desired community. For example, rather than being gathered with other Mothers in her neighborhood, a Mother can indicate that she would rather gather with other Mothers who are cancer survivors.

Our proprietary structures, tools and training are rooted in the belief that Mothers are capable of providing safe, and even transformative, spaces to each other through empathy and listening. The meta change we believe is possible is that the reminder of our oneness and the power of listening will lead to a ripple effect of empathy as MotherNation Citizens hold that same space for others in their life, including their families.

When a Mother participates in a Circle and provides supportive listening according to our training (activity), they continuously get and give meaningful peer support (output) making them feel valued, connected and empowered to ask for what they need (short-term outcome), which leads to improved maternal mental and emotional well-being (long-term outcome).

We are currently raising money to support a longitudinal study to prove this theory of change and would be interested in working with healthcare providers or insurance companies on a pilot. 

In the meantime we have referenced the Johns Hopkins's Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality roadmap for creating peer support programs that aligns to our theory of change, including the "potential benefits for a person seeking support are finding another person in a similar situation who has “lived the experience,” and being able to talk with them in a safe and judgement-free setting."

In addition, below are sample testimonials from Circle participants: "MotherNation is so much more than a "mom group." It is a place where I feel safe and accepted no matter what with absolutely no judgement." - Katelyn, Mama to Cam & Summer

"Thank you so much for the wonderful Circle this evening. This was one of the first times that a Zoom call actually relaxed me. I really appreciate that you both took the time to create norms/rules for us to follow. It made the experience so much more meaningful to not have people say..."Oh me too, let me tell you about that time when..." - Elise, Mama to Zev

We currently serve 150 Mothers. By leaning on a strong mama word-of-mouth referral program and partnerships with established brands, we project significant growth in the near-term allowing us to serve 2,000 in one year and 250,000 Mothers by year five. Please note that (i) these numbers represent only the number of Mothers participating in Circle and not their family members and supporters that will inevitably benefit from their improved well-being and (ii) these number assume we will continue with a B2C strategy with an annual membership model. If we can achieve our goal of partnering with healthcare providers and insurance companies, thereby decreasing or eliminating any costs to the Mothers, these figures would increase exponentially. Further, if we are able to scale globally, embracing the diversity of cross-culture Motherhood, the numbers would be even higher.

In the next year, we hope to partner with one or more healthcare providers or insurance companies to (i) complete the study that verifies our theory of change with hard data and (ii) makes MotherNation Circles accessible to more Mothers. We are currently exploring a partnership with a prenatal telehealth app that serves over 200,000 users in our market. With a partnership like this in place, we can help healthcare providers deliver more holistic care to their patients, including social support, and avoid maternal health slipping through the cracks after the baby is born.

In the next five years, we can scale and grow with our existing community to support them through Motherhood as their children grow and the challenges change. But we can also replicate the magic of our technology, structure, tools and training to bring people together to meaningfully hold space for each other as they journey through any shared experience- including Circles based on medical conditions, jobs or interests. We are starting with the Motherhood journey - a life-changing transition- but we, as humans, need connection, community and support in many other aspects of our life. Teaching empathy and planting seeds to foster more love and connection is our ultimate purpose.

Market (Mom Guilt) - Ironically, we sometimes joke that "mom guilt" is our biggest barrier to entry. Mothers commonly put their needs last and investing the time, energy and money into a MotherNation Circle seems impossible to them. 

Technical - We are currently running our private online community on a third-party platform. It would be ideal to have our own native app now to directly connect with our users. Also, once we implement our roadmap, including a no-waste mama marketplace, we will need to develop our own application. We would also like to make improvements to our backend to enable scale and leverage data insights to better serve our community. 

Financial - Re. financial barriers - we just started raising pre-seed money but as a women/mom/LGBTQ+ led business that serves Mothers, it is difficult. Then the economic uncertainty caused by COVID has made capital raising more challenging.

Cultural - As we look to scale globally, there will be both cultural and language barriers. Motherhood is inextricably linked to culture and society. For example, many cultures require a Mother to rest for 30-40 days after giving birth while in America, the average length of leave from work after giving birth is 10 days. We will need to account for and embrace these cultural differences while allowing all MotherNation Citizens to learn and grow.

Market (Mom Guilt) - We need to flip the script and encourage Mothers to invest in themselves. Attending Circle is like a hard workout- it may not seem like you have the time and is maybe a little uncomfortable but, afterwards, you feel so good. We are hopeful that feeling will carry over and convert participants into advocates that refer other Mothers to MotherNation. We also have planned social media campaigns (#whatguilt) that highlight Mothers taking time and space for themselves-- emphasizing that the power of being a model (not a martyr) for your children. 

Of course, partnerships with healthcare provide

rs and insurance companies would bring down the cost and further incentivize Circle participation. This would both mitigate the guilty feelings and also make MotherNation more financially accessible. The first step to these partnerships will be a pilot study.

Financial Barriers - We are scrappy! We are focusing on grants/partnerships like MIT Solve and targeting women angel groups that focus on women-owned companies. 

Technical- We are utilizing existing platforms and exploring partnering with developers that will accept equity in exchange for services. We are also investing in patent protection regarding our backend technology and have registered trademark protection. 

Cultural - Scaling globally will require specific analysis of each geography to be sure that we introduce MotherNation in an informed way and meet Mothers where they are.

Once we bring Mothers together on the ground in Circles, we stay together to demand the systemic supports that all Mothers deserve. Below is a list of our three main social impact partners-- two advocacy organizations and local grass roots organizations that supports low-income Mothers across our region. 

• March for Moms- March for Moms is an advocacy organization focused on improved outcomes re. maternal health, including perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and maternal mortality. We have been a fundraising sponsor, sat on the Steering Committee for the past two years and organized grassroots advocacy efforts among our community. 
• PL+US - PL+US is our 2020 Make Change partner. PL+US is an advocacy organization working hard to obtain paid leave for all Americans by 2022. We are an outreach partner spreading the word re. PL+US initiatives to our community, encouraging donations, and also collecting stories from "real moms" regarding the value of paid leave to support their legislative efforts.
• Greater DC Diaper Bank - Both founders are Diaper Bank ambassadors so we collect donations at MotherNation events and bring them to the warehouse. We also recently hosted a virtual event with all proceeds to the Diaper Bank to help with the spike in demand due to COVID.

We deliver support, connection and community empowering Mothers to navigate Motherhood more confidently.

Our annual membership includes an invitation to join a personalized Circle of up to 8 Mothers and access to our private online community where we facilitate subgroups, host events (such as "ask me anythings" with experts) and connect Mothers from across the community. We are also developing a partner perk program to "momsource" discounts for our community. 

Sponsorship revenue is another potential revenue source in the near future.

Combination of all - grants, membership revenue, capital raises.

On top of the money the over $60,000 we have already personally invested, we are currently raising a pre-seed financing round that that will help us refine our offering and reach product-market fit by the end of the year. We then plan to raise our next round early next year with an eye towards implementing our roadmap and growth. With that growth as well as strategic partnerships and potential sponsorship revenue in place, we will be in a position to decrease the costs of our offering making it more accessible to Mothers and therefore able to have a broader impact on the mental and emotional well-being of Mothers.

After completion of the Seed Spot accelerator program earlier this year, MotherNation was recognized as the "Most Promising Social Innovation" and awarded a $7,500 grant from Booz Allen Hamilton. We also collected $7,500 in member fees from our first cohort of MotherNation Circles.

In order to maximize our partnerships and achieve product-market fit, we are currently raising $200,000 of pre-seed money. We prefer a grant, convertible debt or a SAFE document. These funds will be used to hire key talent that will focus on community management, content creation and technology development. We plan to raise our next round early 2021. 

We estimate that our expenses for the remainder of this year are about $210,000. See high-level breakdown below.

• Salaries (Non-Founders): $75,000
• Product Development: $60,000
• Marketing & PR: $40,000
• Legal/Finance: $10,000
• Web Applications & Memberships: $7,500
• Insurance $6,000
• Credit Card Fees: $5,000
• Office Supplies & Shipping: $3,500
• Miscellaneous: $3,000

I would be THRILLED to be awarded the Elevate Prize and it would help me in a variety of ways, including allowing me to: 

1) Conduct a valid study to prove our theory of change. We need assistance from a research/data scientist with the design of the study, recruitment of participants and assessment metrics. A successful pilot study will validate our offering in a powerful way and open up the door to partnerships with healthcare providers. This would be key in mitigating the "mom guilt" barrier because Mothers are more likely to invest in themselves upon their healthcare provider's recommendation, and of course, if it does not have a cost.

2) Build relationships with mentors, coaches and advisors. As a founding team, our strengths complement each other but we are both first-time entrepreneurs. We embrace the challenge of learning and failing everyday but guidance from experts would be invaluable. As a coach and community builder, I appreciate the value of both of these and would love to utilize the professional resources and engage with the Elevate community.

3) Funding will allow us to focus more on the product development the rest of this year and hire key talent. There are passionate people ready to come on board!

4) Lastly, because we are trying to flip the script on Motherhood and influence real behavior change, the amplification and publicity of the Elevate Prize would help us plant the seeds for change and also provide credibility to potential investors.

Mentorship/Board Members - As a founding team, our strengths complement each other but we are both first-time entrepreneurs. We embrace the challenge of learning and failing everyday but guidance from experts would be invaluable. Given the recent acceleration of our virtual model due to COVID, we are particularly interested in connecting with veteran social impact entrepreneurs who were able to scale quickly.

Monitoring and evaluation- We are committed to continuous improvement beyond our planned pilot and would appreciate support re. the design and methods we can implement (including member surveys).

Marketing, media and exposure - Being awarded an Elevate prize will bring MotherNation immediate credibility both with potential partners as well as investors.

There are a number of labs and initiatives at MIT that we would be honored to work with - specifically regarding the improvement to our gathering algorithm and the design and implementation of a pilot study. While our understanding is that the Center for Collective Intelligence focuses on how computers can work intelligently, we would be interested it explore whether the same logic can be translated into empathy. Specifically..."explore how people and computers can be connected so that – collectively – they act more empathically than any person, group, or computer has ever done before." This could start simply by researching how to gather Circles with the best "fit" or potential to meaningfully support each other but the possibilities seem endless!

We would also be thrilled to work with the Connection Science group. Their mission of "revolutionizing technology-mediated human networks through analysis, prediction, data-driven design, and evaluation" is exactly what we need! We emphasize the value of in-person connection but also are curious and excited about the role technology can play to help Mothers feel connected to both themselves and each other.

Other MIT organizations that we would be interested in working with include the Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Sloane School of Management (including experts in Digital Business and Entrepreneurship) regarding how we can grow MotherNation and maximize the impact we have on maternal mental and emotional well-being.

We also welcome any connections with hospital systems or insurance companies that may be interested in our pilot.