Mompreneur and Me

How can women climb the corporate ladder… if they can’t find the time to network or develop professional skills?

Mompreneur and Me is the first national free mommy and me professional development event. Our mission is to close the housework gap and provide mothers with core competencies so they can climb the corporate ladder.

Mothers are receiving mixed messages in the workplace. We’re being called a valuable asset.

Almost 85% of U.S. employees believe having working mothers in leadership roles benefits a business, according to a Bright Horizons study. The same percentage said motherhood helps women prepare for challenges she’ll face as a business leader.  When asked about the role parents’ influence plays in their career choices and employment journey, people are overwhelmingly more likely to learn soft skills like kindness and empathy from their mothers than their fathers.

Yet…. mothers struggle with networking.

Nearly half of stay at home moms plan to network with other professionals to find new jobs, but unfortunately 1/3 of them don’t have contacts.

Mothers also worry about being penalized in the workplace.

42% of women worry motherhood will negatively impact their career trajectory or leave them unable to advance as quickly as peers. More than 70% of working mothers and fathers say women are penalized professionally for starting families, and men aren’t. Almost three-quarters of moms — and more than 70% of women without children — say mothers are offered fewer opportunities to move up the ladder than childless women. 82% of working moms cite barriers keeping them from leadership roles, and 78% say they have to prove themselves more in the workplace.

And they are perceived to be less devoted to their careers.

Women are more likely to work their careers around children and make changes like taking leave, finding a more flexible job or working from home, a study last year found. More than 40% of U.S. employees say working moms are less devoted to their work, and 38% judge moms for seeking more flexible schedules. As it affects their hiring and promotion, motherhood costs women $16,000 per year in lost wages, one recent analysis found. Mothers are paid 71 cents for every dollar a man makes, per CNBC.

Mompreneur and Me aims to fix this problem.

For one hour, moms and their children exercise together, doing anything from bowling to cooking classes to yoga. For the second hour the kids are watched by CPR-trained childcare professionals and the moms work on activities to develop themselves professionally, from advocating for yourself to resume writing. We work on these professional development activities because impeccable networking and communication skills help moms get noticed by prospective employers, and communicating new innovative ideas in a clear and confident way can set moms apart from their peers without children.

We come to the mothers.

With overwhelming demand, Mompreneur and Me® events can occur in any city. 

We have powerful mompreneur speakers, influencers and mom bloggers in the room.

Female CEOs, profitable mom influencers and bloggers are always at each event. This doesn't mean our event is just for mothers in traditional office settings: we welcome mom bloggers, stay at home moms and everyone in between! (Dads are welcome too.)

We provide actionable takeaways in an intimate setting.

Mompreneur and Me® events are deliberately intimate for not only purposeful networking and to ensure moms receive actionable takeaways, but also to ensure the safety of the children. 

We make sure the kids have fun too!

The kids activities are themed to match the professional development focus. For example, the mommy and me portion of the Mompreneur and Me event might be writing/coloring a short story with mommy, and the professional development hour is how to turn your blog into a self-published book.

We've sought corporate sponsorship for the past two years, and have gained $10K in funding. Mompreneur and Me operates in the global sponsorship market. In 2017, sponsorship spending was predicted to amount to $62.7 billion, up from $60.1 billion a year earlier. This is a growing category. Funding for Mompreneur and Me will be use to:

Expand Into Additional Markets

We’ve been to six U.S. cities thus far, but a grant or additional funding into Mompreneur and Me would allow us to keep the event completely free for mothers and their children and would allow us to reach mothers in other cities. The funding would be put directly to event production, including the on-site childcare and kid-friendly activities. In the past, we have done such activities as yoga and cooking classes.

Diversify Funding

It would diversify our funding, reducing our reliance on corporate partnerships (sponsors and advertisers).

...And Help You!

Mompreneur and Me is the first national free mommy and me networking event, and we pride ourselves in being open to all mothers. In order to bridge the housework gap, we believe all mothers should have access to professional development content on their own terms and be able to build relationships with other businesswomen, all the while spending quality time with their child. Most of the mothers who attend Mompreneur and Me events are multicultural, so we believe we are also helping underrepresented female entrepreneurs also gain access to key professionals and corporate competencies.

The alternative is that mothers continue to experience Impostor Syndrome in the workplace, and the housework gap widens. 

Featured in The New York Times, Christine Michel Carter is the #1 global voice for working moms. Called “the mom of mom influencers,” “the exec inspiring millennial moms,” and “the voice of millennial moms,” Christine clarifies misconceptions about working mom consumers for brands and serves as an amplifier of their personal truths. From delivering consumer insights and brand marketing content to helping HR and diversity teams attract and retain these hardworking professionals, Christine works with advertising agencies, research firms, and companies to ensure they’re at the forefront of the minds of female consumers.

A mother of two, Christine noticed there were no networking events for career-minded mothers that allowed their children to remain on-site. Understanding how stressful, time-consuming and difficult it can be to find quality childcare, she created Mompreneur and Me® events in 2015, so both parents could spend time with their children and network with other like-minded professionals at the same time.

“I was able to meet Mompreneurs in various industries who offered great advice and suggestions. The speed networking activity provided a framework for purposeful networking and interaction, and I learned actionable information that will help me in my work life.”

“The event was fun. (My daughter) and I really enjoyed it. Thank you again for organizing it!” 

“This weekend I had the opportunity to attend Mompreneur and Me‘s NYC event and meet some amazing moms who are bloggers, content creators, entrepreneurs and influencers.” 

“I love Mompreneur and Me® events, but my kids love them even more! They get to do a fun activity with mommy and I get to meet other professional women who love their babies too!”