As any mom knows, trying to get what she needs done while simultaneously entertaining a baby can be a workout. Add in trying to launch and/or grow a business, and everything goes out the window. Or at least it did until Jill Salzman came along.
Jill, a former attorney, mom and serial entrepreneur, started an informal meet-up group called The Founding Moms in 2009 to helps mompreneurs start and/or grow their own businesses. She recognized that many mompreneurs were looking for “semi-unstructured, kid-friendly business brainstorming sessions”, but no local women business organizations offered such opportunities “ where you could come without a suit on and a diaper bag (and child) in tow” Jill explained. So she decided to create an organization that would cater to mompreneurs and their kids.
Over time, she set up monthly meetings for members to get together to brainstorm with one another (Sounding Board) and/or learn from various business experts (the Exchanges). The meetings are usually held in the same location at the same time each month, and often a few babies are in attendance. Members also leave with new contacts, potential clients and more knowledge on how to help grow their business.
This structure Jill has created has helped The Founding Moms grow to about 1,500 members in 26 different cities across the globe in under 2 years. (Yes, you read that correctly. The Founding Moms is a GLOBAL organization with members in Australia and Canada. And all that growth was organic, the result of word-of-mouth and referrals. Pretty impressive). Growing the organization though has not always been smooth sailing. Like any entrepreneur, Jill has faced her fair share of challenges.
“We’ve had several hurdles along the way since I did not know what to expect, never having created an organization like this before”, she shared.
These hurdles are not much different from those her own members face including determining the best monetization models for her business and figuring out how to expand into other markets. As she worked through them though, she learned a lot about herself and business. She recognizes the importance of
(1) being patient with your business – you can’t push it along faster than it needs to go on its own
(2) listening to your customers daily
(3) having a solid website
and shares these nuggets of wisdom with her members. Her goal is that by doing so, she will help her members’ businesses succeed. For this, we are grateful.
If you are a mompreneur, we highly recommend you check out her site to see what events she has planned. We believe you won’t regret it.
