If you want something done, ask a mom. And that is now easier for mom entrepreneurs since the Founding Moms community has launched online.
“I started Founding Moms in 2010 by accident. I was thinking I needed to meet up with other moms who had businesses and babies,” says founder Jill Salzman, of Oak Park.
Now there are more than 1,000 Founding Moms in Illinois and meet-ups take place monthly in 47 cities in 10 countries, with more than 8,000 members.
Salzman, however, didn’t want to stop there.
The Founding Moms community online (www.foundingmoms.com) was born out of her desire to erase geographic boundaries and make it possible for those many groups to connect with each other.
She says it is the world’s first hub online where mom entrepreneurs can connect in a forum for members to network and share information, and they can also learn from video courses taught by experts. The courses come complete with workbooks and time for questions and answers, all aimed at helping mom entrepreneurs develop both their skills and their businesses.
The website also will feature a directory that will be live shortly after the launch, making it easier for moms to support each other and hire one another, and get hired themselves.
The members of Founding Moms represent a wide variety of entrepreneurs, from attorney and accountants to product inventors to construction contractors.
“My goal is to keep consistency in communication both online and offline so that Founding Moms can grow in more cities,” Salzman says. “As we bring more people in and educate more mom entrepreneurs, as a group we will gain more respect. That means we’ll be able to do more and more in the world.”
The Founding Moms community is a paid portal using SurePayroll that provides members with access to resources.
—Shannan Younger