If You’re Looking For More Than A Mom Group—This One’s For You

When I was living in NYC, I was the first and only person within my friend group to get pregnant. Although I had an incredible and supportive group of friends, at that stage, they couldn’t understand “where I was at” and couldn’t offer the support that I needed at such a vulnerable time. I felt very isolated, because I could no longer participate in many of the activities that were my norm. It felt as if my identity, that I so expertly worked on crafting for 36 years, was slipping away, and this was really challenging for me. I tried meeting other pregnant women by going to pregnancy workout classes or the educational classes at HATCH. Each time I left discouraged, because everyone would just leave versus sticking around to connect and get to know each other. It was really challenging to find a group of pregnant friends—until I launched mysha, the week Markus was born.

All the things that I saw on Instagram catered to the rosy, commercial experience of motherhood—and none of it resonated with who I was. One night, I found myself googling down to earth pregnant influencers with the intention to find someone I could at least follow to feel connected from afar. At that moment, I gave myself a silent eye roll and realized that what I needed didn’t exist—and that was a group of women going through this exact thing at the same time, in a similar place to me. That was the moment that the seed for mysha was planted. No one will understand your experience as much as another mother who’s going through it at the same time.

There’s so much out there for taking care of our babies, and mysha is a high-touch experience for the mom. Our pods support anything a mom might need from resources, information, and recommendations. The “secret sauce” is in the live events in LA, New York City, and Miami that are always facilitated with the aim of helping a mom reconnect with herself and her needs—and from there, connect with a like valued community of women. Most importantly, mysha stands out because of our members who represent some of the most inspiring new moms in America. These women live bold lives and have strong identities outside of their children as professionals, founders, C-level executives, and influencers in their spheres. We help support their transition into motherhood while also celebrating the identities they have outside of mothering. We also have niche Founder Pod, Investor Pod, and Deal Flow Pod, which have been powerful in network building for our moms. Mysha starts with supporting your transition into motherhood, and we evolve into being a powerful network for the other areas of your life.

Community doesn’t just happen to us, it requires intention and effort, especially at the beginning. If you’re looking for your people, start with your immediate surroundings. Can you identify any parents who look like they might be in a similar stage to you, in your building, gym, doctor’s office? Be brave, strike up a conversation, exchange numbers and start with that one friend. From that point, initiate a meetup and encourage your new friend to also bring a mom friend. Be intentional with your conversation. Think about doing a round of asks, or go around and share your wins or challenges—something that will help you all connect on a deeper level. After the first meet up, schedule the next one and have everyone who came, also bring a friend. Repeat often. You can also do this virtually, by creating a whatsapp group and sharing your journey on a daily basis with tips and advice and weekly by initialing a weekly touchpoint around how you’re all doing. Someone generally needs to nourish the group and take the lead—however, the end result is priceless.

I was and still am that woman, so I really feel them! The idea of a “mom group” turns me off. I visualize a support circle, which just doesn’t resonate with me. While motherhood certainly has its challenges, it’s also an evolution into our most powerful and intuitive selves. I like to connect moms from the lens that, together, we can always create greater outcomes and support each other in motherhood and beyond. Mysha experiences are all about elevating our members as the holistic versions of themselves versus them as just moms. We are here to nurture and help support the evolution into your next, most powerful chapter of mother and an evolving woman. We all have different ways of connecting—figure out what resonates most with you and find your people based on that. Motherhood is not a journey that I would recommend anyone take on solo. In my experience, community was and continues to be the most valuable tool I had to get me through both the best and worst days.

Mysha is actually most helpful for moms who have recently moved or are between cities. We play the role of connector in helping new moms meet their people wherever they are. From personal introductions in our smaller hubs, to monthly dinners in the main hub cities, it won’t be long before you’re connected to your people. We serve as a filter as the moms who find their way to us—and, since we are all by referral, we will generally really get along with each other. We have a lot of NYC moms who’ve recently moved to MIami, and their transition has been seamless as they stepped into a pod of thirty other moms with similar values and stories. We also have members who are bi-coastal, which can sometimes make it hard to cultivate community. As we have hubs in NYC and LA, these moms have access to powerful networks in both cities and are quickly integrated through our thoughtful dinner and connection events in both cities. Oh, did we mention the gear sharing without schlepping coast to coast? Seeing our moms share their homes or cribs really lights me up—I love that type of value creation. We also have incredible resources that are city-specific. This translates into hours saved when you are looking for your new pediatrician or hair colorist—we’ve got you!

At the moment, we are doubling down on NYC, LA and Miami as that’s where the lion’s share of our members are, and where we activate monthly experiences. With that said, new hubs arise when we start seeing pockets of new moms, and in that respect, we’ve been supporting smaller local events in places like Boston, Atlanta and Austin. In exciting news, I am having baby number two in November! As a founder,  I’m hoping for a smooth transition into that new role while supporting my team in their growth. Expect more community-led, facilitated events from mysha moms in all of our hubs.