We all need help getting things done. From finding the perfect carpooling app and learning a foreign language to finally taking that online sewing class, there’s a slew of mom-invented services out there to help you tap into your inner passion or just get things done. Keep scrolling to see some of our fave ways moms are changing everyday life for the better.
Better Childcare Options: Bubble Up
Elizabeth Beales was a young mother and a member of the homeless community. After experiencing the damage that lack of childcare can have on family health, safety, and job security she decided to use her skills, knowledge, and network to help other parents who find themselves facing these same challenges. So she created Bubble Up, an app that helps evolve the way we think about childcare and community support. Bubble Up allows parents and families to use a simple swipe to group up with other families in a size and format that feels safe and helpful for them. Parents can share what’s important to them, when and where they need care and what their needs are. Then they can locate compatible families and/or caregivers and begin connecting right away. Bubble Up is a free service, allowing families to truly use the “it takes a village” model for childcare.
Online: letsbubbleup.com
Safe Skincare: The Good Face Project
Mom of two, Iva Teixeira has had a long career in consulting, advising large beauty brands on everything from strategy to sales. During her time in the field, Teixeira interviewed more than 100 women and found that the number one thing they looked for in a beauty brand was safety. So, in 2018, she and her co-partner founded The Good Face Project, the world’s largest data-driven index of cosmetic ingredients. The online platform uses powerful AI algorithms to analyze cosmetic ingredients and products across 15 different dimensions of safety, effectiveness, and benefits. The Good Face Project's has already analyzed more than 45,000 products and over 80,000 individual ingredients! Users can access the playform to shop with confidence on everything from baby and cosmetics to shaving and sun care.
Online: goodfaceproject.com
Community of Career-Driven Moms: HeyMama
Founders Amri Kibbler and Katya Libin realized a huge piece was missing from their own lives in the workforce: a community of supportive moms with careers. To help build a community of working moms who empower each other, the two founded HeyMama, a private and professional social network. The platform now has members across the United States and helps women everywhere balance the challenges of motherhood and a career.
Online: heymama.co
Family & Kid-Based Deal Finder: CertifiKID
Jamie and Brian Ratner, Washington, D.C.-area natives and parents, started CertifiKID back in 2010 when they saw a gap in the market for kid and family-based deals. Within three months, the site was expanding to other large markets and after a 2019 stint on Shark Tank, CertifiKID is now the only 100 perfect free nationwide kid and family focused resource! It offers exclusive deals on products, restaurants, birthday party activities, special needs offers, kids’ camps and classes, family activities and real mom reviews.
Online: certifikid.com
Carpooling for Climate Change: GoKid
GoKid was founded by Dr. Stefanie Lemcke, a New York City mom determined to curb her driving fatigue due to traffic jams packed with other parents all driving in the same direction. The free-to-download app is a way to easily coordinate with other trusted parents and create a streamlined carpooling process. So far, GoKid has saved over eight million miles of driving, has users in 25+ countries, reduced CO2 emissions by seven million pounds and is getting vehicles off the road.
Online: gokid.mobi
Designing Woman: Sew It! Academy
Fashion expert and mama to four Mimi G came from humble beginnings. A survivor of domestic violence and homelessness, Mimi G has always held a love of fashion and sewing close to her heart. In addition to creating her own DIY and Lifestyle brand, Mimi G Style, the empowering girlboss also created Sew It! Academy in 2016. The completely online sewing school teaches anyone how to sew, and offers monthly subscriptions and tutorials for everything from DIY sunglass cases to evening gowns.
Online: sew-it-academy.thinkific.com
Get Stylishly Caught in the Rain: November Rain
A woman entrepreneur and mother to three, Belinda Coker has been active in providing fresh drinking water to developing communities in Africa and Asia for over 10 years. A perpetual philanthropist and entrepreneur, her previous successful brands include Envirosax, the first designer reusable bag with environmental certification to enter the U.S. market back in 2007. November Rain was borne out of a need to fund her freshwater projects in Africa. Producing an item printed with eco-friendly dyes was a no-brainer, but Belinda also took this one step further by creating a poncho that women of all shapes and sizes could wear, whether they are blessed with curves or fabulously tall and willowy. "Unless we are a perfect industry size, there is always the issue of fit. And I wanted to overcome that, for all women," says Belinda. November Rain gives 10% of all revenue to water projects in developing countries, the ponchos are made to last and they are stylish!
Online: novemberrain.co
Bridge the Generation & Language Gap: Jamma Jango
In 2012, Julia Wang left her job as Product Manager at American Express to be a SAHM to her newborn daughter. Both Julia’s and her husband’s parents emigrated from Taiwan in the 1980s and are more comfortable speaking in their native tongue—Mandarin Chinese. Julia wanted her little girl to be able to communicate with her grandparents, but she struggled to find the right resources to teach her daughter Chinese—there was a lack of anything that would hold a kid’s attention for more than five minutes and it was hard to find a program that was educational and fun. And so, Jamma Jango was born. It’s a cartoon-based, foreign language-learning product that provides parents fun and educational language resources—all in one box. Currently, Jamma Jango offers a Spanish language and a Mandarin Chinese version.
Check it out at jammajango.com
—Kate Loweth, Amber Guetebier, Erin Lem and Karly Wood
All photos provided by companies
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