Motherly, a wellbeing destination empowering mothers to thrive with expert content, innovative product solutions, and supportive community was co-founded and is led by Jill Koziol. She is also a co-author of “This Is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections and Practices” and “The Motherly Guide to Becoming Mama: Redefining the Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Journey”. Jill is dedicated to helping and encouraging women and mothers because she believes that when mamas succeed, everyone benefits. She supports families, female entrepreneurs, and living well with multiple sclerosis. Jill, her husband, and their two girls reside in Park City, Utah.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Describe your background and what did you do before you started Motherly?
I’m from rural Southern Maryland and am a first-generation college student. I went to a state school in Maryland and majored in Political Science and Economics before attending Georgetown University and earning a degree in International Security Studies. From there, I was a strategy consultant working for Fortune 50 companies, defense contractors, and national intelligence agencies. Motherhood sparked entrepreneurial creativity in me, and when my first daughter was six months old, I invented, patented, and brought to market the HoneyBee Child SwingEase. The SwingEase is a portable device that converts playground swings into baby swings. With my cofounder, we scaled the business, getting it placed in every Babies R Us around the country and Canada before licensing it to an outdoor adventure company. Two weeks after exiting that company, I cofounded Motherly.
Tell us more about Motherly.
Motherly is a well-being destination empowering mothers to thrive. We engage 30 million+ mothers per month through our content, video, podcasts, books, and on-demand classes.
Who is your target audience? How do you create services that align with what they’re looking for?
Today’s modern mother is our target audience. We innovate, putting her needs at the center of everything we do. We are built for moms by moms and are obsessed with finding new ways to make their lives just a bit better every day.
What are the major changes happen in client behavior and market operation since pandemic?
As a digital media platform, we largely monetize through advertising, creating custom content campaigns for our brand partners and clients. We’ve thankfully seen a resurgence in media and marketing spending since the pandemic and a renewed understanding of the importance of today’s moms as a powerful consumer demographic. The pandemic forced people to recognize and value caregiving, and brands took note, as well.
What gets you up in the morning? What are your responsibilities as Co-founder & CEO of the company?
I believe that when mothers thrive, families and communities thrive. I’m energized each morning to provide content, community, and classes for mothers so they can thrive as both a mother and a woman. As cofounder and CEO, I wear many hats and primarily see my role as unblocking our leaders so they can do their important work at Motherly. Tactically speaking, I have four responsibilities: 1) setting the company’s vision and strategy, 2) reinforcing our company culture and hiring good people, 3) serving as custodian of our brand, and 4) ensuring we don’t run out of money, managing investors, innovating new revenue streams, etc.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you.
As a venture-backed business, success is clearly defined as a successful liquidity event delivering returns for our investors, including our employee option holders. Additionally, for me personally, building Motherly to be a brand that has generational longevity is a personal goal. I’ll know I’ve achieved this if my daughters engage with Motherly when they grow up and start families.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Be curious about the world, constantly asking questions and challenging the status quo. And, when you have an idea, don’t be precious about it, talk about it-put it into the world and create a feedback loop, iterating and evolving your concept.
What are your future plans to sustain your and the company’s success?
Motherly is incredibly agile and will continue to evolve to meet the rapidly accelerating changing needs of our audience so that we can empower mothers to thrive. Our business will continue to evolve, but our brand will remain steady. We are innovating in digital education and exploring opportunities to be part of her healthcare journey.
Website: www.mother.ly
