CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During the first month of the pandemic, some 3.5 million mothers living with school-age children left active work.
According to census.gov, by April of 2020, 45% of mothers of school-age children were not actively working. As companies and schools began opening back up, women went back to work, but not all of them. Some continued to stay home to take care of their families.
“It is so sad to see how many moms are leaving the workforce because juggling their family life during a sustained pandemic alongside their career was just not sustainable for them,” Stephanie Flies, the founder of City Mom Collective, said.
Flies started City Mom Collective when she was a new mom while living in Arizona.
"I started our very first site 10 years ago in Scottsdale, Arizona, with a heart and a desire to connect and encourage moms that were walking alongside me," Flies said. "I had a little baby at the time and was feeling lonely and not connected."
City Mom Collective is a network of websites empowering women in every step of their motherhood journey.
“Not only are our site owners business owners themselves in their own cities, building online content through their website and their social media channels, they also are planning local events for moms and families," Flies said. "It's an effort to connect them, but also to get them that content online that moms are craving and looking for."
She said that content ranges from family activities for kids to what parents can do with their children on weekends, as well as heartfelt editorial pieces where moms can share their struggles together.
"Moms can come to our sites and say, 'Oh, I don't feel so alone. I'm not the only mom that's experiencing that,'" Flies said.
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Flies says her main goal is to make sure women have careers that are flexible with their family lives so they don't have to choose between working or staying home with their children.
“We really are champions of these moms, these entrepreneurs, saying 'serve your communities, make this business work around your family schedule,'" she said. "Really it's an incredible opportunity for someone who is looking for a flexible career, one that works around their families."
There are currently three sites for South Carolina cities, but none in North Carolina. Flies says her team will help clients start one, but a start-up fee is required.
“That's what helps us to build the website and to coach you through that process," she said. "We provide website coaching, marketing support, social media coaching, community building coaching. There's a seven-week program that our new site owners go through that the initial startup fee goes to."
Clients also pay a flat monthly fee for their services.
"We offer technical support ongoing," she said. "We do your domain and web hosting for our sites. And then we also do continuing education for marketing and sales support, as well."
So what’s the time commitment? Flies says this won’t be a full-time job, but more like a part-time gig.
“The minimum time commitment is 20 hours a week," she said. "We are not logging your hours. This is your own business opportunity, so truly what you put into it is oftentimes what you receive in return. So 20 hours is where we say you're going to need to put this amount of time into building this business for it to be financially beneficial for you."
If you’re interested in starting a site here in our area, you can learn more here.
Contact Sarah French at Sarah@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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