Combating isolation and changing parenthood with Mamma Social founder Kayleigh Laverick

FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders

Today's guest Kayleigh Laverick describes how she launched Mamma Social Co and, in just a few years, built it into national brand that is changing the landscape of parenthood.

In 2021 Kayleigh found herself feeling increasingly isolated and struggling after the birth of her second child. She is frank about how this culminated in thoughts of suicide.

She reached out to friends and met up with other mums, which swiftly confirmed that new mothers need more help. This and the knowledge of an 18-month waiting list for NHS support convinced Kayleigh to leave her job to set up Mamma Social in 2022. It offers free memberships, walks, talks and play sessions:

"We are on a mission to combat isolation and loneliness, one walk at a time. Mamma Social was a way for me to combat my personal PTSD and depression, and what started as a need for me to heal, quickly turned into a community need to heal."

Determined to ensure Mamma Social is a free community, Kayleigh tested varied revenue streams. She talks through what worked and what did not. Kayleigh also secured valuable mentoring and covers how she went about this.

Mamma Social has been backed by BEF through both a startup loan and a loan via our fund for entrepreneurs in the North East. She tells us why debt finance plays a vital role within a business' growth journey.

Kayleigh is hugely protective of Mamma Social’s values – many brands want to work with it and she is careful what she says yes to. It is a flourishing business and community and helps its members to thrive.

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Help for suicidal thoughts

This episode includes Kayleigh's description of her experiences.

If you're feeling like you want to end your life or are worried about someone else, help and support is available right now from free helplines, web chat services and text lines listed here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/help-for-suicidal-thoughts and here: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/suicidal-feelings/useful-contacts/

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What next?

• More about Mamma Social: https://mammasocialco.com
• Kayleigh's podcast: https://mammasocialco.com/podcasts/
• Kayleigh is also a champion for Maternal Mental Health Alliance: https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org
• More about the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) https://www.befund.org/about and our north east fund https://www.befund.org/north-east

FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders is a podcast by the Business Enterprise Fund a social enterprise dedicated to breaking the "finance shackles" faced by many small and medium-sized enterprises & social enterprises.
Find BEF online at https://www.befund.org and on LInkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-enterprise-fund/
• This podcast is produced and edited by Jamie Veitch https://www.jamieveitch.co.uk/
• The music is "Aerosol of my Love" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Artwork design by Research Retold https://www.researchretold.com