Butterflies Take Flight

Written by Ageless Moms on May 28th, 2009

Moms mentor moms back into the workforce

Are you a “butterfly?” You are, says Bradi Nathan, if you’re a mother who is seeking to return to the workforce or simply striving to achieve work-life balance. A mother of two young boys, Nathan, originally from Harrington Park, is co-founder of MyWorkButterfly, a ground-breaking social-networking site she launched with new friend and co-founder Terry Starr, also a mother of two. Dubbed “Facebook for Moms,” the first online community built exclusively for moms is spreading its wings.

The women were introduced by a mutual friend at a Border’s bookstore last August. Nathan was in the store researching an idea for an online community where women could network with one another; Starr, an HR. advertising and Internet-marketing executive, was in search of a French- English dictionary for a friend’s daughter.

“Terry saw the book I was holding, called Internet Riches, and handed me her business card,” Nathan recalls.

As they chatted, they discovered they had sons the same age, in the same grade at the same school. The realization further fueled Nathan’s belief that mothers needed an online community in which to connect and empower one another.

“I devoured the pages of that book and called Terry in the morning to share an idea. I told her 1 have an idea that I haven’t even told my husband. I haven’t even said it out loud.’ We met again the next day and the rest, as they say, is history,” Nathan says.

Both brought significant strengths to the table. Eight years ago, Nathan, a former advertising executive, launched For You Two, a mommy-and-me class where she met “lots of moms, many still on maternity leave, just trying to figure out what they wanted to do next.” she says.
Starr had spent nearly three decades working full time. Since having her children, she’s maintained a “do-it-all” philosophy that has seen her through with boundless energy and enthusiasm. Armed with business acumen and intuitive mothering instincts, they set out to build MyWorkButterfly.

“The timing could not have been better,” says Starr. “My agency, Success Communications, was already building social-networking sites for its clients. Bradi’s idea, combined with the agency’s expertise, was a perfect fit. I jumped right in.”

Incredibly, there are more than 100 million social-networking Internet sites.

“The world of social networking is so vast, it would be almost impossible to follow it fully,” says Starr. “But ours is truly a niche site. It’s been called ‘Facebook for Moms.” Interestingly, though, MyWorkButterfly takes the Facebook formula many steps further. The main difference? Three hundred pages of content on topics ranging from health and nutrition to fashion, finance and fitness. There’s also editorial on parenting, volunteerism, travel and beauty, plus vast resources on everything from adult education to child and elder care. And, of’ course, as the site’s content revolves around mothers and work, there’s also a comprehensive job board, networked with more than 1,000 other career sites, listing upwards of 3,000 job opportunities on any given day.

WINGED VICTORY

MyWorkButterfly quickly gained ground, Since its January 2009 launch, the site has signed up more than 1,500 members throughout the U.S. and Canada and as far away as England, Australia, Italy and India. Credit goes to the pair’s knack for courting celebrity moms to provide inspiration and content, cultivating corporate and association partnerships, and forging real friendships with its members.

“When a woman joins MyWorkButterfly, she receives a welcome email from one of us. It’s not auto-generated. It’s a personal message that encourages them to delve right into the site and, if they’ve told us a little bit about themselves, we even direct them to things on the site that we think will be of interest,” says Starr.

Among the site’s enthusiastic celebrity partners and contributors is Malaak Compton-Rock, a passionate philanthropist and wife of comedian Chris Rock.
POWER MOMS Lisa Monfried: Terry Starr, co-founder, MyWorkButterfly; Helaine Kay; and Bradi Nathan, co-founder, MyWorkButterfly revel in being able to help women re-enter the workforce after childbirth.