[author: Kimberly Jolasun]

Informed by her background in clinical healthcare research, her affinity for entrepreneurship, and her struggle with postpartum depression following the birth of her first child, Kimberly Jolasun founded Villie to help new moms navigate the challenges of motherhood. Kimberly shares how Villie helps moms build a support system that is culturally relevant, celebratory, and there to help when needed and why, just like moms, startup founders also need a village.

Q: What inspired you to found Villie?

Kimberly: I've got entrepreneurship in my DNA. My parents were entrepreneurs and in high school I ran the bake sale like a startup. I had spreadsheets. I had projections. But I never baked. I organized others to do that.

I've always known I wanted to do something in the maternal health space, but I didn't pursue that interest until I became a mom and saw the clear need and opportunity. When I was 8 months pregnant with my first child, we moved from New York City to Atlanta because our family is there. We're West African – from Ghana – and in our culture, family and neighbors are our support system. After my baby was born, my mother-in-law practically moved in with us. Even though I knew I was privileged to have so much support, I still struggled with postpartum depression.

Based on my experience and what I learned from my friends, some moms don't even know that they are experiencing postpartum depression. Even if they do, they often don't know how to articulate what they are feeling. Asking for help is hard for anyone, but as a first-time mom, you don't even know what to ask for. And even if you are having a second or third child, you might think that your friends and family assume you have it together and don't need help.

That's why I created Villie. The name is a made-up word and an iteration on the word "village." We say it takes Villie to support a mom.

Q: How does Villie support moms?

Kimberly: We're much more than a baby registry or a GoFundMe platform. We focus on connectivity and communication through pregnancy, birth, and beyond, and we do it in a fun way. There are amazing femtech companies working on the science and developing medical solutions to address this period in a woman's life. What we're doing is engaging the village in a way that is celebratory and fun.

Our baseline is communication. When a mom signs onto the platform, she gets a unique link that she can customize and share with her friends and loved ones – anyone she wants to invite to follow her and get updates on the baby. Villie is a way to bring her different circles – in-laws, parents, sorority sisters – together in one place.

With one complete circle of supporters, a mom can communicate with everyone in a single message. When she posts an update, we send it to all her villagers. Moms can also ask their village for help. And for first-time moms who may not know what they need, Villie makes the asks for her. For example, when mom is 6 months pregnant, Villie will send a prompt: "Now would be a great time to gift 'x'" or "Now would be a great time to look at her baby registry if you haven't already."

So that's the baseline of what we do. The next layer is working with brands and integrating them in a way where villagers can gift without leaving our platform. With a few clicks, villagers can buy off a registry, but also buy diapers or meals for the family.

The third layer of what we do is the fun part – with celebrations, like a virtual gender reveal or baby shower, and with games, like guessing the baby's gender or name. We always try to include gifting as part of the game. And at celebrations, there is always an ask and suggestion at the end: "Here are five things you could do to make mom's life a little bit easier today -- you could send her a gift card for fresh baby food from SquareBaby, you could buy diapers, or, my favorite, you could buy her a bottle of wine. Parenting is hard enough, so we get villagers involved in a way that is playful and fun, but still makes mom feel supported.

Q: You've talked about three levels of support Villie provides. What's next?

Kimberly: We recently closed our pre-seed round and are using those funds to continue to build out our technology in ways that enhance the platform, such as enabling mom to upload her contacts. One of our next milestones is to make our security features even better so that a mom's personal link, information or photos can't be posted somewhere else.

Q: You've mentioned how your cultural heritage plays a significant role in your life. How important is culture to the Villie mission?

Kimberly: When I first started to talk to potential investors about my idea for Villie, some suggested that I should focus on Black moms or moms of color. As a Black founder and someone who could relate to other women of color, I saw the merit in that. However, early on I decided that I wanted to be inclusive and celebrate all cultures. That has led to some outcomes I didn't expect. For example, we have an audience in the Philippines and in Iowa, and we have a village of Mormons who joined because of their strong culture of community.

With a broad reach, we are able to celebrate practices in different cultures. Some cultures have naming ceremonies seven days after the baby is born. In Ghana, we practice "outdooring," a ceremony after a child is born where parents bring their newborn "outdoors" and give the child a name. Through Villies we get important insights into various cultures and that enables us to build content around these different traditions and nurture many different cultures. For example, during Ramadan, our content included guidance around fasting while pregnant and a list of baby books that explain Ramadan and Eid.

Q: What advice do you have for female founders, particularly those who are navigating being a mom as well as a startup founder?

Kimberly: You need a village – for both. Whether as a mom or a founder, you have to seek out your village and actively nourish it. That's what we're trying to teach the moms on the platform. And it's equally true when you are building a company. My investors are part of my founder village. On schedule every month I have an ask for them. Who should I know? What introductions can you make? Who can I partner with? I'm very intentional about asking for help while also nurturing those relationships.

A really important part of my founder village is having a community of other founders, not only at my stage, but also of founders who are one or two steps ahead of me. Before I made my first hire, I had a close founder friend who spent two hours prepping me for the process, suggesting interview questions and sending me relevant documents. That kind of help is incredibly valuable. But it just doesn't happen. Whether through group chats or in-person gatherings, you need to curate and nurture that community. That means being willing not only to ask for help, but also willing to give. That's the beauty of communities – and a village – the value of asking and the value of giving.

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