The team I want to play on: VC-backed founders who 'Mom'

As a startup founder, I know that 'building your personal brand' is often recommended. It's a bit hard for me because giving insight into my life means you're seeing the absolute chaos that raising a family + running a business during COVID entails. It's not just the Zoom bombing from my cute kid who wants to play Doc McStuffins on my booboo (which I got from ramming into a chair when trying to feed her and respond to emails at the same time).

It's also about making sure my kids' emotional health is in check, taking the time out to ensure they feel secure at home given the confusing chaos outside. That they know their parents will always provide a space where their big emotions - that often make no sense to adults (I mean, who cares what color the jump rope is?!?!) - have space to marinate, be heard, and be expressed in healthy ways. Parenting isn't just the logistics which the media has covered extensively; it's also about the emotional investment. (This might be over-stretching, but I really do feel like it's an act of good citizenship to raise children who can emotionally regulate in the face of stress and conflict). But, it takes so. much. time.

If you knew all of this, you may assume that my chaos means I'm less productive. And that potential misperception feels too risky as we get ready to raise. But today I spoke to a fellow founder - a mom of three - who successfully raised from top shelf investors for her very healthy business. Our call was punctuated with interruptions: a small human trailing me, microwaves dinging, a child requesting help in the bathroom, and a laptop dying. And yet in 30 short minutes, she delivered more golden nuggets about fundraising than the 15+ hours I've spent poring through Venture Deals, attending webinars, and speaking to other experts.

And, perhaps more importantly, she saw me. Mom founders often 'see' other mom founders and COVID life is helping increase our visibility to each other. She didn't flinch with my chaos and she was gracious enough to share her own - it was kind of like a "we're on the same team" moment. She also knew that chaos does not translated to frazzled thinking, something that is almost always conflated in "mom life" caricatures. In fact, the busier I get, the better I think - the mental calibration that busy moms do constantly might be our best superpower.

She kindly grilled me about the fundamentals of my business and got the market opportunity immediately. (Lest you're mistaken that mom founders are not great businesswomen!). I felt so validated by our call because I got to see, with my own eyes, the image that I'm aspiring to: the VC-backed founder, who moms hard, collaborates hard, and runs her business with strength. I know I'll get criticized for making this about the cult of productivity. That's not the point at all. It's that allowing founders to have their family life spill into their work life - and normalizing it - is, to me, an act of empowerment. Seeing her life play out in the background of our video call was a level of authentic that I never knew I was looking for and that quite frankly, I have been hiding. Turns out, I may not have to.