Top 50 Mompreneurs, 2011
They cook, they clean and, between naptimes, they run kickass companies. For those who run their own mom-centric firms, the responsibilities of motherhood are only half the battle. Babble is running our first ever salute to the top 50 mompreneurs who pull all-nighters, suffer enormous financial set-backs, and balance business and baby every day to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Here's how they did it.
- Christina Couch
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Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang | Mommycast
Company: Mommycast
Location: Washington DC
Children: Heniger has five children, 5, 8, 11, 14 and 17; Gretchen has two children, 12 and 17 ⢠Age: Paige, 37 & Gretchen, 48
Inspiration: When Vogelzang’s husband told her about a new technology called “podcasting,” the idea for Mommycast came to her immediately. “I thought a show you can download at your convenience would be perfect for moms because we can never be at the same place at the same time,” she says.
Perspiration: Heninger and Vogelzang launched the podcast in 2005 as a hobby. But as their fanbase grew to attract listeners from Australia and Germany, their expenses shot up. Luckily, Mommycast got the attention of corporations like Warner Brothers Independent, who helped the ladies land an interview with Morgan Freeman in conjunction with the release of March of the Penguins, which he narrated. “Warner credited our podcast with creating 25 percent of the walk-up traffic for people seeing the movie,” Heninger says. “That really helped establish us.” By September 2005, Mommycast’s financial concerns were over – at least temporarily: Heninger and Vogelzang landed the first of several corporate sponsorship deals, and Mommycast became the first corporately sponsored podcast on the airwaves.
Success: Mommycast now reaches 800,000 people. Calling themselves professional moms first, the pair balances the show around the families’ schedules.
Paige and Gretchen are great together.
they provide important information for mothers.
Yes, I’m predjudiced — I’m related; nevertheless I’m objective and proud.