Episode #65: Meet the Startup Bringing Lactation Suites to the Modern Office

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  Samantha:
  This is the Tech Optimist, a podcast brought to you by Alumni Ventures. This is the show where we tell you the stories of tomorrow.

  Abbey:
  So this enables every single employee in a building to have a safe and private space to pump during the workday…

  Samantha:
  That’s Abbey Donnell, founder and CEO of Work & Mother.

  Abbey:
  …and satisfies legal obligations of the employer.

  Ron:
  I mean, this seems like an issue that’s been relevant since women have been in the workplace, right?

  Samantha:
  And that’s Ron Levin, Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures.

  Ron:
  There’s obviously a lot of renewed attention on it lately. Some of that is for legal compliance reasons, but also, I think, more social consciousness.

  Samantha:
  As far as awareness issues, 43% of parents are unaware or unsure about their legal rights regarding lactation accommodations. This is where Work & Mother can really help out.

  And that’s me—my name is Samantha Herrick, and I am the guide and editor for this show. You’ll hear from me a few times today.

  All right, so let’s get into Work & Mother as a startup a little bit more. As a company, they provide lactation room services and amenities for working mothers. I think that’s awesome. In this super modern and innovative sort of work environment surrounding the classic corporate world, this is an aspect that real estate companies, construction companies, and development companies need to apply to the new spaces they’re building.

  As far as amenities, these rooms are fully equipped lactation suites in commercial office buildings. They have an app called The Hub to help mothers navigate work and parenthood together. In the suites, there are private rooms with workstations, hospital-grade breast pumps, cleaning and sanitation supplies, lockers, refrigeration for milk storage, and high-speed internet access—so you can be a mother and work at the same time, which is their whole business model.

  They operate similarly to a building gym amenity. Suites are typically located in common areas of office buildings, and the services are offered as an amenity by landlords or employers. Users don’t pay directly—the costs are covered by building owners or companies that provide the room.

  A bit more about being a startup: In March of this year, Work & Mother secured a $3.5 million series seed funding round led by Building Ventures. The funding is being used to expand nationally and launch in new markets including New York, Boston, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago.

  Their aim as a company is to increase employee retention rates for new mothers, help employers comply with federal regulations like the Pump Act, improve breastfeeding success rates for working mothers, and enhance workplace flexibility and support for parents.

  As far as market reception, they’ve partnered with many major real estate companies. They’re recognized as one of the Fast 100 by the Houston Business Journal—a huge achievement. They’re also seen as a competitive advantage for office buildings looking to attract and retain tenants.

  Work & Mother is positioning itself as a solution to challenges faced by working mothers, particularly as more employees return to office settings post-pandemic, as we move back into the swing of the classic 9-to-5 corporate office routine.

  Abbey and Ron have a really awesome conversation in this podcast, and we can’t wait for you to hear it. I’ll be your guide throughout the show—you’ll hear from me a few times as I sprinkle in more information throughout the narrative.

  But without further ado, here’s Abbey to kick us off.

  Abbey:
  I actually founded the company before I became a mother myself because I witnessed a lot of close friends really struggling to continue breastfeeding once they returned to work.

  Samantha:
  This is from an “About” video Work & Mother had made.

  Abbey:
  I knew I wanted to have kids soon. I looked around my workplace—it was an open office floor plan, all glass, mostly men—and I realized there was actually no way for me to breastfeed if I wanted to keep working. Companies just aren’t in the business of breastfeeding. It makes so much more sense to outsource this to someone like Work & Mother, who is.

  Work & Mother is a network of fully equipped mother suites that enable working moms to continue breastfeeding once they’ve returned to work and easily satisfies employers’ legal obligation of providing a place for them to do so.

  Before Work & Mother, moms had to load up these pump bags every morning, lug them to work, and then find a place to pump. They had to unpack everything, assemble it all, and quite often parade across the office to use the company break room.

  What we’re doing is creating a way for them to pump with dignity. Having Work & Mother for your employees actually saves time during the pumping process because they can reserve rooms on our app. All their equipment is there—we have hospital-grade pumps that are more efficient than personal pumps. Our spaces are designed to create a relaxing environment, which stimulates milk flow and speeds up the process.

  We have workstations so moms can pump hands-free and continue working if they choose. Once you’ve experienced a Work & Mother suite, you’ll wonder how any working mom ever pumped without it.

  Samantha:
  Now, before we hop into the show, we’re going to take a quick break. Hang tight—we’ll be right back.

  Laura:
  Hey, everyone. Taking a quick break to share more about the Women’s Fund from Alumni Ventures. AV is one of the only VC firms focused on making venture capital accessible to individual accredited investors like you.

  In fact, AV is one of the most active and best-performing VCs in the US, and we co-invest alongside renowned lead investors. With the Alumni Ventures Women’s Fund, you’ll have the opportunity to help us invest in fiery female founders.

  PitchBook reports female-led startups are more capital efficient and exit faster, yet only receive 15% of all venture capital dollars. We see this as a great opportunity, and we’re starting from a position of strength. Alumni Ventures has already invested in over 350 startups founded, co-founded, or led by women.

  So join us in the Alumni Ventures Women’s Fund to back a diversified portfolio of female-led, high-velocity startups as they change the world. Visit av.vc/funds/womens to learn more.

  Now, back to the show.

  Samantha:
  As a reminder, the Tech Optimist podcast is for informational purposes only. It is not personalized advice, and it is not an offer to buy or sell securities. For additional important details, please see the text description accompanying this episode.

  Ron:
  Abbey Donnell, founder and CEO of Work & Mother, great to have you with us here today on the Tech Optimist podcast. We use this platform to share stories of how technology and innovation are improving people’s lives, and we love to feature founders who are on a mission to fill important needs in the market and bring meaningful progress to the world. I can think of no one better than yourself as a representation of this through what you’re doing at Work & Mother. Why don’t you give us a quick introduction on who you are and what the company is all about?

  Abbey:
  Sure, well, thanks again for having me. I’m Abbey Donnell, founder and CEO of Work & Mother. Work & Mother provides fully equipped and fully operated mother’s suites for commercial real estate at scale. This enables every single employee in a building to have a safe and private space to pump during the workday and satisfies legal obligations of the employer.

  With our newer offering, Work & Wellbeing, we can also accommodate other needs like mental health, prayer, meditation, telehealth—any kind of personal need during the workday where you need a safe, private space. We’re based in Houston and growing quickly across the country.

  Ron:
  Yeah, amazing. I’m definitely going to come back to that. So what is it that Work & Mother offers that a typical office couldn’t just do themselves by saying, “Okay, we’re going to clear out this one room and make it a lactation room”? What does Work & Mother do that’s different?

  Abbey:
  Yeah, a few things. One of the most common ways companies accommodate new mothers is to provide a multipurpose wellness room—sometimes it’s just a glorified closet, unfortunately. One of the big problems with this approach is the lack of true privacy.

  When you have a room right off the main office floor that’s being used as a catch-all for everything requiring privacy, it’s hard to actually get in there when you need to pump. Pumping isn’t something you can just put off. So access can be difficult.

  On the flip side, often many people have access to these rooms. Even if the door locks—which they don’t always—many people have keys or access badges. We get a lot of calls from people who have been walked in on or have experienced harassment around these rooms and their use.

  Another problem is if the room doesn’t have proper cleaning and sanitizing supplies, running water, and refrigeration. In that case, employees have to carry all their pump parts and milk to the company break room to finish the process, which is where additional harassment often happens.

  Samantha:
  Yeah, Abbey is absolutely right on this. When it comes to workplace culture around lactation and new mothers, there’s often a lack of support. Some women feel guilty or pressured by leadership or other prominent people in the building because of the time spent pumping, which is super unfortunate. This is a natural thing women have to go through—or choose to go through—with their children.

  As far as awareness, 43% of parents are unaware or unsure about their legal rights regarding lactation accommodations. This is where Work & Mother can really help out.

  In most office spaces across the country, about one in three parents report not having reliable access to dedicated lactation spaces at work. Locations are inconvenient, and there are often insufficient numbers of rooms per building for the number of employees who need them.

  Only 33% of these facilities have refrigerators for milk storage, only 43% have sinks for cleaning, and only about 12% have computer access or reliable internet for mothers to actually get their work done.

  Abbey:
  So, with Work & Mother, by having a third-party space and management platform, you not only create true privacy, but you also have all the necessary equipment. That means no forgetting parts, no broken equipment requiring you to leave work in the middle of the day—everything you need is on-site.

  We also offer anonymous booking, so you can show up to work, focus on your job without worrying about all the extra equipment, use the facilities when you need to, and get back to work without disruption to your day.

  Ron:
  Yeah, and this seems like an issue that’s been relevant since women entered the workplace, right? There’s obviously a lot of renewed attention on it now—some for legal compliance reasons, but also from growing social consciousness. Why is right now the right time for Work & Mother to be growing?

  Abbey:
  A few reasons. First, COVID really changed the landscape for many aspects of office life. One of them was that breastfeeding moms were suddenly succeeding because they weren’t in the office every day. It became important to them—especially because of antibodies—and the AAP also updated and increased its breastfeeding guidance.

  When people returned to work, continuing breastfeeding became a priority.

  Additionally, about two years ago, the Pump Act passed. This legislation strengthened existing federal laws, better protecting moms in the workforce and increasing employer requirements.

  Now, all employers have to provide a space—it cannot be a bathroom—and it must be free from intrusion. Failing to comply risks penalties, fines, and ultimately litigation.

  So, there are legislative tailwinds right now, as well as increased awareness from all sides on the issue. From the commercial office perspective, landlords and employers now understand that if they want people back in offices, they’re not just competing with other buildings—they’re competing with the comforts of home.

  They’re doing more to reduce barriers to returning to the office, and this is one of the things they are prioritizing.

  Ron:
  Yeah, expand on that. What are employers learning about the ability to hire and retain working mothers? What is the impact on the workforce as a result of having lactation suites or similar facilities?

  Abbey:
  Health and wellness and parental support are some of the highest priorities for the modern workforce, especially millennials and Gen Z. When they’re considering where to work, this is on their radar—even if they don’t have an immediate need but anticipate one in the future.

  We got a call from a law firm that had been pursuing a high-profile recruit. She visited the office and specifically asked what they did to support mothers. They did have a multipurpose room, but what they often did was just put paper or a curtain on the glass walls of offices. She ultimately chose their competitor, which provided robust maternal support.

  We recently got another testimonial from an employee who said that having the Work & Mother suite in her building was a key factor in choosing which employer to work for. We’re seeing it make a big difference.

  In some buildings where companies have multiple locations within the same market, employees will request a transfer to the office with the Work & Mother suite during their postpartum period. It’s influencing not just whether they return to the office, but also whether they return to a particular employer at all.

  Ron:
  Yeah. And are you mostly working with large offices? Do you work with office managers, individual tenants—who are your customers?

  Abbey:
  Great question—all of the above. One of the advantages of our solution is that it’s tailorable to the size of the building or employer. We have locations in buildings as small as 200,000 square feet, and we also have campuses with three buildings totaling 3.2 million square feet.

  Increasingly, we’re also working directly with employers and tenants. We’ve developed a robust, wider offering depending on needs and what each location allows.

  Ron:
  Great. Stepping back to the origin story, talk about your motivation for starting the company. Obviously, there was a big need you saw, but what drove you personally to want to help solve this challenge?

  Abbey:
  I definitely didn’t see this coming in my future at the time. I was working in marketing and brand strategy and also getting my MBA—so I was working and back in school.

  Everyone around me was starting to have kids. I wasn’t a mom yet, but as I watched friends return to work, the conversation always revolved around how impossible it was to pump at work. I heard stories of people being told to use conference rooms—which, if you’ve ever seen a conference room, it’s really not set up for such an intimate task.

  Some would roam the office during lunch breaks, trying to find an empty office with a door. Others’ pump parts wouldn’t work and they’d have to run home. I was hearing all these awful stories. I had nothing to contribute but kept thinking: this sounds absolutely terrible. I wanted to have kids soon.

  I looked around my own office—open floor plan, glass walls—and even though my company was culturally supportive, physically there was no way I could do this there. That got the wheels spinning.

  One of my clients was a real estate investment firm. I was paying attention to real estate trends, saw the amenitization of space, and more shared space opportunities. I used this concept as a case study in one of my entrepreneurship classes, and it snowballed.

  I started getting interest from employers wanting to recruit and retain women, and others who wanted to check the legal compliance box. I pitched my client, Limestone Investments, on the concept. Thankfully, they were supportive, and we piloted at the end of 2018.

  Ron:
  Great, so you were able to essentially go to market with a pilot customer. Did that mean you had revenue almost day one, or did you have to build some product first?

  Abbey:
  Yes and no. I learned a lot about commercial real estate—I thought I knew enough, but I didn’t.

  For the pilot, the model was slightly different. They said, “We love this, we want to partner with you, but before we make it a full amenity for the building, we want you to demonstrate demand.” So I had to sign up individual tenants.

  The positive side was we started attracting tenants from neighboring buildings. We had people from across the street enrolled, and even from a nearby WeWork—even though it technically had a mother’s or wellness room. We were pulling interest from blocks away, which got us our second location with Brookfield Properties, a major real estate group in Houston.

  But that second location opened to a completely empty building just after COVID hit. It was definitely a gut punch—we were just trying to open, and the building doors were closed.

  That momentary pause, though, gave us time to refine our model and technology. When people started returning, we helped landlords ensure the spaces were clean and sanitary. Sanitary, dedicated spaces became a high priority for safe returns.

  We had also built out our digital service model with support resources and a management platform. That positioned us well to start growing quickly once people came back.

  Ron:
  Yeah, and just to pick up on that—here at Alumni Ventures, we tend to focus on highly scalable, technology-driven businesses. On the surface, yours may not seem like a tech-driven business, but behind the scenes, you are. Can you talk a bit about what you’ve built and what you’re working on now?

  Samantha:
  This is actually a perfect segue. On Work & Mother’s YouTube channel, there’s a really well-done event video from their New York City launch a few months ago. They expanded out of their typical Southern markets in Texas and entered the East Coast to help an office building equip a Work & Mother suite for employees.

  The video is awesome—there’s a panel of powerful, influential women, including people from L’Oréal, and others. Before we discuss what Work & Mother has built, I want to share it.

  You’ll hear the audio from that video here in the podcast. If you want to see the video, head over to our YouTube channel or LinkedIn at @alumniventurestechoptimist to watch it.

  We’ll take a quick ad break, then play the video, and finish off the interview. Hang tight—we’ll be right back.

  Speaker 5:
  Do you have a venture capital portfolio of cutting-edge startups? Without one, you could be missing out on enormous value creation and a more diversified personal portfolio. Alumni Ventures, ranked a top 20 VC firm by CB Insights, is the leading VC firm for individual investors. Believe in investing in innovation? Visit av.vc/foundation to get started.

  Vanessa:
  Thank you so much for joining us as we celebrate Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, and of course, the launch of Work & Mother’s first New York location. On average, 24% of women leave the workforce in the first year after giving birth. We can and must do better.

  Abbey:
  I was hearing all these stories about women crouched down in IT closets, being told to use conference rooms—which, if you’ve ever seen a conference room, it’s a really strange place to try to pump during the workday.

  I thought: I either need to become a whole lot more comfortable with public nudity, or I need to quit—quit breastfeeding or quit working. And I didn’t want that to be the question for any woman.

  Vanessa:
  I was just blown away by their mission. They are changing the way we support mothers when they return to work.

  Savannah:
  It’s never not a challenge, I think, when you’re a woman and you’re trying to figure out a new way of doing something.

  Stephanie:
  So there’s a huge opportunity for us all to be part of flipping the script.

  Simmone:
  It’s also the time to participate in your own advocacy—not just for yourselves, but also for your colleagues.

  Zara:
  And get the men advocating on our behalf as well. People don’t need to look like you to advocate for you.

  Stephanie:
  All of you here, by the way, came from a pregnant person. You will know and work with someone who has gone through this.

  Simmone:
  I mean, kudos to Work & Mother for building these spaces, which, trust me, can eventually also serve as menopause spaces.

  Vanessa:
  I do not think that these are nice-to-haves—they are must-haves for so many reasons. It’s good, first, because it’s the right thing to do, but it’s also great for retention. There are so many reasons for it.

  Jules:
  I am blown away by this room, this panel, and this conversation—and proud to call this our flagship New York City Work & Mother suite.

  Abbey:
  Raise a glass to change the landscape for working parents. Yes, I do always have to preface—we do not do the build-out, and we do not have a lease. Essentially, we have a virtual platform that we use to operate these on behalf of the landlord or employer.

  We do have an implementation phase at the beginning where, if they don’t have a space already, we hand over our spec and build a book so they can plug and play it. We can provide support during that time—anything from Fitwel and WELL certification credits to ESG and DEI considerations. We provide all of that support and planning upfront.

  Once they’re ready for us to come in, we bring in hospital-grade equipment, all the supplies, the door access system, and operating platform. We manage everything from enrollments and approvals, waivers, door access, and bookings. We conduct virtual orientations.

  Where we really help move the needle is with our tenant communications toolkits: all of the HR policies, mother-friendly workplace seals, and everything a company needs for their handbooks.

  We also have the Hub of support resources, which goes beyond physical spaces—health and wellness providers, a partnership with Calm for meditation, plus physical therapy and return-to-work coaching. We provide a robust solution that is more than the four walls, and almost all of it is virtual.

  Ron:
  Great, and I want to come to how investors perceive the business. But first, what have your growth plans been? Did you set out to grow into a national company, or did that happen organically? How are you thinking about growth right now?

  Abbey:
  We definitely set out to become a national company. We want there to be a Work & Mother suite in every single building. The legislation that falls under HR is a really great step, but if moms are going to truly be free to move about the world, having a lactation room in an office building only goes so far.

  We’re starting to see more permanent solutions not only in offices but also in airports and other building types. So, we intentionally set out to be the go-to resource for everything related to work and parenthood.

  What’s been more organic is the wellness and wellbeing expansion. We started getting great feedback and impacts from our locations, and clients asked us to help address mental health, meditation, and prayer during the workday. That’s how our Work & Wellbeing concept was born.

  We’re able to offer dedicated mother suites for legal compliance and also provide spaces with tech integration and virtual support for broader wellness needs. For example, if you need a telehealth appointment during the day, you now have a private space instead of taking it at your desk with coworkers nearby.

  We realized the need for safe third spaces with integrated resources goes far beyond breastfeeding. That’s been a really welcome and natural extension of our growth.

  Ron:
  Yeah, I can imagine. There was even a bit of a trend—maybe there still is—for midday office naps and nap breaks. Hustle and bustle, get away for 20 minutes. You could use it for that, put in a massage chair. A lot of different ideas, right?

  Abbey:
  I’ve never managed to squeeze in those midday naps, but I wish I was on that train.

  Ron:
  Exactly. But absolutely, you could do a lot more with this space if it’s underutilized at certain times of day. So, you’re operating around the country now, right? How many cities are you in? How many customers do you have?

  Abbey:
  Yes, we’re in eight different markets now: Houston, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Boston, New York, DC, and Miami. We also have some new markets in development, particularly on the West Coast, so we can serve any market.

  Just a shameless plug: if you’re listening and have a location that’s not in one of these markets, reach out to us.

  We’re growing nationally and have also started attracting interest beyond U.S. borders.

  Ron:
  That’s great. Do you consider yourself a social entrepreneur? When you talk to people, do they see this as a double-bottom-line, impact-driven company? What do you think about running a scalable, for-profit business that also has a social mission?

  Abbey:
  It’s incredibly rewarding. When I started the company, I wasn’t thinking about it as a social impact cause or not—I just saw a problem and a way I thought it should be solved.

  I actually tried not to pursue it. I wanted to take a safer, more secure route. But I couldn’t ignore the itch and the pull.

  So, I didn’t evaluate it that way at the beginning. But it makes the grind so fun because it’s so rewarding. The number of testimonials we get, the number of moms and HR teams that reach out saying they’ve been positively impacted—it’s amazing.

  Forty percent of families have the mom as the breadwinner, which is an impossible situation if you’re trying to care for a baby and return to work.

  It’s truly rewarding to do something that feels good, makes an impact, and is also highly profitable.

  Ron:
  Absolutely. And you’ve been growing, you’ve raised outside capital, and we’ve participated in one of your recent rounds. Can you tell us a little about your fundraising journey and what that’s been like?

  Abbey:
  Yes, and thank you. The fundraising journey has been interesting. As you mentioned earlier, people often initially think this is a brick-and-mortar business. It doesn’t necessarily fit neatly into a software box. But once we clear that hurdle, we’ve been fortunate to have great investors.

  We raised our seed round last year, which is when you participated. We brought on some fantastic groups: Building Ventures (proptech), The Artemis Fund (women-focused and future of work), and [inaudible] Capital (healthcare-focused).

  So we’ve got a well-rounded investor group in addition to you all and some of our angels. I’m proud of our team for raising in tough environments: our first round during COVID when offices were closed, pitching a concept meant for offices; and last year when the market was also challenging. Despite these conditions, we brought in strong investor partners.

  Samantha:
  Now we’re at the point in the episode where Ron shifts the narrative for this special conversation with Work & Mother. The discussion takes a personal turn. Ron asks Abbey about her background and how it feels to be both a mother and an entrepreneur. Abbey shares some surprises she’s experienced and offers an honest look at the realities of being a founder and CEO. It’s a powerful part of the conversation. We’ll round out the show with these questions and wrap up the interview. This is my last tech note for the episode. Enjoy the rest of the discussion—I’ll talk to you next time.

  Ron:
  That’s great. Let’s dig into your personal journey to becoming a founder. Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur since you were a kid, or was there a lightbulb moment that set this off for you?

  Abbey:
  In some ways, the writing was on the wall. When I was young, I was that kid running lemonade stands. I sold my paintings door-to-door from a red wagon, which is a little embarrassing now—but not as embarrassing as selling tickets to plays I wrote and performed in our backyard for neighbors.

  I’ve always been entrepreneurial. I thought I’d run my own business someday but assumed it would be in advertising or marketing. This path was unexpected, but when I look back at moments that stuck with me, it feels inevitable that I ended up here.

  Ron:
  What’s been the biggest challenge or maybe unexpected surprise you’ve faced along the way?

  Abbey:
  Managing a hybrid team across different time zones and backgrounds has been more challenging than I anticipated. We’ve hired incredible talent from large commercial real estate institutions, and transitioning to a small startup environment requires adjustment.

  Building a meaningful company culture partially virtually and across diverse experiences is tough. But I’m fortunate to have great advisors and a supportive team. We dedicate a lot of energy to getting it right.

  Ron:
  Yeah, great. And on the flip side, have there been positive surprises or things that turned out even better than expected?

  Abbey:
  Absolutely. I’m constantly blown away by the number of people excited about what we’re doing who want to help. Some have brought me into rooms where I thought, “How am I even here?”

  One particularly positive change has been the engagement from men in real estate. Back in 2017 when I first explored this idea, and even in 2018 when I launched, the attitude was more like, “I don’t fully get this problem, but I trust you—go solve it.”

  Now, many men understand the problem firsthand, through their families or personal involvement with kids. We’ve had tremendous support and allyship, which has been incredible to see.

  Ron:
  Amazing. What’s your long-term vision? How big of a business do you see this becoming?

  Abbey:
  Big. We want to be the go-to resource for all things related to work, parenthood, and wellbeing. We want a Work & Mother and Work & Wellbeing suite in every commercial building, building a recognizable global brand.

  Ron:
  Amazing. Now that you’ve learned a lot and been at this a while, what advice do you share with aspiring entrepreneurs or new founders? Any cautions or key lessons?

  Abbey:
  First, make sure you have passion for what you’re doing. It takes true dedication to keep going during the hard times.

  I couldn’t do this without my incredibly supportive spouse and extended family—both paid and unpaid help with kids. I didn’t have kids when I started, but I do now, and the juggle is very real.

  Another big piece of advice: In the early days when money is tight, you’ll feel pressure to be scrappy everywhere. But don’t cut corners on foundational things like company structure and legal setup. Spend the money and do it right the first time—it’s worth it.

  Ron:
  Yeah, no doubt. Absolutely—good advice. So, last question: we’ve got a terrific community audience for this podcast—people interested in entrepreneurship, venture capital, real estate landlords, future of work, and more. Do you have any questions for our community or reasons why folks might reach out to you to help as you continue on your journey?

  Abbey:
  Yes. My first task would be to help us build awareness. Bring Work & Mother to the attention of your company or landlord.

  If you don’t have a mother’s room, we’ll come in and fix that. If you have one but it doesn’t have equipment, supplies, or support resources for new parents, we can help with that too—whether you need it right now or not.

  Actually, it’s even more powerful if you don’t need it yourself but bring it up on behalf of other workers who may. So, my first task is simply to help build awareness.

  As far as reaching out, we’ll be expanding the team in the coming months—so stay tuned. We’ll also be launching some exciting new brand developments. I’d encourage anyone passionate about what we’re doing to keep an eye on our announcements and reach out if they’d like to join the team.

  Ron:
  Awesome. Thank you so much, Abbey Donnell, founder and CEO of Work & Mother. It’s been a real privilege to chat with you and go a little deeper into your story. Thank you for joining us today—we really appreciate it.

  Abbey:
  Thank you so much for having me.

  Ron:
  Take care.

  Samantha:
  Thanks again for tuning into the Tech Optimist. If you enjoyed this episode, we’d really appreciate it if you’d give us a rating on whichever podcast app you’re using. And remember to subscribe to keep up with each episode.

  The Tech Optimist welcomes any questions, comments, or segment suggestions. Please email us at [email protected] with any of those, and be sure to visit our website at av.vc. As always, keep building.