Victoria Graham, Founder and CEO at MommaTribe
Victoria was raised in Ireland but moved to New York City in 2016. Following a successful career in marketing, she decided to take some time off for herself while pregnant to study UX Design.
Once her son Joseph was born, Victoria joined a WhatsApp group that became her support network while she went through the life-changing experience of becoming a mother so far from home.
MommaTribe became the focus of Victoria's UX Design study, and this website is the result of that work. Victoria wants every Momma to find her village and benefit from the support she got from her great Tribe of Mommas in Fort Greene.
"Success cannot be achieved without some failure. Don't be afraid to fail and don't beat yourself up when you do."
Who inspires you in business?
I would love to talk about a female business leader here, but I feel like it would be inauthentic because the business leader I most admire is my husband, Paul McMahon.
At age 31, he set-up his recruitment firm in London, which specialised in Treasury and Risk Management. Over the next seven years, he and his business partner grew BSM Group to include offices in New York and Amsterdam.
They diversified their offering, building recruitment desks in Audit, Sales, Compliance, Accountancy, and Finance. They have recently launched a new sub-brand called Tech AI, focusing on recruiting for the AI industry.
His company is thriving, and I am extremely proud of him. It's great to have such an experienced entrepreneur to bounce ideas around with and get advice and guidance for my venture.
What companies or brands do you like, or do you think are getting it right?
In the community space, I think HeyMama is getting it right! HeyMama.co is a professional network for moms led by Katya Libin and Amri Kibbler. Membership is application-based, and once you're in, you have the opportunity to connect with and get support from moms in all types of business whether they are advisors, executives, founders or CEOs. It's a very collaborative community for working mothers that have been incredibly helpful to me since launching MommaTribe.com.
What is the best advice have you ever received?
Success cannot be achieved without some failure. Don't be afraid to fail and don't beat yourself up when you do.
What drives or motivates you each day?
When I see applications coming through my website from new moms who want to find their MommaTribe, it really kicks me into gear. Sometimes due to more difficult postpartum recoveries or lack of childcare for older children, new moms find it hard to get out of the house on time to make the classes and meet-ups where there are opportunities to make mom friends. And even if they do make it, there are still hurdles to jump before you break the ice with someone and swap phone numbers.
Friend making is a slow burn, but MommaTribe aims to cut out the small talk and awkwardness by putting local moms with babies the same age into ready-made friend groups. Sometimes the moms in my groups will organise meet-ups, sometimes they will only communicate via group text, but the support they show each other is always inspiring. That's what motivates me to keep going.
What are your thoughts on the future of social media?
I think social media will continue to bleed into real-world experiences the way dating apps like Bumble and Tinder do. My long term plan for MommaTribe is to develop a social media app that will automate the process of grouping local moms with babies the same age into group conversations. The app's onboarding experience will facilitate open and honest discussion about the postpartum experience in order to allow real-life friendships to blossom.
Explain to the audience how do you connect those moms through your platform?
Moms sign up through the mommatribe.com website, and I connect them by creating WhatsApp groups based on their neighbourhood and stage of pregnancy or baby's age.
I will then introduce ice breakers to the group to get the conversation started. The idea is that local moms get to know one another from the comfort of their nursing chairs. They can talk about the tough stuff and seek support and advice from each other.
Do you have a mentor or have you ever mentored anyone?
I take mentorship wherever I can get it! I try to talk to EVERYONE about my business challenges because you never know where a golden nugget of advice is going to come from.
I recently had a call with Micheal Rothman, CEO of Fatherly, and he gave me some excellent advice for further proving out my concept. I have a call scheduled soon with Katya Libin Co-Founder and CEO of HeyMama, who generously offered me her time to help me with strategic planning.
I also have a UX design mentor, James Young. We were assigned to each other through an online UX design course that I took with a view to switching career track from marketing to UX. My capstone project became the concept for MommaTribe after conducting user research and realising there was a deep need for a simple way for local moms with babies the same age to connect with each other.
James is an expert at designing for users who are working with a particularly high cognitive load to make the online experience as simple as possible. Pregnant women and new mothers operate with generally high cognitive pressure, so I am very grateful to have access to him as I work on the designs.
How do you network?
Honestly, I don't. Not in the traditional sense anyway. I try to be in the places where I have opportunities to meet smart people who I'm interested in and who might be interested in me.
However, that is a view to connecting with groups of people with different personalities, and backgrounds. So I am exposed to diverse perspectives. If I can help someone out in business, I will, and if someone can help me, that's great. But I think a few reliable and authentic connections are better than 100 business cards.
How did you get into this line of work and what advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same line of work?
I worked in marketing for most of my career, but I was always interested in entrepreneurship and tech. I jumped on the projects that allowed me to manage and launch something new. Whether that was a product offering in a new market or a new company website, I loved working backward to figure out how to achieve long term strategic goals.
My first port of call when setting marketing strategy was always the customer perspective, and MommaTribe was no different. I didn't know what I was going to create when I started speaking to my target audience.
I had lots of ideas, but it wasn't until I did my research that I understood what was missing in the market and what pregnant women and new moms were asking me to create. My best advice is 'empathise' with your target market and listen to what they are asking for. Don't make assumptions on their behalf.
What do you wish you had known when you started?
A lot of moms signed up for MommaTribe very quickly when I launched the website. I had 200 moms waiting to be added to WhatsApp groups, and I was overwhelmed with the amount of time I needed to spend filtering the data by zip code and due date, then adding each individual to my phone before setting up each group. I wish I had figured out a smart way to stay on top of the data before putting the website live. I have now implemented a CRM system, which makes it easier.
What is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
I can't speak for most people, but I will say that everyone fails, nobody is perfect, and that can lead some to give up. But success is usually born from failure that is repurposed into a lesson, and perseverance is key.
What are you most proud od in your life?
My son Joseph is my proudest achievement. He is my masterpiece and my muse. Within the first six months of his life, I completed a course in UX design, built and launched a website, and started developing a community of New York City moms. Without him, none of this would have happened.
How do you define success?
Success, for me, means contentedness. I believe that the things we do in life should make us happy. It's important to me that I check in with myself every once in a while, and figure out. If the activities I am filling my day with are contributing to my overall contentedness as a person. If they aren't, I make a change. That's not to say I'm afraid of hard work, some days will be tough, but that's ok once the end goal is achieving contentment. Right now, I feel pretty successful.
What do you think unique skills are that has helped you become successful?
I have worked hard at figuring out the things that interest me and, in recent years, have become very intentional in how I approach my career, developing the skills that will allow me to do what makes me happy. I think it's worth mentioning as well that regardless of skill, I have had luck and privilege on my side, giving me a leg-up that others may not have. I hope to build a company that helps to level the playing field in the future.
What is the next step that you are looking to achieve in Momma Tribe? Or is there anything new that you are working on?
I have recently partnered with the CUNY Techworks program to design a prototype for an app that will automate the process of grouping local moms into chats while improving the overall user experience. The app will facilitate scalability so that more moms can benefit from the service.
What are you Not very good at and that you a Good at?
I am good at empathising with my target audience and understanding what they want. This helps me see the bigger picture and plan long term strategic goals. I'm not great at mental arithmetic, which means I have to spend time preparing numbers before meetings.
Where is your favourite place?
Malahide in Dublin! It's home
What is your hobby?
I don't have a lot of time right now for hobbies, but I love to paint! I even had my art displayed at The Salmagundi Club in Manhattan.
Your social media platform of choice?
Instagram... begrudgingly. It takes up a lot of time.
When are you happiest?
When I'm exploring new places or doing fun things with my family
What is your favourite movie or TV show?
I'm addicted to Greys Anatomy at the moment.
A positive phrase that you would like to share.
Everything looks better by the light of day.