Thriving in Business & Motherhood with Motherly Co-Founder Jill Koziol

Jill Headshot 2019 (1)

Jill Koziol is the co-founder and CEO of Motherly, an online community and website designed to provide mom-to-mom inspiration and expert advice to help mothers around the world learn proven tips and tricks to make motherhood more empowering and rewarding. She is also the former co-founder of HoneyBee Child, an upscale, mom-inspired brand offering baby and toddler products. Jill holds a Master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University, a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from Towson University, and is certified in Infant and Maternal Health and Strategy and Customer Relationships. When she’s not running her company, she can often be found spending time with her husband and two daughters or advocating for families, female founders, and helping others learn to thrive with Multiple Sclerosis.

Jill joins us today to share the inspiration behind the Motherly platform and their efforts to embrace and inspire the ‘modern mother.’ She shares how the company has grown to reach over 30-million monthly users and how they’ve stayed true to their vision of becoming the intersection of content, community, and commerce for modern mothers. We discuss the importance of staying authentic and building a community around your business. Jill discusses the challenges her company faced when raising venture capital and finding angel investors and the lessons she has learned along the way. She shares her story of being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and how she has thrived in business and motherhood despite having a chronic disease. She also shares how she developed a strong relationship with her co-founder, Liz Tenety, despite living in different states as well as her philosophy on building a brand with generational longevity.

“Success is a combination of persistence and passion.” – Jill Koziol

This week on SocialFly’s Entreprenista Podcast:

  • The inspiration behind launching Motherly and their mission to be the intersection of content, community, and commerce for modern mothers worldwide
  • Why they decided to build an audience before creating products
  • Jill’s secrets to successfully building a thriving community and the importance of leaning into authenticity
  • The challenges Motherly faced when raising capital and finding investors
  • The importance of persistence, passion, and grit as an entreprenista
  • How the coronavirus pandemic has impacted Jill’s company
  • How Motherly is diversifying their revenue streams
  • Jill’s diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, how she thrives as a mother and entrepreneur despite her chronic condition, and the importance of self-care and prioritizing yourself
  • Tips for mothers and entrepreneurs to work from home effectively and efficiently
  • How Jill developed a strong relationship with her co-founder, Liz, despite working remotely
  • Jill’s philosophy on building a brand with generational longevity
  • Jill’s advice to new entreprenistas and what being an entreprenista means to her

Our Favorite Quotes:

  • “The most important thing is to be persistent and to really have that grit and that passion.” – Jill Koziol
  • “When women and mothers thrive, that’s how we have families that thrive, and that’s how the world can ultimately thrive and be better. Women are really at the center of that.” – Jill Koziol
  • “Brands are belief systems. You know that you’ve created a brand that has legs when you can clearly and consistently project a brand outward – but you know that you’ve arrived when others can reflect that brand out to you and take on ownership of it themselves.” – Jill Koziol

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Jill Koziol:

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