Shop small, do big things for your community

Why Small Businesses Matter puts a spotlight on the local merchants who donate their time, talent, goods, and services for the betterment of our community. The shop local movement spreads virally as local businesses who are tagged have the opportunity to share their story!

You're ITThe Parent Collective!

Three questions withJessica M. Hill,founder ofThe Parent Collective.

Why did you start your business?

I started The Parent Collective because of my experience with having my boys in the UK. The UK gets a lot of things right when it comes to having a baby. This includes a 1-year maternity leave, in-home midwife visits postpartum, health visitors who are focused on the physical and emotional health of the mom but their approach to prenatal classes had the biggest impact on my transition into motherhood. The UK looks at prenatal classes as an opportunity to build a community without mom dates or trying to talk over baby music classes.

Our signature prenatal series, which sorts participants by neighborhood and due date, not only teaches you all you need to know about labor and how to care for your newborn, but throughout four classes, you will connect with other local expectant couples and develop your modern-day village - a support network of couples that will help you through illness, loneliness, marital problems, and the run of the mill baby drama. They also provided each other with companionship during those sometimes endless and monotonous days with a newborn.

What is your best-selling product/service?

By far our in-person prenatal series is our best-selling service. During Covid, we shifted all of our programs to zoom and still offer zoom options, but since returning to in-person classes, our series are selling out months in advance. I think couples are hungry for that connection and feeling of community we all missed out on during the pandemic.

I couldnt do what I do without our amazingly supportive venue partnerKaia Yoga!

I am also so appreciative of the network of support for new moms that we refer to all of the time includingMilk Street Lactation,The Fairfield Motherhood Cooperative,The Alliance Center,and many more.

Have you "reimagined" your small business?

Through my years working with expectant and new mothers, Ihave seen many women who are struggling with the transition to motherhood. Whetheritis managing the juggle of responsibilities between work and home, resisting the pull of perfectionism, fighting against mom guilt and burnout, or feeling disconnected from the woman they were before they became a mother; oftenthese women need a safe space to work through some of the thoughts in your head to gain clarity and develop strategies for making life smoother and more enjoyable.This needinspired me topursue certification as a life coach.

Coaching is focused on looking at the present day and moving you forward so I work with moms to identify priorities, craft goals, and experiment with weekly action steps that help them see concrete change.

I offer 1:1 coaching as well as group programming for new mothers, working mothers, and one dedicated to exploring Fair Play; a game-changing solution designed to illuminate the invisible work of domestic and childcare tasks and spark conversation between partners with the goal of more fairly dividing responsibilities.

VisitThe Parent Collectiveonlinehere, and make sure to check out theirFacebookpage as well!

HamletHub thanksFairfield County Bankfor making our Why Small Businesses Matter series possible!

Read more here:
Why Small Businesses Matter in Westport: The Parent Collective - HamletHub