Babesta Beat AW16

chatting with

HEYMAMA B ehind the successful heymama business lies friends, partners and of course mamas. Katya Libin and Amri Kibbler have channeled their skills in marketing and fashion to provide a community for mothers who want to bond, draw inspiration and work together. Fast friends, the two ladies behind the entrepreneurial website, actually met through their daughters. A playdate in McCarren Park ignited the first conversation for heymama.co—the pair segued from discussing Amri’s potential food blog, to conceiving the current network that today has interviewed power mamas like Ivanka Trump and Ali Webb (Drybar), and brings together business-minded and creative mothers all across the world. Not only impacting their peers, the partners feel the effect of their buisiness at home. “I think having a parent in a startup has given [their children] a real sense of the way people work now, that you can build your business from the ground up,” explains Amri. We were lucky enough to chat with the mamas behind the mamas about their business, girl power and what’s next for heymama. You see things from both sides—your own journey and the entrepreneurial journeys of the women in your network. What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Katya: Endless positivity and focus, a true fire within that doesn’t burn out. Amri: As an entrepreneur you have to be ready to roll with the punches as every day is different. This means that not only do you never get bored, but you also have to do it ALL yourself. It really helps to go into it with a great partner that you trust. What ties the women that you profile together—personal attributes or points of view? K: All of the women we interview have a crazy fire under their ass and passion which we admire. It doesn’t slow down when they have kids, it just gives them a greater purpose to do what they do and have it all, even for a few minutes a day. What we saw at The Great Jane, our retreat in Ojai this May, is that whether she was a speaker or an attendee, every mama had something she’d been through and could speak to. heymama’s events and platform just gives them an opportunity to do that.

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babesta beat fall/winter 2016