The story of Mums & Co co-founder Carrie Kwan — and her mission to build Australia’s most caring business network for women

Carrie Kwan knows a thing or two about the juggle. She had a toddler to her name and was seven months pregnant with her second son when, in 2016, she co-founded Mums & Co – a support network program for women in business with ‘mumbitions’.

Having successfully founded and grown the popular insider’s digital lifestyle guide, Daily Addict, and being passionate about mentoring female business owners in the early days of their business journey, Kwan was approached by Australia’s largest general insurer IAG to help them create a safe online space for business-owning mums so they could realise their dreams, both in business and in life. 

With a mission to be Australia’s most caring business network, today Mums & Co is a community of 28,000 business-owning women and mothers — representing the 345,000 businesses spearheaded by mothers and 680,000 businesses led by women across Australia.

Building a dream

Mums & Co is run by a small team of four women, co-founder and managing director Carrie Kwan, chief of staff Sarah Nelson, community manager Lucy Kippist, and digital marketing manager Olivia Whiting. They also have access to a trusted pool of product engineers and the support of IAG, experts, partners, and of course, their community.

Kwan said she started Mums & Co to make the greatest national impact and create a world where women don’t have to choose between their careers and caring for their families. 

“When we started Mums & Co in 2016 with the backing of IAG — before diversity and inclusion were as mainstream as they are today — there was a digital gap at the national level in business and lack of emotional support required for harmonising ambition, livelihood, and wellbeing for women.” she said.

“As a two-time female founder, I wanted to champion more women leaders in business, close the gap in pitching knowledge and reduce the challenges associated with funding and growing a business.”

Community for mum-preneurs

Kwan said Mums & Co has built a movement by helping women in business grow by advocating for their ambition and providing a digital membership. 

Source: Supplied

“Our strategies for growth are extremely dynamic — we help women build deep networks, provide them access to strategic guidance, and connect them with relevant resources. Some highlight strategies across our seven years can be grouped as networking events, upskilling resources, progressive advocacy, and product innovation,” she said.

Mums & Co have held annual conferences since 2018 (except in 2020 due to COVID19) —  in person, hybrid and online formats with a national network of 25 ambassadors hosting meetups in five states.

Since December 2021, Mums & Co have been hosting Mumbition, the Podcast. The network has also been piloting a Small Business Diversity Marketplace initiative with SAP and IAG, financial partnerships and distribution channels with a range of organisations, brands, and dedicating a Mums & Covid Taskforce.

They have also conducted research such as the 2017 Mums in Business report by EY Sweeny and are soon to share a new report. 

Of late, they have been developing a digital platform offering “business guidance as a service” via their membership subscription tiers or ‘Pay As You Grow’ tokens. Regular feature enhancements, including a Personalised Action Plan feature for every member to customise their upskilling and networking requirements, and providing access to their online mini-course and an award-winning chatbot accessible anywhere, anytime.

Advice for women entreprenuers

Kwan said her advice to women or mums who are embarking on their own small business journey would be first, congratulations.

“My advice is that every business owner needs their own personal advisory board, a team of experts that save you time, give you mental strength, and guide you through the process. You need people who understand where you are headed and can provide insights and fresh perspectives to navigate new challenges as well as opportunities,” she said.

Women entrepreneurs’ contribution

“Like it takes a village to raise a child, lean into your ‘Co’ — the community of support around you as you embark on your small business journey.”

“Women running businesses deliver excellent returns for their families, society and the economy.

“For workforce participation and the economy, women are now creating more businesses than men. It is proven that a business with a female founder and female executive employs six times more women. 

“For families, it’s about choice — an opportunity to contribute to the household income and caring responsibilities.

“For the community, business-owning mothers are role-modelling entrepreneurship for the next generation.”

Kwan said that among some of the biggest issues and concerns she has seen from her community about running their own businesses is that it can be isolating.

According to the ABS, 80% of mothers running a business are sole traders, 33% of this community lives in rural and regional areas, and 30% comes from a migrant background where English might not be the first language, 12% are living with a disability, 7% are single parents and 1% are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.

According to Mums & Co Mums in Business Survey by EY Sweeney, entrepreneur mothers typically have two children, with 9% starting their business while pregnant and 32% starting their business while on parental leave.

Kwan said it’s a daily challenge of competing priorities.

“Women are harmonising ambition. Be it her business and career objectives, livelihood, her family routine and financial obligations and wellbeing… They also have to maintain their individual sense of physical, mental, and spiritual self and health,” she said.

“What’s more, it involves considerable risk when venturing — alongside inconsistent cash flow, costs and barriers to set up a business and learning how to access funding to grow, there’s also the challenge of finding and retaining customers.”

When asked about the future, Kwan said Mums & Co are striving to be Australia’s most caring business network. 

“As a digital platform and with our community at heart, we are built to scale. Our BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is to welcome 30% of the 345,000* business-owning mothers across Australia. growing our membership to over 100,000,” she said.

Support offered by Mums & Co:

1. Strategic guidance

   Advice from experts, access to digital resources, mini-courses, podcasts, and personalised action plans to help women start and stay in business.

2. Deep networking and access to customers

   Networking in real life, online and hosting special events, business introductions, and member directory features are available to members as Kwan believes quality connections can lead to clients, collaboration and sourcing.

3. Support, confidence and clarity

   To build the respect, confidence, and #Mumbition — Mums & Co’s trademarked term for the unapologetic blending of motherhood and ambition.

4. Derisking the business journey

   Advocating for women through research and media opportunities and bringing big business thinking to the Mums & Co community to help members grow.

5. Convenient and secure digital platform

   Supporting women in business in a way that’s accessible anytime, anywhere with an internet connection.