Businesses We Love: 10 questions with Kimberley Smith, the former elite athlete changing postpartum care

After experiencing serious post-birth complications, Kimberley Smith founded Empowered Mother to help women access expert-led pregnancy and postpartum support from home.

Optus is proud to introduce 'Businesses We Love'. In each edition, we chat with Australian founders and business leaders about productivity, connectivity, technology and the realities of running a modern business.

After experiencing serious birth complications following the end of her elite netball career, Kimberley Smith realised just how little support many women receive during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Today, the founder of Empowered Mother is helping women around the world access expert-led education, exercise and support from home.

Today, the physio-led online platform supports women around the world with pregnancy, birth preparation and postpartum exercise and education programs.

Let's hear from Kimberley.

For people discovering Empowered Mother for the first time, can you tell me a little bit about what the business does and who you help?

“The Empowered Motherhood program is a physio-led online program that provides expert education and exercise for women in pregnancy, birth preparation and postpartum.

“The women we help are anyone who’s pregnant or postnatal, and our goal is to help improve maternal health and reduce the rate of maternal complications through really safe, expert-led exercise that otherwise would only be available behind closed doors and in clinic rooms.”

What inspired you to start Empowered Mother? Was there a particular moment that sparked the idea?

“I was a former elite athlete and had just retired from netball when I fell pregnant with my firstborn.

“Throughout my netball career, I had access to a lot of experts and support when I was injured. But after giving birth, I suffered some of the most serious complications of my life and was essentially sent home and told to enjoy life. The lack of support I received as a new mother compared to what I received as an athlete was really confronting.

“Luckily, I was referred to a pelvic health physiotherapist, who is now my business partner, Liz. Together, we started talking about how more women needed access to safe exercise, education and support during pregnancy and postpartum recovery.”

Where is the business based and why has that been the right fit for you and your community?

“We’re completely online, so we have members all over the world. We’re primarily in Australia, but we also have clients in England, America, Romania, South Africa and Asia.
“A big focus for us has always been making expert care accessible for women in rural and regional communities, where support can often be difficult to access.”

How big is your team these days and how do you stay connected day to day?

“We’re a very small team of three, plus a few contractors.

“We mainly stay connected through Zoom calls, Google Meet and all the normal online platforms. We’re quite a lean team, so strong connectivity and communication are really important to how we operate day to day.

“I’ve been an Optus customer for a long time and, over the past four years, I’ve also been part of the Optus Small Business Council. As a small business, we’re not backed by a huge team, so having that support and connection has been really meaningful for us as we’ve grown.”

What’s the part of your workday where you feel the most energised or 'in flow'?

“I feel really energised by the feedback we get from our community about how the program has changed their life.

“I also love the innovation side of the business and thinking about ways to create better experiences for women around the world.”

As a founder, what does your most productive hour of the day actually look like?

“My most productive time is definitely early in the morning before my kids get up.
“That 5am to 7am window is when I tackle the bigger projects and get the heavy lifting done before the day properly starts.”

Is there a piece of tech, an app or a business tool that you genuinely couldn’t run the business without?

“We launched our program initially through Kajabi, and we still use it. That would definitely be the key piece of tech and the most important platform for our business at the moment.

“More broadly, I think we really value technology that helps us stay connected to both our team and our community. Because we’re an online business supporting women all over the world, reliable connectivity and communication tools are essential to everything we do.”

What task do you currently find AI the most useful for, either in business or life admin?

“I use AI a lot to help challenge my thinking and strategic planning.

“As a small team, it’s really useful for testing ideas and helping us think about different angles we may not have considered.”

What’s been the most meaningful message, call or piece of feedback you’ve received from someone your business has helped?

“I think the most meaningful feedback for us is when women have been told their body has failed them or that they’re broken after birth.

“The messages we receive where women start believing in themselves again and realise they’re not broken, but instead have experienced an injury that might just take a little longer to recover from, are incredibly meaningful. The shift that has on their mental health, their relationship with their partner and their confidence in day-to-day life is huge.
“That’s really the reason we keep doing what we’re doing, and why we feel so grateful to be streamed into women’s living rooms and homes in such an intimate way.

Running a business while supporting other women emotionally can be a lot. What do you do to switch off outside of work?

“I do a lot of exercise myself, including Pilates, strength training, walking and yoga.
“I’m also heavily involved in my kids’ lives and sport, which gives me a really nice balance between work, family life and my own wellbeing."

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