We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melinda Martin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Melinda, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I grew up playing competitive sports and feel it greatly impacted my drive, performance mindset and work ethic while growing our platform Momme. Sports teaches you so much: teamwork, hustle, how to win and how to take losses which are key elements of running a brand. I was also thankful to work along professional athletes who also coached importance of rest as key component to optimal performance and have used this approach in business as well.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am the founder of Momme, a platform leading disability inclusion standards across parent and child brands. As a mom of two kids with disabilities and a woman who navigates my own, I felt isolated, burnt out and broken after not seeing my own journey in motherhood represented across motherhood magazines and brands so I decided to turn my experience into a movement to bring disability inclusion mainstream in motherhood.
Since this time in 2021, we have connected with countless families and learned of vast lived experiences of people with disabilities, the stigmas around them and barriers to inclusion in our society. Our services and advocacy work to our belief that disability representation should not be a rare occasion but a standard of operation and support companies and organizations big and small to improve accessibility and increase disability visibility through empowered representation in order to decrease stigma and shift stereotypes.
Here’s what I am most excited about: with a focus on childhood, we not only give kids with disabilities a new lens of their potential but also empower other children with view of what inclusion and belonging can feel like! Surprising fact: 17% of children in U.S and over 20% of adults navigate a disability daily- we are large minority group! As momme grows this year we are expanding our services to include a credentialling program certifying inclusive brands so consumers can shop their values knowing brands who are committed to leading inclusion standards!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
What a good question. There has been so much wrapped up in my journey that it is hard to shift out key influences however a few things stand out that leaned into most while working towards goals of our business, being a mom and navigating life with disability all together.
Play more than you work: Like most, I have a plan see it through and expect results and prefer they come fast. However as you grow and idea from scratch, growth that takes time. This is where my sports days come back into play. Like professional athletes the spent decades of childhood playing their game- why because the love it. Through that love they immersed themselves into their sport- for you, your craft, business idea, advocacy campaign. When it becomes work- we tense up, we feel time close in and force imaginary deadlines. Your growth is an act of time. So rather than working, working, working feeling that more time equals more growth, step back, rest more, start playing in the joy of what you want to create.
Self-Awareness: What does not feel good to you, is not for you. As a performance driven person we can easily overextend ourself to people pleasing ways, which gets very confusing when deciphering what goals and projects to work towards that are truly from you and not influenced by others. When you are not in alignment with what you want, you will feel this as taxed nervous system, stress, fatigue and more. Plus spend all that time not getting true fulfillment that comes from following the vision you have. So many times I started on a path not realizing influence of others in my goals- as soon as I recognize this I hard stop and pivot, u-turn. Anything to get back to honor the truth in me. I have found the purest form of what I want has equaled the most authentic results and pride I have in myself.
Don’t ask others if it’s a good idea: People will answer based on their perception of what is possible for them but you know what… you have different experiences, skills and knowledge than those your asking validation of your ideas from. If you need it, others do too. Trust in your unique idea, learn skills to make it happen as you go and go for it! also- it’s okay to pivot along the way!
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Easy. My parents allowed me to explore my ideas. Which as a child and still today I have SO MANY IDEAS. When I wanted to try horseback riding at 10, they responded with great- let’s try it. Even though I got bucked off the first time I got on a horse. They didn’t hold me back in fear they asked would you like to go again- yes!
When I wanted to start a community fundraiser at age 13, they didn’t hesitate with a long list of well…. they helped me write out my plans and dropped me off at our town hall so I could go pitch the idea to local business to join in and we continued the fundraiser for 5 years! Which grew my confidence in trying ideas, feeling out how the experience was and learning how to project manage etc.
They didn’t cap my potential or box in what was allowed- they said yes, go for it. Knowing well the experience would provide knowledge that I like it or I don’t and teach some great skills in between.
I hope you can give yourself the same permission to try your ideas knowing feedback of your experience will teach you so much!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heymomme.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heymomme/
https://www.instagram.com/melindakmartin/ - Other: Email: Hello@heymomme.com
Image Credits
Headshot of Melinda: LaShay Price
