Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Martina Stellmaszek. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Martina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

MESH moms was born out of lived experience — and out of a moment of clarity I didn’t expect.

I had my first three babies in Atlanta. Like so many moms, I prepared extensively for pregnancy and birth, but once I was home with a newborn, the support dropped off almost immediately. Postpartum felt isolating, overwhelming, and lonely. Each time, I remember thinking: Why does it feel like I’m supposed to figure this out on my own?

Then, with my fourth baby, we were living in California — and everything changed.

Even though it was my fourth child, my postpartum experience there was dramatically different. I was surrounded by intentional support, but more importantly, I found real community. I met other moms in the same stage of life, sharing the same challenges and emotions. We showed up for one another through conversation, connection, and consistency. That sense of belonging made an enormous difference — it gave me confidence, grounding, and joy during a season that is often incredibly vulnerable.

When I moved back to Atlanta, that contrast stayed with me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how different my experience had been — and how many moms here were missing that same kind of support. I shared these thoughts with my close friend Juliana, and we quickly realized we weren’t alone. Nearly every mom we spoke to echoed the same feeling: I love my child, but I feel isolated.

That’s how MESH moms began.

We wanted to create something more than an occasional meetup or online group. MESH moms is a membership-based, in-person community designed to support women from late pregnancy through early childhood. Our Postpartum Pods are a core part of that — small, curated groups that walk through the early months together — but they are just one piece of a much larger ecosystem of support.

Our membership includes frequent in-person events, age-based playgroups that grow with your child, and active WhatsApp groups that keep moms connected between meetups. Moms are grouped by the age of their baby, making it easier to find others in the same season — asking the same questions, navigating the same milestones, and building friendships that often last for years.

What made this feel like a worthwhile endeavor was how universal the need was. We weren’t solving a problem no one else had ever identified — but we were offering a more intentional, structured, and human approach. Community doesn’t just happen; it has to be created, nurtured, and sustained.

What excited us most was the idea that this kind of support shouldn’t be a luxury or dependent on where you live. Every mom deserves community. Every mom deserves to feel supported, seen, and connected. MESH moms exists to make that the standard — not the exception.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My path into this work wasn’t linear — it really evolved alongside my life as a mother.

I grew up and spent a significant part of my early adult life in Europe, and my background is in business. I completed my MBA and started my career in a more traditional corporate setting. At the time, my world was very structured, fast-paced, and career-driven.

As my family grew, life became more complex in a different way. With two young children at the time, my husband and I were both traveling extensively for work, constantly coordinating schedules, childcare, and logistics. It was a lot to manage, and eventually I made the decision to step back from my corporate career to focus more on our family.

During that period, I became deeply involved in volunteering and community-based work, which gave me a very different perspective. I saw firsthand how impactful strong, supportive communities can be — especially for families navigating big life transitions.

That experience, combined with my own journey through motherhood, naturally led to the idea for MESH moms (which I shared more about in the previous question). What felt especially meaningful to me was the opportunity to bring together both sides of my background: the strategic, operational thinking from my business career and the deeply personal, community-driven work I had grown passionate about.

Today, through MESH moms, I’m able to build something that is both structured and intentional, but also incredibly human. We’re not just creating programs — we’re building a framework that makes it easier for moms to find connection, support, and a sense of belonging during a time that can otherwise feel very isolating.

What I’m most proud of is being able to create something that is rooted in real need and real experience, while also being thoughtfully designed to grow and scale. My background has helped me approach community-building not just emotionally, but also strategically — thinking about how to make it sustainable, accessible, and impactful for as many moms as possible.

At the end of the day, I see MESH moms as the intersection of everything I’ve done and learned — across countries, careers, and stages of life — all coming together to support other women in a meaningful way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

To be completely honest, social media was not something that came naturally to us at all. When we started MESH moms, neither my co-founder nor I even had our own Instagram or Facebook accounts. It simply wasn’t part of our world, and even today it’s not where we feel most at home.

That said, we quickly realized that if we wanted to build awareness and reach moms where they are, we had to learn. And we were starting from zero — no audience, no built-in following, nothing to “announce” our business to.

At first, we explored working with outside help, but we found that it can become very expensive very quickly, and often the content didn’t feel as authentic as when we created it ourselves. At the end of the day, no one understands your voice, your community, and what truly resonates with your audience better than you do.

What has helped us the most is focusing less on “social media growth” and more on real relationships. We’ve built our audience through collaborations with other providers in the motherhood space — doulas, sleep consultants, therapists, and local businesses. When we partner on events or initiatives, we always tag each other and share across our platforms, which naturally introduces us to new, relevant audiences.

We’ve also learned that consistency and authenticity matter more than perfection. Our content isn’t overly polished, but it’s real and speaks directly to what moms are experiencing. Because of that, it resonates.

If I had to give advice to someone just starting out, it would be this: don’t get too caught up in trying to “hack” social media or grow quickly. Focus on your actual community first. Build something meaningful, create real connections, and let your social media reflect that. Growth may be slower, but it will be much more genuine — and ultimately more sustainable.

And also, don’t be afraid to do it yourself in the beginning. It might not be perfect, but it will be authentic — and that goes a long way.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my co-founder, Juliana, at a business event. At the time, she was still living in Europe but already knew she would be moving to the U.S. soon. We immediately connected over our shared background — both having ties to Europe — and over motherhood. She already had one child and was expecting her second, so we had a lot in common right away.

We stayed in touch after that initial meeting, and when she eventually moved to Atlanta, that connection became even more meaningful. Like many moms relocating to a new city, she didn’t know many people, and when she had her second baby, the experience felt quite isolating.

That phase really highlighted something we both deeply understood from our own experiences — how challenging and lonely postpartum can feel without a strong support system in place.

Our conversations during that time naturally started to shift from just catching up to asking bigger questions: Why does this feel so hard? Why isn’t there more structured support? What would have actually made a difference for us?

Those shared experiences and reflections ultimately became the foundation for MESH moms. What started as a personal connection between two moms navigating similar challenges turned into a shared mission to create the kind of community we both felt was missing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.meshmoms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meshmoms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meshmomsclub/about
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/meshmoms
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MESHmoms

Image Credits

Diana Jex
Emalee with Shoott