We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erin Cutler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Erin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Mom’s Pillow is a nonprofit cause born of my own struggle as a new mom. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but mo book and no degree could have prepared me for the intensity of the experience. Particularly in the early days of postpartum, I struggled with low mood, burnout and loneliness. Alongside the deep love and joy I was experiencing as a new mom, there were also a lot of guilt and a lot of self-doubt that come with being new in that role…and I often found myself asking “Am I the only one who feels this way?”
It turns out, I wasn’t. When I looked into the data on maternal mental health right now….I was floored at what I saw. How can it be that so many moms were feeling hopeless and unsupported? I was shocked that for moms today, suicide accounts for 20% of postpartum deaths. While therapy and other clinical treatments are available to support women, the reality is that many moms will never seek out this treatment due to stigma that’s placed on moms who are struggling. Additionally, a qualitative systematic review of the literature conducted across 11 countries found moms demonstrated a preference for support from other women with children, which they felt came from experience and a place of genuine understanding.
This rang true for me too, as my good mom friends were a huge factor for me in managing my own mental health throughout the motherhood journey.
Because of my own psychology background, I had firsthand knowledge of the importance of social support in buffering against mental health issues. I knew we needed a way for moms to be able to access meaningful social support in their communities. I knew it needed to be a place for moms to be able to come as they are and build meaningful friendships.
So with that, I launched Mom’s Pillow. I named it after the pillow I used to cry into when I felt overwhelmed by my day! Not, the community itself is a place for moms to safely let it out amongst other moms who genuinely GET it!
Erin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
After beginning my career in corporate marketing, I was really drawn to the “people” aspect of marketing after getting some experience running focus groups. I left that path, as I also craved a bit more autonomy in how I used skills in the world. I always had an inclination to follow the things that I was excited or curious about. That led me to go to school to become a therapist. Once I graduated and began my clinical internship, I needed to make extra money so I began doing consulting work for people in the wellness & nonprofit spaces. Because of my degree, I was able to work with brands who sought to create and market products/services that really helped people. I was able to leverage my experience across a lot of companies, from designing binge eating recovery programs to helping small nonprofits define their missions to find funding partners.
Eventually, I left clinical work entirely to focus on growing my consulting business. After 7 years of working with a lot of amazing people, I took a break to have my son and raise him for the first few years of his life. As a stay at home mom with a need for a challenge, I felt proud and excited to give life to my own impactful cause based on my experience! The mission is really my gift back to women. I’ve met and worked with many along the way who gave to me, believed in me and always saw me for me. I knew I had the knowledge and experience to build a movement that could help moms (like me) feel less alone through Mom’s Pillow. I hope it leads a lot of moms to their own amazing network of supportive friends…or even just ONE friend that makes the difference for their motherhood journey. At this point in my career, working on my own impactful cause feels really fulfilling and fun. I can’t wait to see where it goes…and I hope it creates of ripple effect for other women to feel inspired and create projects that excite them!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I finished my master’s program to become a therapist, I know shortly after that I didn’t want to do clinical work professionally. While I was thankful for all of the knowledge I had gained, I somehow knew my path wasn’t supposed to include being a therapist to my own clients. So naturally, I felt extremely lost and uncertain about my career at that point. I couldn’t yet see the bigger picture of why I needed this degree to follow my ultimate career path. Luckily, during that time…I kept moving and I kept faith in the process. As I was seeing clients during my clinical internship, I took some side work to make extra money. And this eventually led me to find my own place in the wellness space. I was able to build a steady flow of clients who wanted access of my psychology and marketing background. It didn’t take long to see that my education still served a vital purpose in helping me find my place in the working world, even if I didn’t know how or why at the time. Persisting through times of uncertainty would forever be a skill I’d rely on as a professional. Sometimes it’s easier to let the fear and the “what’s next” drive the ship…which leads to overworking and settling for opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise settle for. Trusting the process is so important.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think that really taking the time to build authentic connections with everyone in your network goes a long way. Genuinely caring about what people are up to in the world and finding ways you can mutually support each other will help you build a positive reputation, but more importantly, a network of genuine friends and mentors. From my own network comes opportunities I couldn’t dream of, and that’s because I was willing to meet people with curiosity and kindness. In my opinion, this often goes further than a degree or title!
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
When I finished my master’s program to become a therapist, I know shortly after that I didn’t want to do clinical work professionally. While I was thankful for all of the knowledge I had gained, I somehow knew my path wasn’t supposed to include being a therapist to my own clients. So naturally, I felt extremely lost and uncertain about my career at that point. I couldn’t yet see the bigger picture of why I needed this degree to follow my ultimate career path. Luckily, during that time…I kept moving and I kept faith in the process. As I was seeing clients during my clinical internship, I took some side work to make extra money. And this eventually led me to find my own place in the wellness space. I was able to build a steady flow of clients who wanted access of my psychology and marketing background. It didn’t take long to see that my education still served a vital purpose in helping me find my place in the working world, even if I didn’t know how or why at the time. Persisting through times of uncertainty would forever be a skill I’d rely on as a professional. Sometimes it’s easier to let the fear and the “what’s next” drive the ship…which leads to overworking and settling for opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise settle for. Trusting the process is so important.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I think that really taking the time to build authentic connections with everyone in your network goes a long way. Genuinely caring about what people are up to in the world and finding ways you can mutually support each other will help you build a positive reputation, but more importantly, a network of genuine friends and mentors. From my own network comes opportunities I couldn’t dream of, and that’s because I was willing to meet people with curiosity and kindness. In my opinion, this often goes further than a degree or title!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_erin_cutler_
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-cutler/