We recently connected with Megan Shane and have shared our conversation below.

Megan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Becoming a mom immediately changed my trajectory in life. With a masters in art therapy and a background in mental health and behavioral health, I had worked with families, parents and youth for a decade. And then I birthed our first child six weeks due to a medical emergency. Parenting from the NICU for weeks wasn’t something I had imagined or incorporated into my postpartum timeline. It derailed the maternity leave timeline I would have for healing and bonding, while giving me a push to step away from the full time work I was doing as a mental health therapist. Fast forward 7 years and another child and traumatic birth later and I had been primarily a stay at home mom when I was given the opportunity to start facilitating community groups for new moms. I realized in the course of that first year that my personal skills and lived experience alongside of the group setting gave new moms valuable support. They would come to group weekly and connect with each other and find positive and supportive direction. And sometimes they came after they had their 2nd child or their third child- and a popular refrain I used was “It’s always New. Motherhood is continually shifting. Support is always needed.”
That program did provide opportunity for moms with toddlers to also connect, but I recognized common themes and discussions and continual opportunity to provide support. When covid began, I started to facilitate groups virtually the first weeks of shut down. I was juggling virtual schooling and sibling dynamics, and new moms were flooded by stress of pregnancy without well visits, isolation during an already isolating period, overwhelm in feeling like household routines and the world were all disrupted. Mental health became a known need for support. And while the groups had always focused on Mom’s postpartum mental health needs in light of hormones, trauma, transitions and stressors, this became a more tangible focus of discussion.
I saw and need and an opportunity to reach wider for moms. Empowering Moms began in 2020 as virtual groups for new and pregnant moms, workshops on parenting topics and self-care, and then became a program at a non-profit. By 2023, I explored what it would take to make an entire nonprofit dedicated to parenting support across the journey. I collaborated with another mental health therapist who was supporting those going through infertility and many women who were motivated to see this support be present for other moms and parents. Connected Nest was founded the end of 2023 with three main programs: Facing Fertility, Empowering Moms and Equipping Parents. I haven’t found anything that recognizes the impact that these different areas all have on mental health and combined them to offer comprehensive and community support. In addition, the group setting encourages vulnerability and relationship depth that many going through formative transitions are craving. We have mental health therapists as group facilitators in the community setting so that we can guide participants to connect with each other and better understand and grow their own mental well being, while also referring to needed auxiliary supports. I believe we all deserve support during the challenges and transitions in to parenthood to magnify the joy that raising children can bring and addressing the mental health shifts that it can also bring.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I think one of our greatest gifts as humans is the ability to connect and have empathy and grow our understanding for individual experiences. Our value isn’t in individuality or achievement. It is found in bringing value to other’s lives. And this is magnified when entering parenthood. But so many question that. There is a lot of measuring and comparing that impacts parents and moms. I experienced that with my birth experiences and looking at how they measured against other’s experiences. And I had to really work to not view it as a personal short coming or failure while also allowing space to honor the loss of what I had hoped for. There are many times I have heard that same struggle and mentality while working with parents: when they have a child not reaching milestones, when a child is evaluated for a diagnosis, when they are at a loss for how to support a household need. Through our support settings we provide the value of connection which grows vulnerability, solidarity, comradery and often helps individuals to process a loss and shift their mentality. There really aren’t naturally offered spaces for this in the early years of conceiving, birthing and raising children. And if you don’t have it naturally built into your family system or social group, that can magnify isolation and loneliness. We need each other and that is the mission and vision that I bring to Connected Nest. We aim for all of our programming, fundraising and work to be done with connection at the heart of it. It’s community rooted in every way – knowing that there is space for individuality within our network.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I often tell the moms who are sitting in circle, holding their first baby and contemplating career, family and life in so many directions: It’s ok to not know where the next 5 years will lead. You can make changes that fit where you are now.
At one point I really did only want to be a mom. And then I found my career working in mental health with youth and families. And was pretty certain when I was pregnant that I didn’t want to leave that work. And then I had him and it took a few months to realize that I was hopeful about being at home with him to reclaim the time lost to the NICU. After a year, I found part time endeavors that helped me keep exercising my professional muscle. We had another baby three years later while I kept working in small ways. And then I realized that all of those elements had landed me in a place that I had never imagined being. I didn’t get my graduate degree at 22 and say “I want to help New moms find greater mental health so MUCH that I also want to start a nonprofit from the ground up.” And I would have laughed about that 20 years ago. I did not envision having the grit and the fortitude to take on a business that relied on fundraising, donations and grant writing. But here I am. I put an art degree to work by building our website and making marketing materials. I learned on the job how to write a budget and a grant and build financial outlooks and plans. I’ve googled and phoned a friend many times. But it was worth that winding road to hold hope for all that Connected Nest can be when I have seen the impact it has had in it’s first two years.
The wild pivot was when I started the Empowering Moms program in 2020 and one week later got the news that we were unexpectedly expecting a baby! More parenthood journeys and pivots! It was once again not where I had planned on life leading. The difference was that this time I was intentionally traveling this chapter of motherhood with other women who were also on that path. And I found that I was more empowered in pregnancy, birthing and the early weeks and year of bringing home a baby. I was better able to rely on support, prioritize life and remind myself that I was still learning. My husband and I had never parented three kids and we figured it out – and are figuring it out one stage at a time. If I write a book someday, there will definitely be a chapter expounding on the unusualness of living with both toddler and teenagers and how more often than not they are so very similar- the mess! Pivots are for learning from past and growing through it- together.

With Connected Nest, we are in our complete toddler phase of being tenacious to get what we want, getting a little messy while doing it, and asking for help when needed. With new skills and opportunities, we will grow and expand to empower more families.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Since connection is our greatest commodity that we can offer, that also translates into helping more people find us for participation in our programs and also for funding support. I have people attend group who have found us through a friend, a sister, a coworker, a neighbor, a Facebook group, a medial provider and so much more.
When someone feels the impact of our groups on their journey, they help to make sure that others find us too. Women have shared how our program has helped them feel immediately less lonely, that they have formed lasting friendships, that they have found much needed resources to help them find greater health, that they credit what we do with making their motherhood experience better. Their experiences are why I keep working to build funding relationships, expand our collaborations and seek ways to leverage connection for community.
One of my favorite opportunities that I have had in the past couple of years is to present about maternal and parental mental health and the impact that fertility, birth and postpartum experiences have on it. I have spoken to providers, parents, expecting parents and high school students. It is important to bring these conversations to the forefront so that we can all learn from what we know. And we can all do more and destigmatize mental health conversations and support so that less people and families face struggles or loose the battle to mental health. It is still the deadliest complication for postpartum women. And every woman deserves to live and find ways to thrive and grow into their role as mom.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://connectednest.org
• Instagram: @connectednest
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ConnectedNest
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/connected-nest

Image Credits

Jaclyn Trozzo Photography
Captivating Imagery
Kelsie Cunningham Photography