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

Nina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

20 years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom of four young kids, ages seven, five, three, and one. I loved being a mom but I was overwhelmed all the time. I constantly missed playdates, doctor’s appointments, and other important things because I simply couldn’t find a way to organize my schedule. One day I woke up from a dream in which I was in a bookstore, standing in front of a huge display with hundreds of different wedding planners. I woke up thinking, why are there hundreds of planners for a bride to put on one special day, but absolutely nothing for moms who put on a major production every single day of their lives? That was the genesis of the idea for the original momAgenda Day Planner.
Creating momAgenda meant more to me than just creating a way to get organized. For me, it was a way to feel at peace, to enjoy my family more, to make life easier, and to be a better mom.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I started momAgenda to organize my own life as a mom of four young kids. The first product I created, the one that started it all, was the original momAgenda Desktop day planner. I created a unique weekly layout that provides separate organizing spaces for mom and up to four kids. This layout is like an extremely pretty spreadsheet. It’s intuitive, and it really does help you organize multiple schedules more easily.

When I first started 20 years ago, products geared toward moms were not elegant or upscale. I went to Staples to find a planner at one point and the only product for moms was a planner with cartoon bunnies all over it! I know moms are not defined solely by being a mom — we still want to feel beautiful and elegant every day. So I designed momAgenda to look like a gorgeous accessory. There is nothing cutesy about it!

I’ve received letters from literally thousands of customers who tell me how momAgenda products helped them get organized, feel happier as a mom, and feel more at peace. I am the most proud of how we’ve been able to help women literally change their lives — I’ve heard from customers who bounced back from divorce, for example, and the first step was buying a momAgenda planner and starting to prioritize themselves and their lives.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

When we first started, our budget was tight. But I decided early on that marketing and PR would be a priority. I knew there would be copycats, so I wanted to establish momAgenda as the gold standard planner for moms, right out of the gate.
I decided to retain a PR firm. It was very expensive and results were not guaranteed, and many people I consulted with advised me against it. I went ahead with it anyway because my gut told me to.
6 months later, as a result of that decision, our planner was featured in Real Simple Magazine as a Top Holiday Gift for moms. This was a huge boon for us in terms of visibility, but didn’t really impact sales.
But then a week or so later, the editor of Real Simple went on the Today Show with all 50 items from their Top Holiday Gifts article. By some amazing stroke of luck, Katie Couric picked up the momAgenda planner out of all those items, and said, “This helps moms get organized!” Our website absolutely blew up. We thought we’d been hacked, quite literally.
The investment in PR paid off beyond even what I could have imagined!

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

When I was 27 years old, and a new mom of my then 5-week-old first child, my mom passed away. She had a successful direct marketing agency and I was working for her at the time. I felt I had no choice but to keep running the business, even though everything in my body wanted to stay home and snuggle with my baby.
After two years, I knew in my gut that direct marketing wasn’t for me. I had kept the business going like a “good daughter” but I simply didn’t want to do it anymore. I was fortunate enough that my then-husband was working, so I had the option to sell the business.
Selling the business was a difficult emotional decision. It felt like I was turning my back on my mom’s legacy, the business she created from scratch and put her heart and soul into.
I went ahead with the sale and it was the best decision I could have made. It allowed me a few years to be an at-home mom, which was what I really wanted at the time. And it opened the door for me to start my own business six years later, one that would be more aligned with my values and priorities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://momagenda.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momagenda/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/momAgenda
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-restieri-4994255/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@momAgenda

Image Credits

Lori Berkowitz