

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Aggarwal.
Mary, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Three years ago, when I had my third daughter, I noticed that there exists a sort of “restart” in your life as a parent of a third child. Introducing another child is almost like starting over for the whole family.
Others would look at me, assuming that I was already a professional at parenthood, just judging upon the number of children I had. After only 5 weeks of maternity leave, going back to work was difficult. Especially since I work in a male-dominated financial world, I had to relearn how to prove myself at the workplace and climb my way back to the top. I used to hide in my office and cry behind closed doors. My coworkers, especially my male coworkers, would make inappropriate sexist comments about my return to work and how I should be at home with my children.
Fast forward to my fourth pregnancy, the anxiety intensified because of what I had just gone through only two years before. In my third trimester, I went to my doctor to discuss my anxiety problems, to which he forewarned that my chance to experience postpartum depression was higher. Having many doctors in my family who were very open in discussing postpartum depression, I was very aware of its conditions and affects. I did not want to succumb myself or my family to go through another trial and tribulation other than joy from the arrival of the new baby.
I then searched out a maternity coach, who although was very costly, did help myself and my husband with tools and counseling to go through this fourth pregnancy and birth. This was my moment, where I realized that there must be many other families in need of exactly what I had gone through. I personally had an executive coach for many years who assisted me with my professional and personal growth, and did many video conferences with my clients because of my back-to-back pregnancies, and all of these influenced how I was going to create Parentcirkle.
I wanted to create a community for families, with the emphasis on guiding and supporting parents, where they could reach out to coaches covering all parental issues. There are many programs and groups already focused on children’s issues, and although these groups are very important and needed, I realized that there was missing a safe, private, supportive virtual group for parents who do not have the time, money or convenience.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with any start-up, my biggest opportunity for growth, is finding new potential clients and customers.
Parentcirkle – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Parentcirkle is a community for parents who are in search of support, private and group coaching. It is a safe place to find other parents to reach out to and discuss any issues – all in real-time and online.
Parentcirkle is the only one of its kind where the focus is on creating a network of peer support for parents for their mental health to discuss the trials and the triumphs. It is an opportunity to learn and share stories with others.
In our day and age, technology has created a disconnect for families and parents who want to find peers who are going through the same issues. With social media being used as a medium for parents to connect with each other, it is not real. Many people only post the happy times and hide their fears, disappointments and struggles from the real world. Social media has turned our society into a disconnected one.
I am most proud of Parentcirkle and that its mission is to reverse the modern way of thinking that we must as parents, go through this alone. Parentcirkle brings the village back the parents.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
If I am able to impact even just one person’s life, that to me is success.
Pricing:
- $95 per session
- $150 private session
Contact Info:
- Website: www.parentcirkle.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/parentcirkle
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/parentcirkle
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/parentcirkle
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
Aashi Arora
January 16, 2018 at 16:19
What an inspirational story! Thanks for sharing and I look forward to learning more about Parentcirkle.