Lavelle Hall

My dad had an entrepreneurial spirit. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, I remember him often talking about owning various types of businesses. My dad was an amazing dreamer, and he shared that gift with me. He planted the seed of entrepreneurship. My journey with MOMLogics started after becoming a mom and staying home with my kids. During this time, I realized that I was able to create a safe space where moms loved to gather. At first, I didn’t know how to turn my advice and resources into a business, but eventually, I became a coach and consultant in the mental, health and wellness space. It is through this journey of discovery that I got the legs under me to start MOMLogics - a maternal health and wellness community, coaching and digital marketplace for Black moms.

First, growing a community of moms across platforms. Collectively MOMLogics is a community of over 7,000 moms, and we are now championed as a community to go to for a safe and supportive space. Second, partnering with Penn State, and as a donor recipient receiving a small grant to create a tech enabled prototype as an expansion of MOMLogics. With this grant, we were able to focus group 50 moms to help validate our solution, and receive approval for an IRB maternal health survey. We appreciate Penn State for their support, from the students to the staff, as well as the three articles written by faculty and local journalists to share how MOMLogics is helping to solve the Black maternal health inequities. Third, we were featured on WGN “Chicago’s Very Own” where moms from our Mama Well Wednesday group were highlighted. I am so proud that MOMLogics is now seen as an expert in the maternal health and wellness space. Lastly, being part of the TechRise pitch competition last year was a great experience, which led us to our GET Cities Cohort participation and other initiatives in Chicago’s tech ecosystem. Having the opportunity to get in front of some many people in this space who can support and partner with MOMLogics has been a game changer and has helped us keep nudging our way towards a tech solution for moms. Being part of TechRise also connected us with a pitch coach Brian Bar at Victory Lap. Brian has been an amazing supporter, and he has leaned in all the way to help us as a coach and mentor. Even outside of TechRise, I reach out to him to get that raw feedback only he can give as a fellow founder and entrepreneur.

As a Black woman in the entrepreneurial space, I have an opportunity to talk about Black maternal health and wellness from a unique perspective. MOMLogics can be applied to any culture, but as a Black woman, when I talk about MOMLogics, it goes back all the way to my ancestors who suffered in silence. My job is helping Black moms heal past traumas. For me, healing is revealing and revealing is healing. In general, women suffer in silence, but particularly Black women because of systemic racism, microaggressions and past traumas. When a mother realizes that all that has happened in her life and within her family’s life is not her fault, she is more empowered to do something differently for herself and her children by redefining motherhood for herself – and mending this cycle of generational, maternal trauma.

After getting the email from GET Cities to participate in the cohort and finding out what was expected of me, I was honored to be part of the group. Also, after meeting Elle, who has a fireball spirit, I knew this was a space for me. I believe this particular ecosystem is intentional and focused on me as a female founder. We interact and learn from the previous cohort participants and the energy feels different than that of other programs. During my first cohort meeting, I looked around at the other founders in my cohort, and even though we didn’t all look the same, I could tell that we all shared the same energy and passion as founders. It was at that moment, I knew I had found my people in the founder space.