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After experiencing serious birth complications following the end of her elite netball career, Kimberley Smith realised just how little support many women receive during pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Today, the founder of Empowered Mother is helping women around the world access expert-led education, exercise and support from home.
Today, the physio-led online platform supports women around the world with pregnancy, birth preparation and postpartum exercise and education programs.
Let’s hear from Kimberley.
“The Empowered Motherhood program is a physio-led online program that provides expert education and exercise for women in pregnancy, birth preparation and postpartum.
“The women we help are anyone who’s pregnant or postnatal, and our goal is to help improve maternal health and reduce the rate of maternal complications through really safe, expert-led exercise that otherwise would only be available behind closed doors and in clinic rooms.”
“I was a former elite athlete and had just retired from netball when I fell pregnant with my firstborn.
“Throughout my netball career, I had access to a lot of experts and support when I was injured. But after giving birth, I suffered some of the most serious complications of my life and was essentially sent home and told to enjoy life. The lack of support I received as a new mother compared to what I received as an athlete was really confronting.
“Luckily, I was referred to a pelvic health physiotherapist, who is now my business partner, Liz. Together, we started talking about how more women needed access to safe exercise, education and support during pregnancy and postpartum recovery.”
“We’re completely online, so we have members all over the world. We’re primarily in Australia, but we also have clients in England, America, Romania, South Africa and Asia.
“A big focus for us has always been making expert care accessible for women in rural and regional communities, where support can often be difficult to access.”
“We’re a very small team of three, plus a few contractors.
“We mainly stay connected through Zoom calls, Google Meet and all the normal online platforms. We’re quite a lean team, so strong connectivity and communication are really important to how we operate day to day.
“I’ve been an Optus customer for a long time and, over the past four years, I’ve also been part of the Optus Small Business Council. As a small business, we’re not backed by a huge team, so having that support and connection has been really meaningful for us as we’ve grown.”
“I feel really energised by the feedback we get from our community about how the program has changed their life.
“I also love the innovation side of the business and thinking about ways to create better experiences for women around the world.”
“My most productive time is definitely early in the morning before my kids get up.
“That 5am to 7am window is when I tackle the bigger projects and get the heavy lifting done before the day properly starts.”
“We launched our program initially through Kajabi, and we still use it. That would definitely be the key piece of tech and the most important platform for our business at the moment.
“More broadly, I think we really value technology that helps us stay connected to both our team and our community. Because we’re an online business supporting women all over the world, reliable connectivity and communication tools are essential to everything we do.”
“I use AI a lot to help challenge my thinking and strategic planning.
“As a small team, it’s really useful for testing ideas and helping us think about different angles we may not have considered.”
“I think the most meaningful feedback for us is when women have been told their body has failed them or that they’re broken after birth.
“The messages we receive where women start believing in themselves again and realise they’re not broken, but instead have experienced an injury that might just take a little longer to recover from, are incredibly meaningful. The shift that has on their mental health, their relationship with their partner and their confidence in day-to-day life is huge.
“That’s really the reason we keep doing what we’re doing, and why we feel so grateful to be streamed into women’s living rooms and homes in such an intimate way.
“I do a lot of exercise myself, including Pilates, strength training, walking and yoga.
“I’m also heavily involved in my kids’ lives and sport, which gives me a really nice balance between work, family life and my own wellbeing.”
To learn more about how connectivity and technology solutions are helping Australian businesses grow and stay connected, visit Optus Business.
Rebel Wylie is a journalist and storyteller who loves finding the human angle inside complex topics and real-life experiences. She has created editorial and commercial content spanning business, lifestyle, parenting, health and culture for leading Australian media brands including News Corp Australia, Mamamia, ARE Media, Daily Mail Australia and Kidspot, and enjoys helping brands tell stories that feel engaging, thoughtful and genuinely human.
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