Photos: Supplied.
Moving from New Zealand to Wynnum was an eye-opener for Kirsty Foster. With a husband in the air force she was no stranger to moving and with three boys in kindergarten and playgroups, establishing a circle of friends had never been a problem – but now things were different.
“As your children get older and more independent you don’t have the contact with other parents that you once had, particularly when you’re in a new city – and COVID restrictions didn’t help!”
Kirsty tackled the feeling of isolation by setting up a Social Mum’s Facebook group. Within a day she had 200 members and it just kept growing, to the extent that it ceased to be a hobby and became a fulltime job.
“There was obviously a demand for it so I turned it into a ‘side hustle’ – then I gave up teaching and it became a fulltime job, and very quickly grew into a family business,” she says.
“It’s understandable when you look at the research indicating that one in three Australians are lonely – it’s an epidemic. The membership grew to the extent that we couldn’t do it on our own. I was getting a lot of interest from mums in the Redlands and I thought that franchising – what we now call ‘friendchising’ – would be a good idea.
“Social Mum’s Club organises social events and outings for mums of all ages and cultures and we’re supported by local businesses that recognise the value of looking after mums and supporting the club,” says Kirsty.
“Most of our events are free, there’s no membership fee or age restrictions. We organise outings to suit working mums, mums with babies and mums with older children. We have grandmothers and young mothers in the group and a lot of lasting friendships and support networks have grown from club contacts.
“We now have a south-east Queensland membership of 13,000 – and with our new Redland business we’re expecting that number to grow!”
Talia Read is the owner of the Redlands franchise. After decades of a career at the top end of fundraising, sales, business management and marketing, recently having her second child dropped Talia into an isolated space. She knew no other mature mothers with toddlers, eighteen months of maternity leave had distanced her from her work colleagues and her high-level personal work skills were sorely under-utilised.
“I met Kirsty at a dinner and the concept of her Social Mum’s Club really caught my imagination,” she says. “Being part of a team, getting to use my professional skills again, having a purpose outside home and family, the flexibility of working as a franchisee – it was a perfect fit.”
The evidence certainly points that way. In four weeks, the existing 2,000 Redlands membership has grown by 100 and Talia has expanded the core of enthusiastic business partners.
“It’s such a warm and welcoming community,” says Talia. “If you see me out and about please come and say hello!”
For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialmumsclubredlands or www.socialmumsclub.com and for events, go to www.socialmumsclub.com/events.
