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Life and Work with Saralyn Ward

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Saralyn Ward.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
On paper, my career story never seemed to make sense. My resume displays a variety of experience: from a career in media and television to experience as a digital project manager for a fitness website, from over a decade teaching fitness to agency experience in marketing and communications. I spent years trying to justify my multitude of interests and hard-earned expertise – in every job interview, I felt like I had to prove something. It wasn’t until I started my own media company and built a health and wellness app for new moms that I realized how valuable and relevant every step of my journey has been. The aha! moment of knowing I had been living into my destiny this whole time, without consciously realizing it, is something I’ll never forget.

The thread that has remained constant for me is a deeply-rooted mission to broadcast the information, tools, and resources women need to live their best lives. I aim to help women discover the potential they have within, design a life on their own terms, and define themselves by what sets their soul on fire. None of that is possible, though, unless we feel empowered in our own bodies, first.

For me, becoming a mother brought my entire career into focus. I’ll never forget one night after my first daughter was born. I was awake in the wee hours of the morning, rocking my inconsolable baby, desperately googling ideas for why she was so uncomfortable and what I could do to help her. I had no one to call – my family lived 2000 miles away, I wouldn’t hear back from the doctor for at least 8 hours, none of my friends had children yet, and the only articles I found were either super generic, fluff-pieces or long, dry research articles that I had no chance of deciphering in the middle of the night. I remember looking at my phone and wishing there were an app I could tap into anytime, day or night, that would give me quick expert solutions and advice and stories from other moms who’d been there. It was a fleeting thought that night, but one that stuck with me in the back of my mind. Years later, I found myself creating exactly what I wished I’d had when I launched the Better After Baby mobile app.

The transition into motherhood is one of the most challenging – if not THE most challenging – periods many of us experience. Our bodies feel broken, our priorities shift, our careers are tested, our mental health is tried, our relationships are forced to change… motherhood is a complete identity overhaul, and for a long time, the needs of mothers in the postpartum period have been neglected: both physically and institutionally. Without the support we need and deserve, it’s easy to feel like having kids is the ultimate sacrifice. But motherhood can also be an incredible catalyst to create the life we most desire – if we are given the resources we need to make empowered choices for ourselves and our families. I’m on a mission to show that motherhood doesn’t have to be a sacrifice. It can be an opportunity.

Has it been a smooth road?
Everything I’ve created was built in the wee hours of the morning before anyone else wakes up. As a working mom, that’s the only time I can fully commit to my company before the demands of the day catch up to me. It’s hard – there are many times I get frustrated that things aren’t moving as fast as I want them too, and there are times when I’ve neglected to give myself the rest I need. Every day is different. There have been times when my potty-training toddler wakes up at 5 am, soaked, and I’ve had to take my laptop into the bathroom to get work done while bathing her in the tub. My entrepreneurial journey has been a constant practice of accepting what is, and staying the course no matter what each day brings.

Starting a business, taking an unconventional route, learning as you go…. none of these things are easy. In fact, sometimes they are so hard that you want to throw in the towel. But there’s something interesting that happens when you finally figure out your true calling: you CAN’T throw in the towel. You may try, and you might take a regular job for a while. You might try to ignore what you truly want to do because you don’t know if you are ready, or you don’t know what your next step should be, or you don’t know if you will ever get paid… but there’s always a nagging feeling in your gut that you aren’t living your full story. That’s the only way I can describe it. In moments when I’ve been scared and backed away from building a company to run toward the safety of the predictable, I have this voice inside me that says, “Alright, take some time to recalibrate, but this mission isn’t going anywhere. You’ll have to act on it eventually, or you won’t truly know happiness.”

All that said, I’ve learned the hard way that it’s also not always wise to go all-in, all at once. Take the job you need to pay the bills: but do it strategically. Get a job that will teach you the skills you need to apply to your own work. Use the income to invest in your own dreams. Get paid to learn. It will be hard and you will often feel like you are burning the candle at both ends. But most overnight success stories aren’t really overnight at all. They are stories about taking small steps toward big dreams, and eventually, those small, right actions turn the tide. Remember that there is no prescribed timeline. Just keep taking one step at a time toward your goal, and trust that you’ll get there when the time is right.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of. What sets you apart from others?
I’ve always been interested in hearing people’s stories. It’s funny – when I started The Mama Sagas three years ago, I had a flashback to when I was 12 or 13 years old. I asked my parents for a dictaphone – one of those old, hand-held recording devices. I wanted to interview people I met, collect their stories, and share them in a book. I remember having this strong feeling that sharing our stories was key to finding peace and understanding between people of different backgrounds. That memory had been totally buried until 25 years later when I found myself living into the exact vision I had for myself at age 13. That day, I went on Amazon and ordered a dictaphone, and recorded the first Mama Sagas interviews on it, even though I had my iPhone.

The Mama Sagas started as a labor of love. I wanted to give women a platform to share the honest truth about motherhood, in every stage. There is so much people don’t tell you – there are so many stories of resilience, power, strength, and purpose that don’t often get shared in mainstream parenting media. And I’ve always felt that, as mothers, we are in a unique position to empathize with one another. No matter our differences, all of us understand the deep, urgent need other mothers feel to protect their children, keep them safe, and give them the best life has to offer. Mothers have a unique opportunity to cultivate understanding, and, for us, the future is immediate. We look at our children and see the future staring back at us, and there is no time to waste.

At the same time, we are all just learning as we go. We make mistakes and often have to laugh at the ridiculousness that comes from life with kids. But when we are open and honest about our experiences, we have the chance to learn from one another and bridge our differences along the way.

I’m most proud of the feedback I’ve gotten from women who have shared their stories, who say they didn’t know how much it would help them heal and process the experiences they’ve been through. And I’m equally as proud when moms write to me and thank me for publishing a story that reflects their experience. When someone tells me they feel less alone or less isolated because of something I’ve published, then I know it’s all worth it.

Right now, I’m focusing a lot of attention on the postpartum period, since I launched the Better After Baby app in July. I wanted women to have a go-to resource in the palm of their hand that would offer them health and fitness advice, mental health resources, sleep solutions, breastfeeding tips, career transition considerations, and more. Better After Baby is unlike other postpartum apps in that we aren’t just focused on workouts, but on the entire postpartum journey. Pediatric and perinatal experts share their expertise in pelvic floor health, baby milestones, diastasis repair, managing postpartum depression and more. I’m so proud to bring this resource to market because it’s the app I always wished I’d had as a new mom.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
During the first year of building The Mama Sagas as a company, instead of just a side hobby, I neglected my own health. Because I had such limited time to offer my business, my own workouts and mental health would get pushed to the bottom of the priority list. But this year, I realized I couldn’t sustain that grind long-term. I was starting to suffer and it wasn’t enjoyable anymore. I also realized I was not able to be fully present with my kids later in the day because I was so exhausted all the time.

In the past year, I’ve taken a slightly different approach and started each day with meditation, and often 15-30 minutes of exercise. I am a big fan of Gabby Bernstein’s work and use her Miracle Membership meditations. Adding this time into my morning routine takes 40 minutes away from answering emails or making content, but at the same time, it has helped me focus, and has improved my stamina, my outlook and my overall health. Decisions come easier, I enjoy the work more, and I am forcing outcomes less. As a result, I’ve actually seen much quicker growth in the past few months. There’s something to be said for trusting the process, and working smarter, not harder.

Pricing:

  • Better After Baby app – free membership
  • Better After Baby app – premium membership – $9.99 per month, $89 for the year – launching end of month

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Image Credit:
Courtney Jewel Photography – photos with family

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