KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A Knoxville mother started her own business after battling postpartum depression.
Kimberly O’Neal started experiencing symptoms of postpartum depression after giving birth to her first son, Brayden.
“I especially feel disconnected from the people around me. It can feel very depressing and I always tell my husband that I feel like I’m in this deep, dark hole that I’ll never get out of.” “I’ve always said I feel like that,” she said.
A 2018 CDC study found that 1 in 8 women who recently gave birth experience symptoms of postpartum depression.
Seeking a sense of community, O’Neal found remote work while staying home with her newborn. She found this helped her get through difficult times.
“Just having something to do during the day can be very helpful. Whether it’s a hobby, work, or whatever, it helps to take a moment to step back and interact with something else to distract yourself. Just having a little bit of time where you can distract yourself, that helps,” she said.
This led her to help other housewives. She launched her own business ‘Modern Day SAHM’ earlier this month.
“Basically what I do is connect mothers with corporations and small businesses,” she said. “So any company or business that wants to hire a housewife can come to my platform and post their job openings.”
Before joining the platform, O’Neill meets with each company to see if they are willing to hire stay-at-home moms. He also said that there is no multi-level marketing or pyramid scheme on the platform.
Ms O’Neill said 2,500 mothers have already used the platform to improve their mental health and reduce financial stress.
“Just the amount of messages I’ve gotten is, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing, this means so much to us stay-at-home moms. This has been ignored for so many years.’ That’s all there is to it,” she says. she said.
Her biggest goal is to help other moms feel supported.
“What I want people to know is that you are not alone,” she said. “Get involved in your community, find things you can do in your daily life, and things will get better.”
The platform currently serves insurance, sales, administration, and finance roles. Mr O’Neill said that for companies looking to participate, something project or completion-based would be ideal.
