WoW Woman in FemTech | Sara Campin, founder and CEO of Nourish

Sara Campin is the Founder & CEO of Nourish, a mental health and wellbeing app for mothers. Nourish is specifically tailored to the unique emotions & challenges mothers face. The burden on mums mental health is greater than ever before. However, before Nourish there were no easily accessible, practical self-help resources, tailed to mums. The Nourish app is a self-care toolkit and support team in mum’s pocket. It empowers mums to look after their mental health, find more love, joy, balance and calm and navigate the stresses and strains of modern mum-life. The app is a curated library of >150 unique meditations, videos & quick reads across mindfulness, yoga nidra, breathing, psychology and much more, all created by a team of wellbeing experts who are all mums themselves. Download & explore the app for FREE here.

Sara, tell us a bit about yourself and your background. 

I’m Sara, the founder and CEO of Nourish, a mental health & wellbeing app for mothers. I am also a mum of two, strong-willed beauties and a personal development coach. I’m a scientist at heart, having studied a Masters in Biochemistry. I started my career as an IT management consultant before moving into strategy consulting for the life-sciences industry, working in both the corporate and charity sectors. I was Head of Research Strategy at Cancer Research UK when my successful career collided smack bang with new motherhood. I’m a passionate advocate of all things that nourish the mind, having learned the hard way what happens when we don’t look after our mental health. We all have the potential to achieve both our personal and professional ambitions and find greater harmony and balance in our busy lives.

What’s the idea behind The Nourish App? What was the reason and inspiration that made you start The Nourish App? 

I created Nourish after struggling with my mental health and wellbeing, not only as a new mum but also in juggling the chaos and pressures of work and mothering. Learning the art of self-care had a transformational impact on my life as a mum and on the relationships, I have with my husband and my kids. Motherhood is a gift, yes, but it can also be overwhelming, stressful and sometimes just really hard. As mums, we are constantly giving out to others and often have very little left for ourselves. Putting our own needs into the equation and looking after our mental health can be really hard. But when we do it can make all the difference. My biggest regret is not having the knowledge and self-care tools I have now, available to me at the beginning of my motherhood journey. My mission is to give all other mums that gift. 

When did you launch, what has been the feedback so far? 

We launched the first version of the app in 2019 on a shoestring budget, off the back of a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign and support and kindness behind the mission. Our users love the bite-sized, relevant and relatable content, tailored to their needs, accessible on-demand, at their fingertips. As mums, we often crave feeling held, understood and supported in our struggles. Our users love the compassionate, validating and non-judgmental tone of voice that runs through all our content and that the content is created for mums by mums (that are also experts in their wellbeing field). 

We are all under a lot of stress and pressure because of the pandemic, can you tell us more about how specifically the pandemic has affected mums from your experience talking to thousands of mums in your app? 

The pandemic has challenged the mental health and wellbeing of every one of us. But for parents, the burden has been immense. For new mums who are struggling with the enormous psychological transition of becoming a new mum, it has compounded the feelings of isolation and increased the barriers to accessing support. Official rates of perinatal mental health issues were already high (1 in 5 women will suffer mental health issues during pregnancy or in the 1st year after birth (Royal College of Psychiatrists)), with historical studies suggesting up to 50% more mothers struggling undiagnosed (NCT Research). These figures however are expected to be much higher post-pandemic. 

And mental health issues are not limited to new mums, research suggests 1 in 3 women will suffer mental health issues due to parenthood at some point (BBC & YouGov Survey 2017). The pandemic has caused a significant burden on working parents. Pre-pandemic figures of burnout in working parents were estimated at 60% (BPI Network) and one study published in 2019 (Journal of Sociology) showed stress biomarkers in working women with 2 children were 40% higher than in working women with no children. With homeschooling, the additional worry, on top of the enormous invisible load of the modern mother, and trying to hold down a job, many working mothers have been at breaking point. 

What are your top tips for busy working mothers,  what can they do every day that can improve their mental health and make them feel better?

Don’t forget to breathe! When we breathe better, we feel better. It sounds so simple, but few of us remember to breathe well. We are all on automatic pilot, rushing through our days. But when we pause, even for a few moments, to notice our breathing and focus on taking deep breaths into our belly, and really try to exhale for longer than we inhale, it’s amazing how that moment of calm can often turn around our day. 

This is because when we breathe deeply like this, it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, sending signals to the anxious or heightened part of our brain, telling it that we are safe and it doesn’t need to use the fight, flight or freeze response. Thus it helps us feel calmer and focused. 

How long did it take you to be where you are now? What was the biggest obstacle? What are the challenges of being in the industry you are in? 

It’s been a long journey to where we are now, even though we are still only at the beginning really! I first had the initial idea of a happiness app for mums, back in 2017. But it’s one thing having an idea and a completely different thing turning that into a real concept and then making it happen. 

Our biggest obstacle has been our capacity and resources. Working on a shoestring budget with a small team means things take longer and you always feel like you are not quite doing enough. I think that is probably just the life of an entrepreneur though! 

What’s the most valuable lesson you learned as an entrepreneur? And what is the most important piece of advice you could give to anyone who wants to start a career in this industry? 

Having a strong mission you’re passionate about is everything. Being an entrepreneur is a rollercoaster. You need to have the passion and drive behind what you are doing or you will really struggle to get out of the dips. Building a support team around you who can also get behind that mission is also essential to help pick you up when you need it.  

Is the #WomenInTech movement important to you and if yes, why? 

Yes! Technology is one of the fastest-growing industries and yet there is still a significant underrepresentation of women working in technology roles. Women not only bring new and innovative ideas and perspectives to facilitate and drive innovation and ensure it is not all male-focused around a male viewpoint, but they also bring important female problems to the forefront to be solved. 

What will be the key trends in FemTech in the next five years and where do you see it heading?

Whilst there will no doubt be an increase in new players addressing female-specific health issues, I think there is going to be an increasing trend towards addressing non-female issues that simply impact females differently. The trend towards personalised medicine and patient-centric care is highlighting the need for products that meet the different demands of female biology, physiology and psychology. 

 Who are three inspirational women in your respective industry you admire?

Suzy Reading, best selling author and wellbeing psychologist  - Suzy has been a massive inspiration behind the Nourish app and the idea of having a broad multidisciplinary toolkit. I couldn’t have got this far without her self-care wisdom and her support, generosity and kindness.  

Rachel Caroll - Founder of Koru Kids - revolutionising childcare in the UK. 

Michelle Kennedy - Founder of Peanut, paving the way for motherhood apps. 

Find out more about Nourish on their website, follow them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

This interview was conducted by Anja Streicher, Chief Marketing Officer at Women of Wearables. Anja is passionate about women’s health and wellness and is inspired every day by WoW women in tech and business who are changing lives with their innovative products.