Episode 129: What Happened When We Finally Got Women in the Same Room

Something unexpected happened at the first Her Village gatherings.

Women walked in nervous… and walked out feeling lighter, more connected, and reminded that they’re not alone.

In this solo episode, I’m sharing reflections from our very first gatherings and why I believe women are craving real, in-person community more than ever before.

We talk about:

• the loneliness of modern motherhood
• why making friends as an adult feels so hard
• the power of getting women in the same room
• what I observed during our first Her Village meetups
• motherhood, identity, and connection
• why I believe we all need a village again

This episode is less about events — and more about what happens when women finally feel safe enough to exhale.

If you’ve been craving deeper connection, this conversation is for you.

Connect with Her Village:
Instagram: @hervillagehq
Join the email list: joinhervillage.co

Transcript

Welcome And The May Sprint

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Her Village, the place where we talk about the things we don't always say out loud. I'm your host, Jaclyn Baird, and I'm so glad you're here. Hey friends, thanks for hitting play on Her Village today. I hope that you are in as good of a mood as I am. I, if I'm being honest, the beginning of this month started a little, you know, I'm a I'm a mom and it's May. And for those of you who don't follow what that means, it means all the things happen in a span of like three weeks, like school ending, field trips, spirit days, teacher appreciation week, um, Mother's Day. Yeah, that's that's really just to butter you up so you can hang on a little longer for a few weeks of the school year, and then you're home with your kids all summer, which is a positive thing, but also a very challenging thing. So anyway, I this month started off a little, a little crazy for me. But today I am feeling so happy and grateful.

Field Trip Joy And Mom Talk

SPEAKER_00 1:07

I got to spend the day uh chaperoneing my son's field trip, which was a lot, if I'm being honest. I had a group of five boys and keeping track of them all was was a lot, but I was just really grateful to be able to be there. And then I also was the mystery reader for his class at the very end of the day. So that was fun too, just to have a whole day about my oldest son, and it was great. And I got to talk to so many women and other moms and just be out and about, not stuck on a screen on my laptop or my phone, just out, and it was great. And it

Why Women Need Real Connection

SPEAKER_00 1:41

had me thinking about a lot of things, obviously, her village. Her village is top of mind always, but it had me thinking like I knew women were lonely, I knew motherhood could feel isolating, but I don't think I truly realized how deeply women were craving connection and in-person connection until I watched strangers walk into a room and leave feeling like they belong somewhere. If you've listened to the trailer of this podcast, you know we've I've expanded the brand a little bit. We're still going to be having a lot of the same conversations I did on Motherhood intended. But her village is so much more than this podcast. Her village is something that I am creating in real life, and it's about just that. It's about the fact that I noticed that in motherhood, we're doing all the things. We're remembering all the things, we're planning all the things, we're at all the things, we're working moms and stay-at-home moms and moms of multiple kids, moms of one kid. Like there is a lot going on, and as women, we do a lot. And on paper, or seemingly, we have very full lives, right? We've got families and activities and what looks like support and true connection. But honestly, after putting this into play in real life, we've hosted Her Village Founders Night and we've had Her Village Coffee Meetup. And seeing this play out with 20 different women at these two events, this is what we need true connection. Because when you're on the sidelines, sure, you're seeing people, but you're not having deep conversations. You're not truly asking, like, how are you doing? Are you hanging in there? Or the biggest thing is I've realized in motherhood, like, no one's asking you things uh outside of your role as a mom. You know, no one's asking, oh, what are you working on like in your career? Or what are you most proud of lately? Or is have you tried any fun hobbies? As women, we lose ourselves in motherhood. And that shouldn't be the case. We should be expanding in motherhood. We should be our best self in motherhood. Motherhood is an addition to our lives and our personalities and the roles that we have.

Adult Friendship In The In Between

SPEAKER_00 3:59

I started Her Village because adult friendships can be hard to make, especially in that like in-between phase. And this is just me speaking for my experience, where my kids aren't babies. I'm not in this like, you know, first-time mom club. But I also don't have like really old kids either, where they've been on the same soccer team for 10 years and we're traveling together and doing all these things and we've created these relationships. I'm in like this in-between phase where I have a two-year-old and then I have a kindergartner and a second grader, and we're just dabbling, right? We're just getting into the school, getting in the groove of elementary school and meeting different families and trying different activities and finding true connection can be hard as an adult because time, right? We only have so much time. And I'm always seeing people at pickup and drop-off and school functions and things, but like true connection is hard to do. And I've noticed this because I'm in all these Facebook groups and I'm in all these like different things, and I'm constantly seeing women posting. How do you make friends? Is anyone looking to get together for coffee? Everyone is craving this connection, everyone's craving community, but not knowing where to find it exactly. And for me, I naturally am just a very community-driven person. I love being a part of things, I love structured things like that, but it's been hard. I have been in so many different communities that I feel like I've only scratched the surface of them all. You know, in different phases, I've been in infertility support groups, I've been connected with moms who have had babies in the NICU. I have connected with intended moms through surrogacy. And then I have neurodivergent children that I have connected with other moms on. And then I have my like long-term friends from high school and college. And, you know, I have all these like pockets of people, but there's only so much time. And aside from my very best friends of like decades, I'm only scratching the surface with these people. So for me, starting her village, I wanted this to be a space where any woman, whether you're a mom or not, regardless of the season of life that you're in, it doesn't matter how many kids you have. Do you work? Do you not work? Are you an entrepreneur? Are you not? Are you working corporate? Are you a single woman just like thriving in her 30s or 40s? Like whatever it is, I want it to be a space for her. It's about you. It's not about you as a mom, you as an employee, you as a business owner, whatever it is. It's about you. And I know it's hard to put yourself out there because somewhere along the way, we kind of like forget, or I don't even know if it's forget, you kind of like lose practice of what it means to truly put yourself out there. I remember, of course, you know, you go to college for the first time, and sure you might know a person or two, but you're putting yourself out there. You're finding your people, you're making friends, you're going to new classes. Same thing with like maybe when you land your first job, you know, the first time in an office or whatever it is you're doing. But as our lives start to evolve and we are taking care of so many other people, it starts to get a little awkward when it comes to how to put yourself out there again. I want her village to fill that need and just really be easy and welcoming. And for me, like most entrepreneurs, this started because it's something I personally am craving. After infertility and just such a long journey to motherhood and then navigating motherhood with three kids the last couple of years, accepting that my family building journey is over, my family is complete. It took a while for me to realize that that's not all I am. My whole identity is not a mom or somebody trying to become a mom and grow my family. Like when that chapter closed, I was like, oh, I don't even know who I am anymore. Like, what do I do now? You know, and I have two of three kids in school all day. I'm loving time with my toddler, but I am older. You know, I'm not the same mom I was eight years ago when my first son was born. I'm evolving and I'm craving more in my life. And I finally at this point in my life know that I'm allowed to. I'm allowed to put myself first and I'm allowed to find things that bring me joy outside of motherhood. And for all of you moms listening, hear me when I say this. That does not mean that you're not grateful for the children that you have or the life that you live. It just means that you want more for yourself. And her village is here to make you feel comfortable and put yourself out there again and honestly, like come back to who you are because it's easy to lose yourself along the way. All of this to say that it really made me realize just how badly women need spaces where they can just exhale.

Launching Her Village In Real Life

SPEAKER_00 8:50

So I want to keep you up to date with the last couple events that we've hosted. Again, we're just getting things started here with her village, and in-person events are happening in Naperville. This is our founding chapter. The dream is that her village communities can be found in any city one day. Um, but for now we're starting in Naperville, Illinois.

Founders Night Beyond Small Talk

SPEAKER_00 9:11

And let me tell you about the magic that happened at these two gatherings. Okay, first of all, our founders' night. Amazing. Let me just tell you that I was just hoping that we would have five people, five women show up. I mean, I know the need is there, but getting people to take that next step and put themselves out there, like I mentioned, and just like join something and be a part of something, even if you don't come with somebody, is a big step. And I am like so proud to say that there were 14 of us around a table mingling in the beautiful studio 25 downtown Aprilville for a nice evening together. And I was mind-blown how this all went down because my whole goal was like, this is not a networking event. So, for anyone listening, if you are planning to come to a future her village gathering, just know this is not about networking. This isn't about like fluff conversations and asking you how many kids do you have? What do you do for work? Sure, all of that will kind of happen naturally, but like we're going beyond that. I had some cards laid out at the table. We had a beautiful charcuterie spread. We had a signature village cocktail. It was awesome. And these cards kind of prompted people casually, you can use them however you wanted to. Fill them out, don't fill them out, use them as a conversation starter, leave feedback for me. But it was really prompting women to think about like, what are you craving right now in this season of life? And what kind of community are you searching for? And honestly, as the evening started, it was a little slow and it felt a little networky at first. But then, as time went on and the evening went on, I was watching so many awesome conversations unfold. Women who showed up looking a little nervous were having conversations that were immediately becoming real. Women exchanging numbers and following each other on Instagram. And I was hearing things like, I needed this, or this was awesome. And it was so easy once everybody settled in. What started as a night is everybody standing and mingling in the space, ended with everyone sitting around one big table, laughing and sharing and connecting as if we've known each other forever. So many women have admitted that they've struggled making true friends. And women are wanting more than surface level connection. It was amazing seeing women leave lighter than when they came in. That was the founding night, and we all cheers to it, and it just felt like the movement I know it will be. I mean, there were people that stayed after in the parking lot talking for like another 45 minutes. I mean, it was just this connection that I couldn't have even curated, right? I was just hoping that if I brought the women together and made everyone feel comfortable and was honest about it being more than surface level that the right people would show up because that's what they're looking for. And the

Coffee Meetup And Instant Belonging

SPEAKER_00 12:06

same thing happened at our next meetup. We had seven people meet up at a coffee shop, seven new people. These were seven women who weren't even at the first founders' night. And it was an amazing hour or so connecting. And the coolest thing that happened was there were so many people who had so much in common. And I did not plan that. We had a couple teachers, we had two different people who were marketers. Everyone there happened to be a mom, but a mom of everyone from like a newborn to like a 20-something year old, all phases of life, entrepreneurs, not entrepreneurs. I mean, the collection of women that sat around a table, enjoyed some coffee, and just like laughed and shared was awesome. Same thing. Once we got those initial, like, oh, what do you do? Where do you live? What's your name? Once that was out of the way, we paled around and talked about all sorts of things. I think I was talking about how we're getting new windows in our house. We talked about our kids, older kids, dating and things like that. I mean, the conversation just naturally took off. And it was in these little moments that I was like, this, this is what it's about. Everyone here is just a woman wanting to connect. And I don't think this is just happening here in Naperville. I think women everywhere are starving for spaces where they can just be human again.

The Vision Chapters And Local Business

SPEAKER_00 13:26

My vision for her village is big. I mean, I know what I want, and I know that there's women everywhere because I have been in this online space for so long, whether it's on Instagram or the podcast or Facebook or TikTok or whatever it is, and I'm seeing it over and over again that women need this more than ever. My hope is that her village can have local chapters that continue to expand. We're growing here in Naperville. And when I look ahead, I imagine other women taking the reins, following the framework, and just starting these villages in their own cities. Because the other thing about her village is that women want to feel known. Communities, whether they're big or small, you can get lost in the mix. And for example, Neighborville specifically is a big suburb. And in this space, women can feel known. Along with that, her village is all about supporting local businesses, especially women-owned businesses. So our first gathering was hosted at Studio 25 by an amazing local photographer. Our second was at Yogi's Cafe, which is a local coffee shop that is woman-owned. And that's really important to me too. And I think the more you connect women to their own local communities and bring them into the fold to these local businesses and what other women are doing in their own communities, the more it feels like her village. This is your village. You live in a village of people who are doing amazing things, and we're going to be here to support them. So

Events Planned And Invitation To Join

SPEAKER_00 15:03

many women are wanting to rediscover themselves outside of their regular routines and responsibilities. And this is what her village is for. Obviously, it's like socially fun. We're here to have a good time. We've got a dance class in the works. We're going to have a painting night. We've got a brewery night. We have gatherings that are more like curated events. And then we are doing things like getting together and walking and getting coffee, starting a book club, things like that. I want it to be well-rounded where anyone can find a time to join in, find an activity that feels good for them, put themselves in an uncomfortable space to try something new, but know that they're with other women who are also trying something new. And it's just so exciting to watch and have it play out. And we're just getting started. The coolest thing that I observed in the last month of launching Her Village, rebranding the podcast, and talking about everything is how it actually is starting to ripple out into real life. Women are talking, women are excited to connect. Women are commenting on how they've listened to the podcast. When's the next event? And that's what it's all about. Let's get excited about stuff again. Let's have fun together and find our people. Okay, that's all I have on my end today. I'm just super excited for what's to come. And I hope you get excited because I am going to be welcoming on founding members of Her Village onto this podcast, along with local business owners and just so many different aspects of motherhood and womanhood and the guests that are going to be joining me on this podcast. I just, I'm just really excited and I can't wait for you to hear about it. As always, check the show notes before you click out of your podcast app. There you'll find a link to join the email list. You can stay up to date. If you're local to Neighborville, that link will send you to events happening. But even if you're not local, click the link in the show notes and get on my email list because, like I said, we are going to be growing into other cities. And I am always looking for city hosts to start her village in your own local communities. All right, I'm signing off. For me, I think today I've earned myself a cocktail. It was a fun day. I'm happy. It was also an exhausting day running around with second graders on a field trip and then just doing all the other things we've mentioned. So I'm going to take a breather and I'm going to sit outside because for once the weather is beautiful. I hope if you're listening, you have a great weekend or a great day whenever you decide to hit play on this episode. And

Closing Reminder And Share Request

SPEAKER_00 17:28

remember, you are worthy of feeling like yourself again, having fun and finding your village. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to share it with someone who might need it too. And if you're looking for more connection beyond the podcast, you can find me on Instagram or join my email list for upcoming Her Village gatherings. You're not the only one feeling it, and you don't have to figure it all out alone. I'll be right here when you come back.