A sit down with Peanut CEO, Michelle Kennedy
We have been inspired and have come across so many amazing people along the way, and recently we had the pleasure of interviewing one of these inspirational women, Michelle Kennedy, the Founder and CEO of Peanut. Peanut is a social platform for women who happen to be mothers. It is about connecting women, helping them find communities and the common thread is Motherhood and in just 1 year Peanut has amassed a staggering 500k users! Michelle tells us here a little about the incredible journey and how she manages it all.
Why did you start Peanut?
It all started when I had my son Finlay. It didn’t make sense to me that my profession - I was Deputy CEO of Badoo and Director of Bumble at the time - was to enable people to find dates, yet I couldn’t find a like-minded mum to grab a coffee with? That just felt really wrong. It was also bizarre that, as a woman in tech, I was used to interacting with all these slick apps to order taxis or deliver food, but once I’d had Finn I was forced to use all these twee products marketed to mums that just didn’t feel like ‘me’. It felt like I had lost part of my identity. So I’d probably been thinking about Peanut for about two years before I
pressed ‘go’.
I can only imagine how busy you must be, how do you balance work and home life?
I struggle. I am absolutely committed to taking my son to pre-school, and making it home most evenings for bedtime (albeit, sometimes I can’t do that). It means a lot of early starts (to try and get some work in before Finn wakes up), and lots of late nights (I start work again as soon as he’s in bed). I also haven’t seen some of my friends in a really long time, but they understand how important this is to me, and what my work ethic is. I do, however, make sure we have one full day during the weekend where there is no work allowed (well, none that the family can observe!)
What is your go to office style?
Right now, I am loving the Nineties. I like wearing relaxed, high-waisted Levis, Tee and my Gucci loafers. To me, that's simple elegance.
What is the one piece of advice you would share with new mums?
Balance is Bullsh*t. There was so much narrative surrounding ‘balance’ when I was pregnant. I genuinely believed it was possible to be the perfect mother, employee, wife, daughter, friend, and still have ‘time for me’. No surprise then, it’s not. When I wasn’t achieving the mystical balance, I felt like I was failing. As soon as I started to understand that life is about juggling, everything changed. I became much kinder to myself, and realistic about what I could do. Sometimes i’m an amazing mommy, sometimes I am killing it at work, it rarely happens all at once, and that, is ok.
What are you currently really excited about?
Well… we’re working on some new app features, which are all super exciting. As for the rest? You’ll have to wait and see…
What has been the most rewarding part of your journey so far?
The big stuff is really cool - like when when you get supported by Apple or see all the crazy download figures. But the most exciting stuff for me is when you get an email from someone and they say “this app has really changed my life,” or somebody tweets or Instagrams about us. That stuff is the best because you simply can’t manufacture it. And it means it must really be working.
Peanut shows you like-minded mamas nearby you.
Michelle and her son Finlay