Marketer creates Mom Market to boost mothers as entrepreneurs

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As a mother and a marketing professional, Devika Knafo said she understands the difficulties in maintaining a balance between family life and professional ambitions. 

Knowing that other women were facing the same struggles as she was, she decided to create Mom Market, an effort that helps women and mothers market their businesses to each other and perhaps join forces to build each other’s efforts. 

Her plans are to hold four seasonal Mom Markets a year. 

In the two months since she founded The Mom Market, Knafo said she’s already gained 1,000 social media followers and successfully held her first event, The Mom Market at the Bethlehem Rose Garden. 

The family friendly event, which was free and open to the public, featured more than 40 vendors, 70% of which were mom-owned vendors with the other 30% being women-owned vendors. 

“The market was really amazing,” Knafo said. “There was such great community representation and being able to see everyone come together made it such a success.” 

The event featured food, entertainment, crafters and merchants as well as a number of events from Yoga to a Disney Princess dance party.  

She said she has high goals for what the seasonal events can do to help build a supportive ecosystem for women with children to work together to help each other achieve their goals. 

“It’s a launchpad to sharpen their critical skills and manage logistics while surrounded by people who share their experience,” Knafo said. “Women entrepreneurs can evolve and build businesses that truly thrive.” 

Knafo runs the Mom Market as a product of her marketing firm, The Digital Attache. It came about as she saw how being a mother impacted her professional ambitions. 

“Motherhood reshapes your priorities,” Knafo said. “While being a mother is truly the most important job there is, it’s equally important to have an independent source of income and an outlet for creativity.” 

She said the idea grew out of a deeply personal pain point in trying to find that balance and she’s excited to be building a community of women-owned and mother-owned businesses to make a lasting impact on those women and the community at large. 

She has already begun planning her second Mom Market, which will once again be held in the Bethlehem Rose Garden in October. 

Knafo said she is already looking for vendors, noting that each vendor will be a unique offering, meaning there will be one bag seller and one candle seller, to represent the different retail segments. 

“It’s about bridging the gap between motherhood and entrepreneurship,” she said.