Asper alum co-founds a one-stop space for mothers to access supports

“When women come together, great things happen, but when moms come together to support each other, brilliance happens. It truly is MomBrilliant,” says Catherine David.

After completing her Master of Business Administration at the Asper School of Business, Catherine David [BEd/07, MBA/18] and Co-founder Mel Klos began creating MomBrilliant, a one-stop space to educate and support mothers through a network of certified pediatric and parenting practitioners.

Catherine’s idea for MomBrilliant came while sharing stories with friends who regularly got together to discuss career growth.

“We started talking about our struggles as mothers and the challenges of accessing support.”

Between finding daycare, practitioners, and mental health resources, Catherine noted that it’s difficult for mothers, and she wished there was a single place to obtain access to a range of education and support.

“And then it just hit us. I would need that — everyone would need that,” says Catherine.

Before taking her MBA, Catherine obtained her Bachelor of Education at the University of Manitoba to become a teacher. She knew she wanted to take her profession to the next level and decided to take her MBA at the Asper School of Business.

When she first started her MBA, Catherine said that she felt like a fish out of water as a classroom teacher surrounded by business professionals for the first few months. However, her perception changed when she was awarded the prestigious Futures Fund Scholarship, provided to ten Canadian university business students who demonstrate exemplary leadership in their academic and extra-curricular initiatives.

“It was then that I recognized my background had value,” says Catherine. “Own your skill — own your passion.”

She noted that when everyone brings their authentic self and personalized skillset, the interaction is more valuable. All experiences are valid; we each bring in a wealth of wisdom built on unique experiences, and we help each other by sharing those lessons.

“The beauty of the MBA program is getting great minds together from different sectors to create solutions strategically.”

Catherine feels the New Venture Analysis course that provides students with an opportunity to develop, build and pitch a business idea helped her the most during her MBA. The course, supported through leadership from the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship, educated her on business planning, pitching, and presentation, which has helped tremendously during the creation of MomBrilliant.

Catherine says the network she made through her MBA gave her access to professionals she wouldn’t have otherwise had. Every day I was surrounded by leaders in a diverse set of industries.

“I have turned to those individuals while creating MomBrilliant because I remember how they were in the classroom.”

Catherine enjoyed the experience in the MBA and specifically with the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship so much that she works to pass that knowledge to her students at St. Mary’s Academy. Every year, she enters teams into the Stu Clark New Venture Championships: High School Edition. In 2021, Catherine helped coach her students to a first and second-place finish in the Elevator Pitch Competition and a second and third-place finish in the Business Plan Competition. This year her entire class has been accepted to compete.

MomBrilliant is currently set to launch this summer, and Catherine is excited about the network she is building. She says people from all over North America and beyond have been reaching out to discuss working together.

“It is energizing hearing others align with our mission. The sentiment across the board from everyone that’s wanting to work with us is ‘I love what you are set out to do for mothers; it is needed!’ “

TAYLOR TOEWS