Andrea Renkas, a certified fitness trainer, struggled to return to a fitness routine after giving birth.
She and her sister-turned-business-partner Britney Suttner, who has a degree in exercise science, realized many women have likely had similar experiences. In 2022, they launched a personal training business focused on mothers before, during and after pregnancy.
“We identified a gap in the fitness industry, and we started our business which is called Fit Moms on the Move,” Suttner says.
Renkas says, “We ended up realizing that as much as we wanted to help all these women, we couldn’t do it all. They would come to us about fitness, but they would have questions about lactation or they would have questions about speech issues with their kid or stuff like that.”
As a quick solution, they compiled a list of local small businesses that could help. Within 18 months, they had created a downloadable list of 90 businesses in Appleton and Green Bay. At that point, they created the Motherhood Alliance, a limited liability corporation separate from Fit Moms on the Move.
They spent six months building a website for the Motherhood Alliance that was launched in May 2024. Two months later, they launched a podcast. There are currently more than 100 Motherhood alliance business members.
Business members are charged a fee to belong to the Motherhood Alliance, but all referral services are free to families. The podcast serves the dual purpose of educating the community and promoting the business members. Not only does the alliance connect families to services, it connects small businesses to each other.
The business members as well as the alliance itself hold events for families and to support each other.
Suttner readily acknowledges not every business is a good fit for their alliance of small, family-focused businesses in the wellness and holistic health spaces.
She wants to foster a culture that helps businesses succeed.
“We don’t just want them to be listed in our directory, we want to see them make it,” she says. “Can you imagine how we can help our area if we can link arms and do this together?”
Business members of the Motherhood Alliance appreciate how it fosters collaboration instead of competition.
“To belong to a group of people who are cheering you on is great,” says Stephanie Krautkramer of Rooted at Home in Green Bay.
Suttner and Renkas see the Motherhood Alliance as scalable, but want to be sure it remains tightly focused enough to serve its members well. For now, they want to grow in Northeast Wisconsin and are reaching out along the lakeshore in Sheboygan and Manitowoc.
The pair say they continue to learn as they pivot from running a fitness business to running what essentially is a marketing business.
One lesson is clear to Renkas: “Find your community, and if you don’t find it, build it.”
