Image Credit : Katie Wilson Photography
Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Snow.
Hi Courtney, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi! I am so humbled and grateful to be able to share some of my story with you all here. My first two most important roles are partner and mother, but I’m also so fortunate to be at the helm of local Mom Collectives in three of the best cities AND to do what I love with a sustainable, purpose-driven packaging company in their marketing department. The Cincinnati Mom Collective (CMC) started almost ten years ago, and we are so honored to help tens of thousands of moms across Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky every month with the resources and support we provide parents through our website, eNewsletter, social channels, and events. When I first moved to Cincinnati with my 3-year-old, I did not have much of a support system or any friends. I found CMC during their first birthday celebration at Washington Park in downtown Cincinnati. They had a big birthday cake and tons of smiling, welcoming women that day. I love to write, and they needed writers, so I joined their team right away.
Over the years, I learned how to be a better mother, wife, friend, and member of the community. I gained friendships that I will cherish forever. One of those friendships was with the previous owner of CMC. She also owned the Dayton Mom Collective (DMC), which has been around almost as long. In 2019, she decided she wanted to go back to grad school and sell the businesses. I officially took over ownership of both sites in March of 2020 – right when the pandemic really hit Ohio. It was a very challenging time for us, our partners, and all the families in our communities. Remaining a steady support for parents however we could was most important to us during most of 2020 and 2021.
Spending a lot of time in Louisville, KY, growing up and having good friends there, I was asked to start a Mom Collective down there as well. We launched the Louisville Mom Collective (LMC) in October of 2021. Trying to leave the world a better place and doing purpose-driven work is what my life is all about. I want my daughter to enter womanhood and motherhood (if she chooses) with less stigma and unrealistic expectations than I did, than my mother did, than my grandmother did… Running these Mom Collectives is a labor of love – and one I would not trade for the world.
My professional career took a lot of winds and turns before I ended up where I am today. I was a manager at 17, was a General Manager of a restaurant at 18, tried out different majors at college, was a nutritional consultant for a while, and then I had my daughter. I had a couple different associate degrees but never finished a bachelor degree. I decided to go back to school as an adult learner (much scarier at that time than it is now), and I studied business management and human resources. I worked in sales and marketing, human resources, and other leadership positions throughout that time. After completing my bachelor degree, I went on to get my MBA. In addition to leading the three Mom Collective sites, I also am the Marketing Manager for JBM Packaging, a Southwest Ohio-based sustainable packaging company. JBM’s mantra is “Better Solutions. Better Lives. Better World,” a purpose I can proudly stand behind.
Some of my biggest passions are mentoring others and giving opportunity to others. I get the chance to do both in the various parts of my life. I have been a mentor for Columbus State Community College since 2019, and I have been invited to speak to the Environmental Studies seniors at the University of Cincinnati for several years in a row. With my daughter becoming a teenager this year, I hope she continues to look to me as a source of inspiration for the woman she can be, and the opportunities life can give her.
Starting as a single mom for the first three years of my daughter’s life, with no family or financial support; no 4-year college degree; struggling with depression and anxiety; and relying on part-time jobs, couponing, WIC, and sometimes food and financial assistance, I am so grateful to NOW have amazing mom friends around me, an incredible partner in this life, all our needs met and more, and the chance to build into others’ lives in so many ways. I hope my story is an example to others of how much life can offer if you never give up and you always work on being better today than you were the day before.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been an easy path! However, any of the challenges I’ve encountered over my journey make me appreciate all the success and blessings I do have in my life now. Having a medical disability and struggling with depression and anxiety have allowed me to provide encouragement and inspiration to others who are going through something similar. My winding educational path has made me an even more effective and supportive mentor in the college mentorship programs in which I participate. My struggles as a single mom the first few years of my daughter’s life have allowed me to be a more compassionate friend and contributor to the community of moms I serve through my work with the Mom Collectives. Being a woman in business and all the challenges that can come with that have taught me how to better guide young women entering the workforce at the very start of their careers. There are other challenges I’ve encountered throughout my life, and still, I would not trade any of the dark days, buckets of tears, frustration, struggles, heartache, heartbreak, or fear for the woman and leader it all has shaped me into today.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I find the most joy in life when I am doing something creative. Even when I studied or worked in restaurants, business, human resources, management, nutrition, sales, or marketing, I always found a way to tie in a creative component to what I was doing. I love to write, draw, craft, design, and photograph, to name a few. Both sides of my career (the Mom Collectives and my role as Marketing Manager with JBM) have very strategic components and require strong leadership skills, but I get to create in so many ways along with leading my teams and delegating certain aspects of the work. I specialize most in branding, copywriting, graphic design, and photography (and now videography!). What sets me apart from others is that I found a way to not rely wholly on my artistic and creative skills for my financial well-being. Oftentimes, having your income be based on a single artistic endeavor can steal all the joy from creating your art over time. My mother was an incredible artist and photographer, and she cautioned me when I was very young about turning my art into a full-time career. In my professional life now, I get to do all the things I love, but with a team around me that gets to learn from me and do all the things they love most as well. I never thought I would be in a full-time marketing role, but a previous mentor saw potential in me and a through-line with all the creative aspects of previous careers, and he pushed me to go into senior leadership roles with sales and marketing. That push eventually led me to the ownership of CMC, DMC, and LMC and the Marketing Manager position with JBM.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Never stop learning and growing. I heard very early on in my professional life, “If you’re not growing, you’re dying,” and “You can never truly stand still; if you try, you’re actually moving backwards.” The latter was correlated to nature and to how the earth spins. Those sayings have stuck with me all these years. I am very much a life-long learner. Whether it was going back to school for multiple degrees, getting my hands on all the self-development books I could, or seeking out the best mentors I could find, I have never let myself become stagnant or stopped moving forward. I have had a lot of roadblocks put in my way, and I’ve been in some really dark places, but I’ve never given up. Even with all I have achieved now at this point in life, I am thankful for all the hard times and the growing pains personally and professionally. I always try to share my story, so others can either be inspired or realize they’re not alone in whatever they’re going through. I look at the obstacles I’ve faced as opportunities to encourage others that are facing those same challenges.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cincinnati.momcollective.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/cincymomcollective
- Facebook: facebook.com/cincinnatimomcollective
- Twitter: twitter.com/cincymomco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqzo7vXsVZvPXtgKmIbOxXA
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/cincymomcollective/
LOUISVILLE MOM COLLECTIVE TEAM | PHOTO CREDIT : 
DEREK J. SNOW, FOUNDER OF 
2022 NATIONAL SISTER SITE CONFERENCE
COURTNEY WITH LOCAL CINCINNATI PARTNER, BLOOMS & BERRIES FARM MARKET
DAYTON MOM COLLECTIVE TEAM | PHOTO CREDIT : 
CINCINNATI MOM COLLECTIVE TEAM | PHOTO CREDIT : 
CINCINNATI MOM COLLECTIVE BLOOM EVENT FOR NEW & EXPECTING MOMS | PHOTO CREDIT : 
