This week I’m bringing back to the show Gena Mann and Carissa Tozzi, the founders of Wolf & Friends. I had Gena and Carissa on this podcast back in 2016, when Wolf and Friends was a new inclusive online lifestyle and shopping site. And by the way, you can listen to that earlier conversation by going here. But recently, Wolf + Friends has undergone a major tilt in their business, and now their focus is the newly launched Wolf + Friends App, which they designed to help moms to connect with like-minded women in their neighborhoods who are also raising children with special needs such as autism, anxiety, ADHD, sensory processing issues, developmental delays, mental health issues, down syndrome, and other learning differences.
In a judgement-free space, members will create a peer to peer support system via direct messages and group chats, making connections with new friends and mentors who are a few years ahead of them on their parenting journey. The community will also have access to a curated content feed where they can read relevant news, shop stylish and developmentally appropriate products, and get lifestyle tips from occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, child psychologists, behaviorists, financial advisors and other experts.
So today, Gena and Carissa are going to walk us through the app—why they created it, their vision for supporting moms, and how listeners can get started. I do want to mention that at this moment, the app is only available for certain platforms and I believe only in the US, but know that Gena and Carissa have plans to expand their reach. I’m so excited about what they’re creating because I feel like it fills a gap that so many of us need—connecting us, IRL, with the people who get us and our experience.
About Gena and Carissa: Gena Mann (left), Partner + Chief Executive Officer, spent 10 years working as a photo editor for Elle, O, The Oprah Magazine, and CosmoGIRL! She left magazines shortly after her second son was born and her first child was diagnosed with autism at 2-years-old, moving to Connecticut to create a therapeutic program for her son. Carissa Tozzi (right), Founder + Chief Creative Officer, is an entertainment director, trend forecaster, and brand consultant with more than 15 years of experience in editorial development, celebrity casting, and public relations, working with media and fashion companies such as Refinery29, Seventeen Magazine, Madewell, J.Crew, YouTube, and MTV.
THINGS YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE:
- The story behind Wolf + Friends, and creators Carissa Tozzi and Gena Mann’s personal stake in their venture
- How the Wolf + Friends App was inspired by feedback from moms in their community
- What moms can expect from the user experience of the App
- The experience Carissa and Gena hope moms have through their App, including finding community, mentors, advice, connection, and more
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