Nighttime MomCo Leaders
Since the pandemic, the number of MomCo Meetups that meet at night has exponentially grown, with dozens of nighttime meetups gathering regularly across the United States and around the globe. These meetups often look and feel different from their daytime counterparts, adjusting to a more relaxed evening vibe and the needs of their members, many of who are working moms.
Overseeing these nighttime groups are dedicated leaders who have a passion for supporting every mom, especially those for whom participating in a daytime meetup is not a viable option. These leaders aren’t afraid to think differently, try new ideas or break traditions if it means reaching one more lonely mom in their community.
Join us as we interview over two dozen nighttime MomCo leaders, compiling their answers to give you a sense of what MomCo at night is all about.
Interview with various nighttime MomCo leaders
1. Why did you feel compelled to start a meetup at night?
Rebecca: I started the night meetup as a way to serve working moms in our area who simply could not attend the MomCo Meetup at our church that met during the day.
Rebekah: We meet at the same time as our church youth group and started our meetup as an option for the moms who drop their kids off.
Susan: We shifted to nighttime under duress during COVID, but then it went so well. We kept it that way long after all the restrictions were lifted.
2. How does a nighttime meetup look or feel different than a daytime meetup?
Brittany: We keep our meetups very relaxed: no crafts, decorations or extra frills. We use the MomCo videos and focus on our time to chat. We also keep our agenda fluid, so we can extend our conversation time or start a little later if we want to. This allows moms to come in late if they need to and not feel like they are interrupting or have to skip if they will be late.
Cheryl: I’ve led both morning and evening meetups, and the atmosphere is different at night. Moms seem more relaxed, more willing to share and more vulnerable in discussion time.
Stacy: Our night group is much more diverse than our morning group. We have moms with a lot of different life experiences, especially working moms. As a stay-at-home mom myself, I personally love that I gain such a wide range of new connections: I can ask one member who currently teaches at my son’s school questions related to his education. I can ask another member who is an optometrist questions about bifocals (haha!). And I can ask another member who is a speech-language pathologist questions about my son’s language development. I still have the opportunity to set up playdates and library storytimes during the day, but I am also meeting moms who I might never meet otherwise in this kind of casual nighttime setting.
What’s the biggest challenge of an evening group?
June: Sometimes attendance wanes when sports or other activities start up, but that’s to be expected.
Haylee: We do not offer childcare, which has made leading the group so much easier. But that means we need to help moms figure out childcare solutions by sharing names of babysitters, etc.
Stacy: Finding more leaders. With many of our members being working moms, sometimes they don’t feel like they can take on one more thing. So we’ve done a lot of creative thinking to spread out the responsibilities into smaller pieces. We also created leadership sub-teams to handle things, instead of just one mom. That has brought in a lot more help than anything else we have tried.
What do you appreciate most about leading a meetup at night?
Katherine: Our moms are so appreciative of the simple things, and they have lower expectations, so there is less pressure to be “on” or make things perfect.
Brittany: Our low-key smaller meetup has led to much stronger relationships. As leaders, we personally know everyone, and because we don’t have a million things to worry about, we have time to be present in the meetings and with our moms.
Martina: I am able to lead our night groups, which as a working mom, I would not otherwise have the opportunity to do.
Mandi: I appreciate the gratitude that the nighttime moms have for our meetup. It’s more laid-back than our morning group, and they’re so happy just to have the opportunity to be there. You can almost see them take a deep breath when they walk in. As hard as it was to start another meetup, it’s worth it each and every time.
5. What would you say to the member who is possibly interested in joining or leading a meetup at night?
Katherine: Having an evening meetup allows us to reach so many moms who often feel left out or unsupported.
Kristen: Try a nighttime meetup and see what happens! You can always go back to daytime. But be willing to take a risk and try something new. Maybe it will be a wild success! Even if you fail, that failure will help you and your team think of other innovative ways to meet the needs of the moms in your community.
Brittany: Your evening meetup does not have to fit any specific mold and instead can be what you want it to be. When you attend an evening meetup, you can focus on what’s most important to you: relationships.
Martina: There’s a real need for nighttime meetups in every community. The majority of our members don’t attend our church, but their own church or other mom clubs don’t offer anything at night, so this is a real outreach to moms who are hungry for connection.