Amanda Hausmann of St. Louis knows what it feels like to be overwhelmed by the demands of a career and parenthood. She was working as an attorney, with a 2-year-old and a newborn, when she realized that she needed help.
“I couldn't keep on top of that pile of laundry, do the dishes [and] meal prep for the week. It all seemed like too much,” she said. “And at the same time, I saw other mothers who were stay-at-home moms, or even retired moms, who were looking for ways to earn flexible income but not have a full-time job, and I saw that there was a disconnect there.”
Haussmann longed for a way to bridge that divide, so she created one. In November 2024, she left her job as an attorney to develop MomMoment, an app to connect moms who need support tackling everyday household tasks with other parents who are looking for temporary work. Jobs may include laundry, home organization, cooking, party planning or gardening.
The app is divided into two parts: one for “askers” and another for “helpers.” Users can be either or both, depending on their needs on a given day. Askers may select a helper who specializes in a certain task, or they can post a task for bidding on by helpers who set their own rates.
“Women's time is valuable,” Haussman said. “I want women to be in control of their days, and I want them to dictate what it is they're comfortable working for.”
The helper side of the app was launched in May, and the asker side was launched in June. So far, MomMoment has 270 helpers and 150 askers throughout the St. Louis area, in both Missouri and Illinois.
“The number of women who have said, ‘I want to help, I want to earn some income, and I want to lend a hand to a busy mom,’ has really been surprising to me. I think that the high costs of child care [and] the return-to-office mandates have resulted in a lot of women leaving the workforce,” Haussman said. “There are a lot of women who have chosen to stay at home [and] who are looking for ways to earn some income.”
In addition to evening out the ratio of helpers to askers, Haussman is focused on launching MomMoment nationwide in the coming year.
“I would love it to be the app every mom has, regardless of how you work or raise your children,” she said.
For more on the MomMoment app, the demands of modern parenthood and why Amanda Haussman believes labels like “stay-at-home mom” and “working mom” are divisive and insufficient, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
