Hey hey! My name is Shilpa, and I am one of the Co-Founders here at Auntie! 

An entrepreneur’s journey is not for the weak. Neither is becoming a mom. And because I am ambitious (and maybe a bit crazy), I decided to do both simultaneously. What better way to build a product, than to become your company’s ideal customer. Haha!

At Auntie, we are dedicated to supporting parents during the postpartum period by helping uncover a mother’s needs and transforming them as actionable insights for her partner. Our mission is to make this challenging phase a bit easier and more manageable.

I remember when my fellow Co-Founder, Ashleigh Riehl, pitched her idea for Auntie in our introductory entrepreneurship class at Carnegie Mellon University. I privately messaged her at the end of class to join her in pursuing this venture. Though I had no experience in being a mom at the time, my background in the biotech space, specifically supporting a product in my previous company’s Women’s Health portfolio, gave me some relevant insight. It was a steep learning curve—understanding what parents go through during the postpartum period while also navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship.

I graduated with an MBA in May 2023, and Ashleigh, Ellen, and I continued working on Auntie beyond the classroom. Three months later, I found out I was pregnant! Given our extensive interviews with hundreds of parents and healthcare professionals about the intricacies of postpartum, I felt somewhat prepared for what lay ahead. I was readying myself for the best and the worst, reading up as much as I could about what to expect both for the business and my upcoming personal experience.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sharing tidbits from my postpartum journey and entrepreneurial endeavors. This unique experience of mothering a new baby, myself, and a business promises to be full of lessons and stories. Stay tuned!