We just made Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500 list!

Here’s how “the motherhood penalty” became our “motherhood advantage”.

Esther and Melissa here with some exciting news…

We’ve been named on Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500 list, and it is an honor we don’t take lightly!

This recognition hits extra hard when we consider how, despite what progress has been made, women in business have the odds stacked against them. For female founders, there is a greater disparity in resources that can make it difficult to even get off the ground, much less thrive once you launch.

For example, Venture Capital funding only goes to about 2% of female founder teams and that number decreases as they scale. Compounding this, intersecting identities such as race, sexual orientation, disability, etc. can mean facing harsh biases or a lack of opportunities and access.

When it comes to motherhood and business, this intersection presents enough barriers to warrant its own term. “The motherhood penalty” was coined in the early 2000’s by sociologists Michelle J. Budig and Dr. Paula England to describe the disadvantages mothers face in the workplace after having kids. 

A 2024 study by researcher and Assistant Professor Valentina Rutigliano highlights just how this “penalty” shows up for mom-founders, sharing that female-led companies saw an average decline of 21% in sales, 17% in assets, and 21% in profits in the five years post child-birth. Rutigliano states, “Over each year, there is an approximate 2.5% reduction in the likelihood of these firms remaining operational.”

Knowing these statistics, Inc.’s recognition has us reflecting on how fortunate we are to be an exception. For us, Pok Pok’s success is actually rooted in our identities as women and mothers! Our success is not in spite of our kids, it’s because of them.

Pok Pok started because we wanted healthier screen time for our own kids, then we realized how many other families were craving this. We also saw the need for kids’ to have more opportunities for harnessing their imagination in this digital era of automation. Since our mission is to raise this next generation of creative thinkers, it’s pushed us to expand our own imagination as well, and to constantly be evolving.

Over time, it’s become more clear how our personal and company growth are interconnected, constantly fueling each other. Our experience as moms may have planted the seed for Pok Pok, but it is also what continues to nurture the entire ecosystem around it.

How Motherhood Informs our Leadership

While Pok Pok inspires us to grow and boost our own creativity, motherhood also informs how we show up as founders. Over the years, we’ve noticed how one trait in particular supports both areas: A passion for staying curious and learning.

There’s a curiosity that is not only crucial to designing an innovative product, but as an ethos to foster resiliency within a team. When we choose to be curious over critical, we can bounce back quicker and in a better direction. As we always say, “when things get hard, we get curious”!

For us, having kids is a constant reminder that mess and mistakes are what make us human. It allows us to zoom out and see the bigger picture, to let go of details we might’ve obsessed about before. Because motherhood doesn’t offer much free time to ruminate, it has helped us realize our energy is better spent exploring creative solutions than fretting over spilled milk. (And as moms, we deal with plenty of spills.) 

Because we can’t pour 100% of our energy into business, we’ve also had to learn to work smarter, not harder. Of course, we don’t have it all figured out and this is a constant learning journey. We can’t deny that balancing two worlds is exhausting, and we’ve dropped balls on both ends, reminding us that we can’t do it all. When this happens, it’s easy to see how lack of support is a factor in “the motherhood penalty”. Without our village, without the people that help us pick the balls back up, Pok Pok’s success would not be possible.  

From grandparents who can swoop in with childcare, to having supportive partners as true teammates, to the actual members of our talented team who breathe life into this mission, every accolade and accomplishment is a community effort. 

Thanks to Inc. for celebrating stories like ours and for affirming how our lived experiences can power industry-leading innovation. And finally, for showing us, and women everywhere, that “the motherhood penalty” can actually be a “motherhood advantage”!

We’ve been so inspired by the unique approach of each child who plays with our toys and can’t wait to hear what families like yours think of this one. Receiving your feedback, videos and ideas for new updates is so important for the growth of Pok Pok so please say hello at hello@playpokpok.com or on social media @playpokpok.