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In this inspiring episode of Mumbition the Podcast, Carrie Kwan sits down with Claire Waring—creative leader, tech entrepreneur, and co-founder of Gether, an AI-powered app designed to ease the mental load for busy families. Claire shares her journey from the high-pressure world of advertising to launching a startup that empowers parents, especially women, to reclaim their headspace and thrive in both career and family life.
With insights on gender equity, the economic impact of mental load, and the power of pitching, Claire offers practical wisdom and heartfelt reflections on building a business, raising a family, and creating a more balanced future for the next generation.
Credits
Produced by: Lucy Kippist
Edited by: Morgan Sebastian-Brown
Guests: Claire Waring Gether
Key Takeaways
- Mental Load & Gender Equity: Claire highlights how mental load disproportionately affects women and contributes to the gender gap in workforce participation.
- Tech for Good: Her app, Gether, uses AI to help families manage schedules, reminders, and tasks—freeing up mental space for working parents.
- Creative Industry Insights: Claire shares her journey through the advertising world and how mental load impacts creative performance.
- Economic Opportunity: Reducing mental load and enabling equal workforce participation could add trillions to global GDP.
- Entrepreneurial Challenges: Access to funding remains a major barrier for women entrepreneurs, with less than 3% of VC funding going to women-led businesses.
- Pitching as a Superpower: Claire’s background in advertising helped her excel in pitching, leading to early funding wins and valuable connections.
- Family Co-Founding: Working with her sister as a co-founder has been both challenging and empowering—described as their “superpower.”
- Work-Life Harmony: Claire emphasizes the importance of pacing yourself in business—“it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
- Home as an Organisation: She advocates for treating the household like a business, using tools and systems to manage it effectively.
Additional Resources Mentioned
- Gether App: AI-powered app to manage family logistics and reduce mental load.
- Blackbird Giants Program: Early-stage startup program that helped Claire refine her pitch.
- Sunrise Festival: Where Claire pitched and won her first funding round.
- Techstars Accelerator: A startup accelerator program Claire and her co-founder completed.
- Mental Load Quiz: A tool within the Gether app to help users assess their mental load.
- RACI Model: Referenced as a helpful framework for sharing responsibilities at home.
