In this episode, Bindu shares how her MBA journey led to co-founding nurtur, a maternal mental health startup using AI to predict and prevent postpartum depression. She opens up about balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, why investing in herself mattered, and how her background in healthcare and engineering fuels her mission to change maternal care.

About Bindu Chanagala

Bindu Chanagala is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology and Operations Officer of nurtur, a maternal mental health startup spun out of MIT Sloan that uses AI and clinically proven protocols to predict and prevent postpartum depression.

An immigrant and mother of four, Bindu’s own experience with limited maternal mental health support inspired her mission to change care for mothers everywhere. She previously held engineering and leadership roles at Intermountain Health and SelectHealth, where she built teams, implemented automation, and developed predictive models impacting over a million lives.

Through nurtur, she combines her technical expertise and personal journey to create empathetic, preventive solutions for maternal wellness.

Learn more about Bindu's work at http://nurturcare.com.

Connect with Bindu:

• Lindkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bindu-chanagala

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Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

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• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

Jennie Yang shares her journey of navigating dual roles as a mother and a first-time founder. She emphasizes the importance of integrating work and life, and shares about her transition from corporate HR leader, prioritizing family, and overcoming self-doubt. 

About Jennie Yang

Jennie is an executive coach for ambitious women and founder of Chief Mama Officer, a private community for ambitious moms of young kids and moms-to-be. 

With 15 years of experience as a strategic operator at VC backed startups and scaleups, Jennie has coached founders, CEOs and leaders on strategic decision making, navigating leadership team dynamics, fundraising, career moves, wellbeing and cultivating personal growth. She blends NLP (neurolinguistic programming) with guided visualization, emotional intelligence, conscious leadership, and sound healing in her coaching approach.

As a former HR executive, she also serves as a HR consultant for tech startups and VC funds.

Jennie is mom to her 4.5 year old son and 1 year old daughter, and they live in the mountains of western Montana.

Learn more about Jennie's work at http://chiefmamaofficer.com

Connect with Jennie

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennieyang/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chief-mama-officer/
Instagram: @chief.mama.officer

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

In this conversation, Régine Théodat shares her journey as a mother and entrepreneur, discussing the broader definition of motherhood, the inspiration behind her business Isse & Lo, and the challenges of navigating entrepreneurship while maintaining her values. She reflects on her personal growth, the importance of raising confident children, and the significance of building a supportive community. Régine also addresses the realities of burnout and self-care, emphasizing the need for balance in her life as a founding mother.

About Régine

Régine Théodat is an entrepreneur, strategist, and mother who builds brands at the intersection of culture, creativity, and impact. She is the founder of Isse & Lo, a children’s heritage brand that creates playful learning tools to help families celebrate and pass on Caribbean culture—an idea born from her desire to raise her daughter with pride in her roots.

Isse & Lo was not Régine's first business, it was her second of four businesses launched to date. Her first business was  co-launching a farm-to-bottle agri-business in Haiti and currently she runs a consulting firm, Anana Consultants, that supports mission-driven organizations. She is committed to building ventures that center community, identity, and joy, in the most unapologetic way.

As a mother, Régine sees entrepreneurship not as a detour from parenting—but as an extension of it. 

Learn more about Régine's work at www.isseandlo.com, www.ananaconsultants.com & www.imansehouse.com.

• Isse & Lo’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isseandlo/

Connect with Régine

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginetheodat/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regine.theodat/

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

In this episode, Balu Belz (creator & host) interviews Hannah Ryu, the co-founder and head of business development at Oak Theory. Hannah shares her journey as a creative strategist, storyteller, and AI enthusiast and reflects on her experiences as a first-generation Korean American and a mother. They also delve into themes of identity, the evolving definition of success, and the unexpected benefits of a local support system.

About Hannah

As a first-generation Korean American and mother of two, Hannah brings a layered lens to leadership, blending creative instinct, cultural awareness and operational know-how, especially during times of growth, change and reinvention.

Hannah's expertise has been trusted by industry leaders and universities like Google, Optum, Columbia University and Vanderbilt University. She’s been featured at the Women in Tech Global Conference, and in outlets such as Forbes, Success Magazine and Entrepreneur.

Learn more about Hannah's work at www.oaktheory.co & www.undertheoak.co

• Oak Theory's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oaktheory.co/
• Oak Theory's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oaktheory

Connect with Hannah

• Hannah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannah.ryu
• Hannah's Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannahryu/

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

In this special episode of Founding Mothers Balu Belz (creator & host), flips the script and interviews Jessica Butkus (co-host). What starts as a behind-the-scenes moment quickly turns into a raw and personal conversation about motherhood, identity, and the powerful story of Jessica's birth experience. With warmth, vulnerability, and a few laughs along the way, this episode offers a deeper look into the woman behind the mic, and what happens when the storyteller becomes the story. 

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@foundingmotherspod
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz
• TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

Balu Belz (creator & host) and Jessica Butkus (co-host) reflect on navigating motherhood and the founder experience at the same time.

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@foundingmotherspod
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz
• TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/

Thank you for your support. Subscribe & review FOUNDING MOTHERS.

Visit our Website at https://www.foundingmotherspod.co

Follow Us

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/foundingmotherspod/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundingmothers
• Substack: https://substack.com/@foundingmotherspod

Connect with Balu Belz:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/balubelz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balubelz

Connect with Jessica Butkus:

• Instagram: http://instagram.com/jessicabutkus/
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/jessicabutkus/