Revolutionizing Maternal Health: How Mykel B. Davis Is Redefining Freedom For Breastfeeding Moms

When Mykel B. Davis, Founder and CEO of Muscle Up Mommy, gave birth to her twins nearly 10 years ago in 2015, she found herself navigating the newness of being a first-time and stay-at-home mom. Watching her husband leave the house to work 14-hour shifts daily while she was left feeling isolated, restricted, and as though the world was moving on without her is an accurate depiction of Mykel’s experience. The feelings she grappled with were far from the highly-ambitious and driven woman she once knew herself to be — and she wasn’t ok with that. So she decided to take matters into her own hands.

“I was grieving the fact that I could not just leave the house and go after my goals how I wanted to. I was resenting the fact that I could watch my husband get up every single day and flourish. And then I was inspired by the fact that I knew there was a world of women around me who were experiencing the same things — and that is what really put a battery pack in my back to give back to all the women in the world who wanted to be both a high-achieving woman and an excellent mother,” Mykel says.

Speaking for herself, she would say that Muscle Up Mommy came from the throes of motherhood. It’s a mantra she would repeat when facing challenges. A hard day of tending to her twins? Muscle Up Mommy. Dealing with mom guilt? Muscle Up Mommy. Navigating postpartum depression? Muscle Up Mommy. 

It became her saving grace — and now it's grown to be an ecosystem of products and a community that serves other moms through all stages of motherhood

Mykel started Muscle Up Mommy in 2016, and the business is her way of revolutionizing the way forward for moms all over the country. Not only does she tend to the mental and emotional needs of mothers, but (a humble brag here) she stepped into tech and created the first black-owned wearable breast pump. She’s been championing the motherhood space for quite a while, and she doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Desperately searching for anyone who could relate to her journey after having her twins, Mykel turned to social media to find moms who had been there and could be of solace — but to no avail. She wasn’t able to find a community that sustained her, so she created her own.

Mykel found mothers she could relate to, who she could talk to freely, and who weren’t afraid to be vulnerable in their experiences. This turned into a holistic safe space where they not only navigated the challenges of motherhood together, but also worked out and created a fitness program to focus on their mental health and overall wellness.

“In turn, it allowed us to really fill ourselves up and pour freely into our children, our family, and the things we wanted in terms of our personal goals and our careers,” she says. “It really just helped elevate our entire being while being able to lean on our community members throughout the process.”

Muscle Up Mommy continued to expand. From mommy meetups and fitness programs to curating products and offering services such as lactation support and online courses, Mykel continuously serves over 20 million viewers and brand subscribers. She pulls from her own experience in order to help other moms navigate theirs.

The creation of Muscle Up Mommy’s J35 Wearable Breast Pumps was Mykel’s way of hearing and answering the unspoken yearnings of mothers around her. From her own experience, she knew how restricting it was to be glued to a wall in order to pump. This was something that didn’t work with her lifestyle.

7 years after giving birth to her twins, Mykel and her husband were surprised with another baby girl. This journey was different though, in the sense that instead of nourishing two babies at once, she was tending to only one. Mykel had started her breastfeeding journey with twins, so latching one baby was a different experience and she needed a pump to catch the milk on the other side. At the time, many of the pumps she saw on the market were restricting — too many parts, cords, and leaving her confined to a wall. As an entrepreneur and having already established her brand, Mykel wanted the accessibility to move around freely. This is where the design of the J35’s stemmed from.

Other breast pumps were merely just convenient. "Convenience is one thing," says Rachel Parrish, Publicist for Muscle Up Mommy. "But making motherhood a seamless part of everyday life is truly the goal. The J35 pump truly creates a more accessible approach to motherhood."

Muscle Up Mommy sampled the wearable pumps to a group of moms with different breast sizes and made necessary changes for full functionality. The design allows mothers to pump comfortably in the workplace and in regular everyday life. “We’re able to navigate the spaces where we can be both a mom and an entrepreneur or business professional without feeling confined,” Mykel says.

She also spoke to the point of feeling like an outcast. “As the primary caregiver, especially in the early stages of your kids’ lives, you start to feel othered by society.” She noted that scheduling often has to be done around the baby and spoke about being glued to a wall while feeding or pumping. “Being a parent, more specifically being a mom, is kind of seen as an inconvenience in this country.” Fortunately, the J35’s were her way of creating both accessibility and convenience for mothers who were limited, but didn’t want to be.

Though Mykel enjoys being a mom, she knew that wasn’t her sole calling in life. “I knew I wanted more than just being at home with my kids because I knew that I was purposed to help other women, especially because of my experience. And as I was navigating the entrepreneurial space, I almost felt confined to where I had to choose between being either a mom or reaching my own professional goals,” she says. “I knew that was something I did not want to do. I almost felt like I was put in a space where I had to be isolated to either support my family by nurturing my children and helping my husband elevate and exceed in his career and sit my goals down by the wayside — and I did not want to do that. I wanted to really focus on continuing to be this woman of ambition while also helping other women because I did not want them to experience the things that I had already overcome.”

Balancing entrepreneurship or a professional life and motherhood is something Mykel realizes is no easy feat for ambitious mothers. She’s noticed that a lot is different when it comes to parenting nowadays, especially when it comes to mothers having the support they need.

“The village has changed. In the earlier days, the grandparents were more help, families were more supportive of someone who decided to have a kid. It was much easier to navigate and juggle working, caring for your family, and even having a personal life,” she says.

But more and more, she sees mothers learning to adapt in order to lead the life they desire to live. To her, it’s not about having to choose one or the other. It’s about having the autonomy to do both.

“While I absolutely love and adore moms who can just choose one and feel completely fulfilled with that, I’ve just never been able to achieve that. And I think it’s also important to highlight that it’s not about this or that. It’s about being able to do both. And because of the J35’s, I’m able to do both,” she says.

“A big part of Muscle up Mommy that I want people to take away is the fact that you can have both. You're seeing me in my everyday life doing both. I've been with my spouse for 20 years, we have 3 children together, and I’m a tech founder. You are able to do both, and just being able to have the example of people who are doing all of these things is important.”

Muscle Up Mommy was designed to support mothers no matter their journey, no matter what they choose — to be a stay-at-home mom, a career mom, or a hybrid.

Since starting Muscle Up Mommy, Mykel has seen some changes in the state of parenting, and more specifically, motherhood. “I’ve watched more people choose that they did not want to have kids because they did not want to be confined to the home and they saw other people speaking on the inconvenience of mothering.” She says this has made people choose the route of not having kids because they don’t want to give up the lifestyle they really desire in order to have children.”

But she’s also seen a bright side as of late. “Aside from people choosing that they have to do one or the other and more of them choosing their individuality as opposed to starting families, I’ve also seen on the other side where people are creating their own communities,” she says. “They’re not relying on their family and friends. They’re coming to social media, much like I did, to find that community of support.”

She’s seeing more and more that mothers are paving their own paths.

“People want freedom, they want flexibility, they want to be able to define life on their terms. So now we’re pushing out more resources to support those who are wanting to forge their own lane or be a hybrid of all these things. It supports the fact that there’s a demand for what we’re doing,” she says.

Since having her twins, Mykel has rediscovered her drive and ambition. Through Muscle Up Mommy, she’s depositing that same drive and ambition into other moms.

“Even though I thrive at being a mother and I thrive at being a wife, I also thrive at being a business owner. I thrive at being an entrepreneur, and I thrive in spaces where I can speak to other moms that feel the same as I did and want a safe space where we can have dialogue. I have this greater role that I know I’m called to, this greater purpose that goes beyond my family.”

For press and media inquiries, please contact Press@muscleupmommy.com

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