“I’m a mom with a business.”
I’m Janice Villanueva, mom of 3, parenting advocate, mompreneur, teacher, community builder and founder and CEO of Mommy Mundo.
I first began my parenting advocacy work in 1996, when I was an expectant mom looking for resources to prepare me for the biggest role of my life, that of being a mother. Unable to find the support I needed, I, together with like-minded moms and advocates, started organizing talks and support group meetings for moms like us. Around this time, while I was raising my two sons, I set up my first two mom businesses, Mommy Matters, a pioneering brand of nursing apparel, and Mommy Pages, the first and only free mom directory, and a widely circulated handbook with a total circulation 200,000 copies.
In 2003, with the rise of digital and social media, I decided to organize together with my partner, childbirth educator Rome Kanapi, the first lifestyle expo for moms, Expo Mom. The very first Expo Mom held at the Rockwell Tent surpassed my expectations. More than 8,000 moms filled up our venue, the aisles were overflowing, and more importantly, the spirit and energy of an emerging Filipino mom community was palpable. Little did I know that till present day, Mommy Mundo, as I would later brand my efforts, would be known as the most extensive and most active multi-platform resource on all things motherhood and family in the Philippines. Today, through events, web, social media, and print, we have reached almost 1 Million mothers in the past 15 years, and have a current active base of more than 500,000 moms in our #mmcommunity.
Since my days as a new and pregnant mommy, my simple dream was to provide moms like me with access to information and support, and through the years, own our mission of #MOMPOWERMENT. Through all these years, I believe that passion and purpose allowed me to embrace the spirit of service that is and has always been at Mommy Mundo’s core.
My other related passions and advocacies include healthy pregnancy, breastfeeding, active parenting, mom entrepreneurship, mindful motherhood, and #momfluence (an advocacy celebrating the use of digital influence for good). In Mommy Mundo we have also practiced giving back to less fortunate counterpart moms through our partner beneficiary Childhope Asia and our own outreach arm, Momshare.
Besides the great team that works with me at Mommy Mundo, what truly inspires me to do the work of Mompowerment is my family. I am happily married to my husband, Gary, who is my teammate in running our events and communications agency, Creative Juice, and raising our three amazing and equally talented children.
