It took Nethra Hill a few minutes to recall what she did for a living before she married and became a stay-at-home mom.
“Let me think, what was I doing? Was I a secretary, no; was I at the airport or at Hollywood Video? Nope. Oh yeah, I was working part time at the Central Library and at a Christian Book store?”
It’s not that Hill wants to forget her past; it’s just that once her children came along (Colin, born in 2011, Destiny and Brooklyn born in 2012 and 2017 respectively), motherhood has become her full-time vocation.
Since her marriage in 2010 to videographer, Christopher Hill, Nethra proudly boasts of her current job titles: “Stay-at-home mom, home-schooler and entrepreneur.”
“I’m a crafter,” Hill explained. “I make T-shirts, mugs, tumblers, and ‘busy books,’ for school-age children.”
The true gift of an entrepreneur is the ability to hone-in and capitalize on a marketable need. For Hill, the choice was a no-brainer. Motherhood. In 2019, she started “Eve’s Bloom,” a program designed to give mothers a place to gather and learn from one another. Last year, Eve’s Bloom received a $7,000 grant from the National Parents Union with funding from the Walton Foundation.
For now, Hill, who lives in Ferguson, focuses mainly on mothers in her neighborhood. She uses Facebook and “Nextdoor” (the social app that helps people communicate with their neighbors) to arrange meetings at libraries or other public spaces. Hill explained her program’s name and its mission:
“Eve” means the mother of all living things. Bloom is like how flowers bloom. It’s basically just me pulling moms together and creating a space where we can bloom together in the area of motherhood,” Hill said. “We learn parenting and communicating skills while providing a support system where moms learn from moms, learn about being a mom and supporting one another.”
The idea solidified for Hill after noticing how some frustrated moms dealt with their kids in public places like grocery stores or playgrounds. She recalled one incident that stayed with her.
“I saw a young mother with a little boy and girl, maybe three or four, on the playground. They were playing and then the kids started arguing. The mother immediately started yelling at them, cursing, and yanking the kids by the arm. I thought her reaction was unhealthy, but I didn’t want to impose because people sometimes are not receptive to strangers.”
That experience and others motivated Hill to create a space where feelings of frustration with children could be addressed in an open but safe environment. The group settings were going well until the coronavirus started to spread in March of last year.
“OK, so now we can’t meet. Everybody is stuck in the house, cut off from the world,” Hill recalled adding, “So now, it was time to explore social time online.”
She transitioned from one-on-one gatherings to virtual sessions. One of the major topics of discussion was the fast-changing educational environment due to the pandemic and the challenges of virtual learning. For Hill, addressing those concerns was easy.
“Virtual learning is so stressful for parents and kids. Managing and juggling personal and screen time and all that is a huge burden for some mothers. Sitting kids in a room by themselves and saying, ‘go learn,’ wasn’t going to work for me,” Hill explained. “So, when the Fall 2020/2021 school year began, my husband and I decided that our kids weren’t going to be a part of that.”
Using the philosophy of her program, Hill shared the challenges of home-schooling with her network of moms. She invited those who were already teaching their kids at home to share their experiences. She also used and shared YouTube tutorials and other online home-schooling lessons from Google and other social media sites.
Hill published a book, “Mommy & Me Heartfelt Affirmations,” in 2019. She plans to continue publishing work on positive parenting. The Parents Union grant, she said, will allow her to incorporate Eve’s Bloom as a tax-deductible nonprofit.
Hill also plans to recruit professionals to interact with the women she serves. Surrounding herself with professionals is in no way a self-indictment. She has an associate’s degree from community college but didn’t graduate from Harris Stowe State College afterwards. As an avid entrepreneur, there were other requirements other than an advanced degree to start the enterprise for moms.
“All you need is heart and compassion,” Hill stated proudly. “To do something like this, you just need to care.”
