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You Don’t Know Until You Know: Motherhood, Entrepreneurship, and How to Show Up for Your Friends
Want to support the entrepreneur in your life in a way they’ll really feel? Here are 10 simple, meaningful ways to celebrate what they’re building and remind them they’re not doing it alone.
October 1, 2026
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Written by
Sarah Gardner
GOODWALK
Before I had my son, I thought I understood motherhood pretty well. I had friends who were moms. I had a mom. What more could there be to understand? I knew it was hard. I just didn’t know. Then I became a mom. I remember thinking about my friends who had become moms before me, and it pained me to realize all the ways I hadn’t shown up for them as well as I could have. But I truly didn’t understand how hard it was to be a mom.
Becoming a mom and becoming an entrepreneur are remarkably similar experiences
When I started building GOODWALK, I thought I was mentally prepared for what it meant to be an entrepreneur. I knew it was hard. I didn’t know. GOODWALK was supposed to open our first studio last month. Instead, the space we expected to open in ultimately didn’t work out, and we are actively searching for a new home. While I am still positive that it will all work out for the better, I’ve hit the first really hard chapter in our company’s history.
This past month has brought back memories of becoming a mom because I truly thought I understood what it took to start a business before. But I didn’t know. And similarly, just like when I became a mom, I find myself looking back and wondering whether I really knew how to support the entrepreneurs in my life before I became one myself.
So, if someone you love is building something, here are a few ways to support them that probably mean more than you realize:
Ten ways to support the entrepreneur in your life
1. Celebrate their milestones that might look small from the outside
Getting their first batch of business cards. Seeing their logo on something physical for the first time. Hitting 100 followers. Seeing their website go live. These moments can feel enormous when you are the one building the business, even if they do not look particularly dramatic from the outside.
2. Ask about their business and actually want to hear the answer
Ask what they are working on. Ask what they are excited about. Ask what is hard right now. There is something really meaningful about knowing someone cares about the thing that is consuming so much of their brain.
3. Tell everyone you possibly can about their business
Ask them for a few business cards and keep them in your bag so you can hand one to someone when the opportunity comes up. Send a friend their Instagram. Mention them in a group chat when it is relevant. Word of mouth can be incredibly valuable, and it costs you nothing.
4. Leave them a review
If you buy something from them, take two minutes and leave the Google review. It is one of those quick things that can have an outsized impact.
5. Engage with their work on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.
Genuine engagement helps more than people realize, especially early on when their posts get few likes or comments.
6. Show up for them
Go to their opening. Attend their event. Stop by their pop-up. Buy their merch and wear it proudly. Entrepreneurs spend an embarrassing amount of time wondering, What if nobody comes? So make sure that doesn’t happen.
7. Don’t ask for the friend discount
In fact, insist on not getting one. If you want to support their business, paying full price is support.
8. Offer them specific help instead of saying, “Let me know if you need anything”
“I know a great photographer. Want an introduction?” “I can watch your kid if you need to work.” “I know someone that could help with your website. Would that be useful?” Specific offers are much easier to accept.
9. Remember the thing they told you mattered
If they say they find out about their lease Friday, text them Friday. If their website launch is next month, remember it. Sometimes support is simply showing someone that what is consuming their life registered with you too.
10. Believe in them without making them perform optimism for you
Let them have a bad day without requiring them to reassure you that the business will survive. Sometimes the most supportive thing you can say is: “That really sucks, and I still believe you are going to figure it out.”
Related articles by Sarah Gardner:
What Founders Should Consider Before Using AI-generated Images of Their Product
About the Author
Sarah Gardner
GOODWALK
Sarah Gardner is the founder and CEO of GOODWALK, a walking-based fitness studio built around joy, consistency, and belonging. A former teacher, coach, and growth leader, Sarah has spent her career helping people feel capable, connected, and motivated. During COVID, she built a six-figure tutoring business from scratch, and later transitioned into EdTech sales, where she grew from an entry-level sales role into VP of Growth & Partnerships in under four years. After becoming a mom, Sarah saw firsthand how much of fitness culture is built around intensity, performance, and intimidation, and how many people are left craving movement that feels good, social, and sustainable.
She founded GOODWALK to create a different kind of fitness company, where belonging matters more than performance.
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