A Star Is Born
Our November Women Who Went For It: Mary Catherine Starr of @momlife_comics
Every month, we celebrate and feature a woman who went for it, bringing their vision and passion to life. While their businesses and projects vary — they all have battled through self-doubt, jumped before fully ready and embarked on entrepreneurship while simultaneously carrying a heavy load specially reserved for modern mothers.
For November, we chatted with the amazingly talented Mary Catherine Starr, the artist behind the motherhood and marriage-focused Instagram account, @momlife_comics. You have likely seen her viral motherhood comics from the account, which has completely exploded over the last few years
With both wit and warmth, she regularly explores motherhood, marriage, double standards and the invisible load in her work, making moms laugh, feel validated or fired up depending on the day. It began when Starr casually shared a comic she made with her modest audience from her blog. They enjoyed it — so she continued to share them. “It was a fun, creative outlet for me, “she said. “I was really in the throes of the deep early days of motherhood. I started using these little comics and drawings just as a, a way to just kind of get some of that frustration out.”
Some of Starr’s viral comic, “An Illustrated Guide to the Double Standards of Parenting”
Her honest portrayal of that frustration resonated — particularly as pandemic living took hold — and one of her comics that focused on the double standards of parenting went viral, leading to a surge in her Instagram audience, gaining 100K+ followers over a few days. With the growth came some trolls who complained she wasn’t fair to men or her husband, but it was mild compared to what would ensue later.
A few months after her first viral comic, Starr reshared an older one in which a mom decides to save the last peach for her kids instead of enjoying it herself. The comic also showed a dad looking at the same peach and deciding to use it as a special treat in his daily smoothie, portraying how moms always think of their kids first.
“It was not anything that I thought would be controversial,” Starr said. “Some guys picked it up on Twitter and sent all of their trolls and all of their angry men in my direction. I was flooded with hate on every platform.”
The comments and messages became so bad that Starr had to take down her blog which she had been running for years. The hate and disdain trickled offline as well with a divorce attorney reaching out to her husband asking if he “wanted out of this abusive marriage” and some men sharing Starr’s yoga schedule on Twitter, encouraging her haters to show up to her classes. “I was terrified,” she said.
The comic that launched “Peachgate”
The trolls and haters ultimately didn’t deter Starr. While she admits she has become more thoughtful about how much of her personal life she shares in her content, Starr continued to create her comics — as well as find plenty of new fans along the way (@momlife_comics now has 300K+ followers).
Her work has been featured in Motherly, the Huffington Post, and in March she's releasing her first book: a comic memoir, Mama Needs a Minute! where she shares her own journey in modern motherhood and the relatable challenges we all face. We included it in our November MB Musts as you can pre-order now!
In our recent podcast interview, we discussed how she built her brand, double standards, the danger of mom guilt and more about that viral peach comic including how it ultimately created a movement for moms to prioritize themselves more. I know you'll love our conversation!