By Listening to Her Customers, This Entrepreneur Found a Larger Audience -- And a Greater Mission Michelle Kennedy launched the Peanut app to help moms. But now, the app is out to help all women.
By Stephanie Schomer •
This story appears in the March 2020 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Michelle Kennedy arrived at lunch, nervous about the conversation she was about to have with her best friend. It was 2016, and Kennedy had just made a big career decision. She was going to leave her job as a tech exec and launch a new app for moms. It was exciting — a new adventure, a massive market, a lot of potential upside.
But the downside was this: Her best friend, BBC journalist Sophie Sulehria, had been struggling for years to have a baby. In fact, at the time, Sulehria had just completed her third failed round of in vitro fertilization, and it was taking a toll on her mental health. Kennedy didn't want to add to the burden.
"It was a very bad time. My husband and I were really suffering," says Sulehria. "When Michelle said she had something to tell me, I thought, Oh God; she's having another baby! But she told me about the business, and she was so worried: "I don't want to be your best friend who's not only got a kid but also has a mum business — I don't want to alienate you.' "
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