When we first started building Hearth, the problem we were solving felt clear: families needed help with logistics. Who needs to be where, when? What’s for dinner? Who’s picking up the toddler and who’s ordering the birthday gift?
But the deeper we got—as founders and new moms ourselves—we realized the real opportunity wasn’t just about managing the chaos. It was about connection. It was about helping families feel supported, not just organized.
Hearth was co-founded by three women living that daily juggle: CEO Mei Lin Ng, Chief Product Officer Nathalie Stratton, and Chief Growth Officer Susie Harrison. We built this from the ground up, not just as entrepreneurs, but as mothers designing for our own kids, our own homes, and our own mental load.
We thought about little hands. About shared responsibilities. About what makes a family thrive—not just survive. This article is a look behind the screen —into why we started Hearth, what it means to us now, and how we’re evolving as our families (and yours) grow.
What problem is Hearth solving?
Mei Lin: In the early days of Hearth, we were really focused on making sure that the family has their baseline needs met. How do we support and automate things that we've currently been relying on someone in the family's brain to do? How do we provide technology to just make life easier? And now the next horizon of Hearth, is really focused on how do we make families feel fulfilled and connected? Creating tools that are going to help kids in their growth and that are going to really prioritize the emotional needs of a family.
Nathalie: The problem that Hearth is uniquely positioned to solve is helping kids become self-reliant. There's really no tool currently that exists that helps kids take charge of their day, take ownership over their own responsibilities, and really make them feel proud of the things they're responsible for inside the home.
Susie: Hearth is creating a support system so that families feel connected — kids can take charge of their day, parents can feel empowered and confident in knowing that they have the tools and resources to support their family, and everyone can stay on the same page.
How was Hearth built with kids in mind?
Nathalie: I feel like my thoughts were always little hands. How far can little hands reach to become independent?
Mei Lin: From the very beginning, that was core to everything we did — the inclusion of kids and making sure the experience, the tools, the visualization, the size of the screen, had them in mind.
Susie: What's been truly magical is watching kids’ eagerness to be part of the experience. Hearth invites kids in in a really beautiful way that empowers them to take charge of their responsibilities. There are many studies that show that kids actually want to be involved in helping. Kids want to be involved in chores. They want to learn from their parents. They want to be involved in those responsibilities, and Hearth really provides an avenue for them to do that.
What do you say to critics who look at Hearth and say, “great, another screen”?
Nathalie: There’s a lot of negativity around screen time and children interacting with technology. But at the same time, technology is going to be part of most of our lives whether we like it or not, and using it in a way that aligns with our values is really powerful.
Mei Lin: We believe in screen time for a purpose. It's inevitable that our kids and the next generation of kids are going to have technology as such a core part of their life. We want to introduce tools and resources that parents can feel totally comfortable putting in front of their children.
Susie: Studies show that adults who are healthy, happy, responsible, high-achieving individuals started chores early on in their childhood. They were involved in household responsibilities as young as three or four years old. So while we're building all these fun ways for families to celebrate big and small wins, we're also instilling behaviors that make a lasting impact on families and little ones.
How do you balance motherhood and entrepreneurship?
Mei Lin: Last year was tough in the transition back to work after back-to-back maternity leaves that we shared as a founding team. What became so apparent to me is that the problem we set out to solve with Hearth is not yet solved. It is so challenging to be a working mom who is trying to juggle both, trying to show up 100% in both places at all times. It’s an impossible task and an impossible expectation. What gets me up every single day, to continue to go forward, and not internalize this feeling of being a “bad mom,” is I’m so committed to making it easier and better for our community and future moms.
Susie: I feel very lucky that I get to wake up every single day and build for families. I'm building a better future for other families. I'm building a better future for my own family. And yet I still wake up every single day and feel guilty for time spent away from my son, Leo. And that dichotomy, I think, is something that you never really figure out, or if somebody has figured out, I would love for them to tell me. I want to be 100% committed to both but realistically, there has to be sacrifices made on both sides.
Nathalie: Thinking about my daughter in the future, I'm like wow, we're going to have conversations about this [motherhood and entrepreneurship]. When I reflect on our own moms and their stories— we were so inspired by them that we wanted to build a solution because they deserved a solution. They deserved a Hearth. So who knows, my daughter might see me running this business and also raising them, and she could be inspired to find a solution too.
What keeps you going on tough days?
Nathalie: The light in the parents’ eyes when they see their kids being proud of themselves because they accomplished something on their own. That's ultimately your desire as a parent, right? That you want to be like, “Wow. My child is this own independent little human that can take charge of their day.” I love that.
Susie: When we created Hearth, it was a lot about logistics — how can we solve a family’s logistics? And that's still important and will always be core to what Hearth is. But I think now, after becoming a parent myself, I'm realizing, it's so much more than logistics, it’s about providing a support system for families and my children. How can we create tools that they need to be empowered and confident? It’s personal now.
How has motherhood changed your perspective on your childhood?
Susie: I feel like I just didn't give my mom enough credit for all of the different roles that she played.
Mei Lin: I'm only a mom of one right now so it’s hard to comprehend the chaos my mom had to manage with four children — how much she had to keep track of on top of her career. I am amazed. I could ask her where anything was, like “Mom, did you see where I left my glasses?” And she would know exactly where in our household of chaos they were. Hearth is so much inspired by her and wanting to provide technology to support in the chaos.
Nathalie: My mom's story is interesting. We moved to the United States from Colombia when I was eight years old so my mom left behind her entire family and support system. I just find what she did so brave. She came here speaking a different language with two kids under the age of eight years old and we had to create new systems and routines without our larger extended family to rely on. I look at her even now, and I'm like, you're still doing this. You are still the brain of our family.
Why does family technology being built by moms matter?
Mei Lin: The family technology category has grown a lot the past few years and I’m proud that Hearth was a core part of creating this category and highlighting this problem. Of course, there are alternatives now that people can explore but I always come back to our core vision. We have a personal relationship and unique perspective with this problem. The fact that we are moms, that we are parents — we have personal motivation to solve this problem. I know Hearth will continue to set the pace for this category.
Susie: I mean, as moms, we get it because we're living it every single day. You know, every single day I'm waking up and thinking about how I can support my family, how I can support my son, Leo and make sure that he feels confident and empowered. And I know that that's what our customers are looking for too. So it’s just really fulfilling to build in a space that I'm experiencing, 24/7, 365 days a years, and know that we can bring those personal insights to help solve problems for our community of families.
