ST. PETERSBUG, Fla. — Emily Geary of “Your Sourdough Girl” has a sourdough starter named Leisel.
She came from a buddy on an Austrian baking trip.
“They sent her home with a 200-year-old dehydrated starter,” Geary said.
Together, along with daughter Ellie, joined The Mom Walk Collective, an in-person meetup group to combat the isolation of motherhood.
The group is also host to a Mother’s Day celebration on Saturday, May 9, at the St. Pete Pier with free family photos, free mommy and me yoga, and free mini-massages.
The event begins at 9 a.m.
“Like most people I’ve met down here, we’re all transplants,” Geary said. “Finding Rebakah and finding the group that she’s created has given me kind of like that sense of home again.”
Rebekah Langelle is the organizer of The Mom Walk Collective group in St. Petersburg.
She said her mom meetup group was the community that “pulled me out” when she faced postpartum depression.
She wants to help new moms, as she was helped.
“We have walks twice a month,” Langelle said. “Come, follow us on Instagram, and we’ll be there. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Geary, who will be a vendor at the Saturday celebration, credits her daughter with the motivation to work at a full-time job, a sourdough side-job and the mom job.
“She is the literal light of our world,” Geary said. “And I think after you have a child, they become your reason why — so this is my reason why.”
The Mom Walk Collective started in California in 2022 when a new mom was surprised by the large response to her initial meetup request on social media.
Now the group is in cities throughout the country, as well as in Canada.