Uptown women can turn anything into a business opportunity \u2014 even their kids leaving the house.<\/p>\n
When former Vogue exec Donna Korren, 61, watched her youngest daughter fly the coop for college, she realized it was a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of heartbreak and opportunity<\/a>.<\/p>\n The moment moms finally regain their house and time, and suddenly ask, \u201cNow what?\u201d<\/p>\n For Korren, who now works in luxury brand strategy, the answer was simple: Start a social network for mothers who successfully launched their kids into elite colleges but forgot, at least for a while, to launch themselves.<\/p>\n She calls her business \u201cEmpty Quester.\u201d<\/p>\n At dinners around the Upper East Side, empty nesters are inspired to talk about everything from menopause and career ambitions to family and what comes next. Courtesy Donna Korren<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always disliked the phrase \u2018empty nester\u2019 because it rings of lack,\u201d Korren, who lives in Manhattan, told The Post. \u201cIt describes the end of a period in a parent\u2019s life with nothing more than vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n To fill the void, she charges the club\u2019s paid members<\/a> a relatively low fee of $240 a year \u2014 less than the cost of a night out in a tony neighborhood \u2014 to organize two online group chats a month and occasional in-person ladies\u2019 nights.<\/p>\n Donna Korren (standing), 61, founded Empty Quester for mid-life moms. Blaine Pennington<\/p>\n According to data, there may not be as many empty nesters as there used to be. <\/p>\n Nearly 33% of American adults under 35 still live with their parents, according to a 2025 survey<\/a>. But that means 66% of grown kids have left the nest \u2014 leaving moms especially vulnerable to feeling lonely and even somewhat useless.<\/p>\n Gwen Mitrano, 53, was one of those women.<\/p>\n After selling her family home in Connecticut and moving back to her home city of Manhattan in 2022, she joined Empty Quester last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n She told The Post, \u201cI realized my only friends in the city were Pedro and Hiram\u201d \u2014 the doormen in her Upper East Side co-op.<\/p>\n \u201cInitially, the most surprising thing was how quiet our home was,\u201d Mitrano, who sold her Connecticut home after her daughters left for college, said. \u201cI kept expecting the front door to swing open to see my daughters and their friends coming and going.\u201d<\/p>\n For $240 a year, women gain access to in-person events and online meet-ups. Blaine Pennington<\/p>\n And while she loved the perks of sudden solitude \u2014 \u201cIt\u2019s really nice not hearing the question, \u2018What\u2019s for dinner?\u2019\u201d \u2014\u00a0 she realized they came with a new need to rebuild her social life, and redefine who she was beyond motherhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mitrano tried stitch nights, oil painting, meditation and silk painting classes, but often found herself surrounded by people decades younger.<\/p>\n \u201cThe company was great, but by the time you\u2019re 50, there\u2019s a comfortable shorthand that comes with hanging out with people your own age,\u201d she said. \u201cI had a running joke with my husband that women in their 50s just don\u2019t live in Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n Ironically, it was Gen Z\u2019s modern clubhouse, TikTok, that helped Mitrano discover Empty Quester.<\/p>\n Mahwish Syed (L) says Donna Korren (R) came into her life at the perfect time. Courtesy Mahwish Syed<\/p>\n Normally, Mitrano joked, she would have taken a \u201chard pass\u201d on meeting up with a random group of strangers.\u00a0<\/p>\n But knowing how rare it was to find like-minded women her own age, she took a leap of faith in her well-worn Manolos.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pleasantly surprised to meet interesting women at a similar life intersection to mine,\u201d she told The Post. \u201cYou can never underestimate the power of girlfriends.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the in-person gatherings, Korren says Empty Quester members also get access to two virtual, expert-led Zoom meetups each month, plus Substack chats with fellow \u201cquesters.\u201d<\/p>\n At one recent beauty event, members mingled, laughed and tried free skincare products \u2014 all carefully chosen by Korren in her growing role as a mid-life brand whisperer. <\/p>\n Other gatherings have included drinks, meals and even panel discussions about life beyond daily parenting.<\/p>\n Some moms are even getting a jump on empty nester status while their kids are still at home.<\/p>\n Mahwish Syed, 53, has a teen son still living at home. But the self-proclaimed \u201cdesign goddess,\u201d who runs an interior decorating firm<\/a> in the East Village, told The Post she was \u201cthirsty for that human connection and that level of sisterhood.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery age has its lessons, but it also has its treasures,\u201d Syed, 53, told The Post. Courtesy Mahwish Syed<\/p>\n As someone who \u201ccan\u2019t wait for the next chapter\u201d \u2014 when her child is successfully launched on a college campus \u2014 Syed was thrilled to find a built-in group of women who are already facing the post-teen parenting years.<\/p>\n \u201cAt this stage of life, you identify as a mom, but you\u2019re so much more than that,\u201d Syed said. \u201cHow do you actualize those parts of yourself that may have been put on hold?\u201d<\/p>\n Korren says her two daughters (above) helped her coin the name Empty Quester, wanting to bring together women on a \u201cnew quest\u201d in midlife in New York City. Blaine Pennington<\/p>\n NYC-based psychotherapist Jordan Conrad<\/a> says that struggle can be part of a much bigger identity shift.<\/p>\n \u201cBecoming an empty nester is a bigger identity shift than many people expect,\u201d Conrad told The Post.<\/p>\n Once the day-to-day structure of being a mother disappears, women can suddenly find themselves having to rebuild not only their routines, but their sense of who they are outside of parenthood.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt can feel that your entire social life was simply a byproduct of your child\u2019s life, and now you need to learn how to be around people again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs centuries of people have found out, New York City is the ideal city to reinvent yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you allow yourself to feel excited by those possibilities and expose yourself to novel experiences, it can have a significant effect on your brain.\u201d<\/p>\n The therapist says the city is an ideal place to practice social skills and form connections as an empty nester.<\/p>\n And, perhaps, a significant effect on Donna Korren\u2019s second act as a post-parenting guru. On TikTok, her bio<\/a> now reads \u201cempty nest expert,\u201d and features categories like \u201ccollege parenting 101\u201d and \u201cover 40 style.\u201d<\/p>\n Her videos have been viewed almost a million times.<\/p>\n Once the day-to-day structure of being a mother disappears, women can suddenly find themselves having to rebuild not only their routines, but their sense of who they are outside of parenthood.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt can feel that your entire social life was simply a byproduct of your child\u2019s life, and now you need to learn how to be around people again,\u201d Conrad said.<\/p>\n Korren (R) and Sarah Kugelman (L), founder of All Golden Beauty, recently hosted an in-person Empty Quester event. Blaine Pennington<\/p>\n \u201cFor that reason, one of the best things empty nesters can do to re-engage with themselves and develop their social lives is to find something that they are interested in \u2014 preferably something they don\u2019t know that well \u2013 and do it with other people who are also interested in it,\u201d the mental health expert said.<\/p>\n And for New Yorkers, he sees plenty of opportunity to start over.<\/p>\n \u201cAs centuries of people have found out, New York City is the ideal city to reinvent yourself,\u201d Conrad said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no shortage of stimulation and, if you allow yourself to feel excited by those possibilities and expose yourself to novel experiences, it can have a significant effect on your brain.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t