Work & Mother, which has already opened two locations in Houston to support working moms, has hired Dallas-based CBRE to assist with a national expansion.
The Houston-based startup provides private lactation suites for working mothers, including hospital-grade pumps, refrigeration and storage options, and other amenities. Abbey Donnell, founder and CEO of Work & Mother, has guided the company through the opening of its first two locations in downtown Houston, at 712 Main St. and Three Allen Center.
Work & Mother also has locations opening at Four Oaks Place in Uptown and at the Eastlake at Tillery development in East Austin. The Four Oaks Place location is slated to be completed by the end of the year, while the Austin location is expected to open early next year, Donnell said.
On Sept. 29, Work & Mother announced CBRE's Abby Alford and Lucian Bukowski will represent Work & Mother as it expands into other markets around the nation, particularly Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York.
"We've got stuff in the pipeline in those markets, so those will likely be our next locations," Donnell said. "Those are also markets where we've gotten some inbound requests that we're pursuing now."
During the expansion, Work & Mother will target large Class A office buildings. In addition to being a shared, boutique office amenity to offer to tenants, Work & Mother's private suites are a way for companies to remain compliant with Fair Labor Standard Act requirements for nursing mothers. The Department of Labor requires that employers provide a private space, other than a bathroom, for nursing mothers to pump.
Companies big and small are evaluating office needs at this point in the pandemic, while many others have leaned into a flexible work schedule for employees.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused occupancy levels downtown to fall, which has been tough in the short run, Donnell said. But in the long run, as employers work to attract and retain strong talent, the pandemic has highlighted Work & Mother's value proposition, she said.
"For landlords, their tenants are looking for more services," Donnell said. "They're rethinking their office footprints, they're trying to entice workers back to the office, and they need to be able to do that safely."
Work & Mother is a venture-backed startup and has received investments from Houston-based investment funds The Artemis Fund and the Texas Halo Fund. Austin-based Beam Angel Network, which invests in high-growth female-founded startups, is also a Work & Mother investor.
