Gratitude's Circle of Success
- Nov 14
- 3 min read
By Denise Iacona Stern
Founder, Let Mommy Sleep
When I learned I was expecting twins when my son was 1 year old, my husband and I went into full preparation mode. We did all the right things; bought the safest minivan, made sure I had plenty of healthy foods and had my parents on standby. We knew life would get hectic, but we thought we were ready (we did everything “right”, remember?)
What we didn’t plan for was my sudden onset of pre-eclampsia. The day it was diagnosed I was told I could experience terminal seizures that day, so 45 minutes later my girls were delivered by emergency C-section.
The babies were healthy, but I wasn’t. I was at risk for stroke and sent home with instructions to “rest.”
Rest while taking care of two premature infants and a young toddler. My husband did not have paternity leave and even with my parents on board it was clear I needed help. Out of that experience, Let Mommy Sleep was born.
I started the company in 2010 to support parents through those fragile early days at home with their newborns. The mission was simple: pair qualified caregivers with families to provide full overnight care of the babies and education for parents, allowing families to rest and recover.
It turns out there were a lot of new families struggling like mine was and what began as a service for one or two families a month quickly became a lifeline for hundreds.
I thought LMS was filling a gap, but in reality we were meeting a massive unmet need. We became profitable in under six months and soon after landed on a national stage at the White House Summit on Working Families and as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Leading Woman-Owned Business program.
But the real success came later. In 2012, we opened Mission: Sleep, our nonprofit arm that provides free overnight care to military and first responder families whose babies arrive when a parent is deployed, wounded, or deceased. The program earned formal bipartisan support in Virginia and continues to grow today. We also became the only company in the U.S. to develop and teach a government-contracted postpartum care curriculum. Our team has since visited Congress to lobby for sensible postpartum care and continues to advocate on local levels.
As the company expands, so does our ability to connect with others, completing what we call the Circle of Success. We’re proud to be one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s 50 Franchises Doing the Most to Champion Diversity, create ownership opportunities to as many women and families as possible and now offer our evidence-based resources and classes in Spanish.
Through it all, gratitude has been my guide. I am grateful for the medical team who saved my life, for the caregivers who make our mission real every night and for the families who trust us during one of the most vulnerable times in their lives. Gratitude taught me to lead differently. To grow slower, meet people where they are and build a business that measures success not just in numbers, but in lives changed.
Today Let Mommy Sleep continues to expand nationwide, with the ultimate goal of making postpartum care accessible to every family. Our Mission Statement remains: Sleep is a human need, so we serve all humans and I am grateful every single day that we are able to be the support that so many new families need.
Connect With Denise
www.tiktok.com@letmommysleep
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