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Mom gets national attention for helping other moms succeed

If you know a mother trying to get a small business started, Devon Moody-Graham is the woman to talk to.

ST. LOUIS – A woman known as CEO Mom is on a mission to help other moms succeed. Devon Moody-Graham grew up in East St. Louis. She's been an entrepreneur for a while.

"I started a candy store at age 10," Moody-Graham said.

Once she graduated college, there was more to consider and balance.

"I actually had a degree and a son," she said. "Although my parents were great with helping me with my son at the time, because I just had one then, it was still a lot."

Still, she went to grad school and became a business consultant. Around four years in, she realized her clients had something in common.

"I saw that most of my clients were moms," she said.

Moody-Graham launched a business called CEOMom. Through it, she helps other moms, like Tandra Taylor, develop their own businesses. Taylor's business is called Tendresse and Sage. She specializes in making handmade organic soaps.

"How to register your business name with the state, this is the cheapest way to do it, all of those little baby steps," Taylor said. "Devon has been 10 steps ahead of me the whole time."

Moody-Graham currently works with around a dozen moms and accommodates each of their needs.

"A lot of the women that I worked with, they work a day job and so we would be meeting in the evenings," she said. "We would bring our children with us."

In fact, her son, Gregory, takes credit for the CEOMom website.

“She calls me the co-founder of the site," he said.

From workshops to yoga classes, Moody-Graham hosts various events for moms at T-REX, a workspace for startup companies located in downtown St. Louis. Last week, she got some exciting news.

"I was actually chosen to be one of the winners of the 2018 American Small Business Contest," Moody-Graham said. "There were only two selected from Missouri."

She'll receive an all-expenses-paid trip to a training and networking event through Sam’s Club and SCORE. CEOMom will go on to compete for a grand prize of $15,000, which will be presented in September.

"It's going to help us take things to the next level," Moody-Graham said. "It makes me feel good because I just want to help people do what they love because I get to do what I love every day."

CEOMom will host a Moms Making Moves Summit May 18-19. The summit features successful businesswomen. Tickets cost $97 and there will be on-site childcare. Click here to register.

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