Dr. Marika Lindholm on Women Worldwide

Dr. Marika Lindholm, Founder and CEO of ESME (Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere), joins Host Deirdre Breakenridge on Women Worldwide. When Marika realized the steady rise in solo parenting, the changing climate to American families, and through her personal experience with single motherhood, she became impassioned with helping other women facing the same challenges that she did. On the show, Marika shares her inspiration behind the launch of ESME and why she wants to honor moms everywhere. Her platform provides solo moms with a safe space to share their challenges and struggles including some tough subjects such as domestic violence, addiction and cyberbullying. “ESME is a platform that allows your vulnerability to come through,” explained Marika. She also shares her own challenges as she moved from academia to becoming an entrepreneur and launching her online community. “The learning curve was tremendous having to learn about building content, social media, marketing and team building.” At the same time, as a business owner with a platform that was active 24/7, Marika was there to help people at all hours. Her advice to other business owners, “Don’t be deterred by unsolicited advice and just ride through the tough patches." A little more about Dr. Marika Lindholm … By launching ESME, Marika has created an online community that's a safe haven for solo moms, an endless library of resources, a networking tool, a writing/blogging platform, and private escape all at once. A trained sociologist and former professor, she taught classes focused on issues of inequality, diversity, and gender at Northwestern University. Marika brings that passion, focus, and analytical approach to refining the ESME.com platform and growing the ESME Sisters community. You can connect with Dr. Lindholm on LinkedIn and Twitter @marika_lindholm