Meet the Sioux Falls Instagram mom building real-life connections online

Through the power of social media, a Sioux Falls mom is on a mission to connect other moms and hopefully make motherhood feel a little less isolating. 

Her name is Kelsey Whitesel, and she is the name behind the Sioux Falls Mom Connection account on Instagram.

“I’m trying to create this little pocket on Instagram where people know they can come, find out what’s happening in town, be introduced to other like-minded moms or get ideas about where to shop, how or where to celebrate birthdays, and more.”

Kelsey Whitesel with her husband, Bryan, and children, Sylvie and Elden

The mom of two said this idea was born in June 2023, and the inspiration was twofold.

“First, I really like to see things in a neat and cohesive way,” Whitesel said. “Second, I personally found the first couple years of motherhood to be somewhat isolating at times.”

Even with support from family and friends nearby, “I would find myself making decisions and then second-guess those decisions all the time as a mom,” she continued.

“If there was a place where people could meet other moms or know that they have the same feelings, thoughts, worries, maybe it would feel less isolating.”

Whitesel grew her idea on social media, thinking there are other moms who could benefit from this information and feeling of connection.

She started getting a lot of questions from local moms wanting to know about things like the best shaded parks, open gyms for toddlers, recommendations for health care providers, summer camps, where to shop for postpartum clothes or ideas for where to host a birthday party.

“A lot of it is people in the community giving their own input or suggestions,” she said. “It has built up a level of trust and is great to have an open space to share these resources from other moms, so it’s not just me sharing my opinion or suggestion.”

Followers of the Sioux Falls Mom Connection can look forward to weekly series, including local roundups on Mondays, a small business featured on Tuesdays, wisdom from a local mom on Wednesdays and weekend event happenings on Thursdays.

Whitesel holds an extra special place in her heart for other local business owners.

Before she created the Sioux Falls Mom Connection, the former classroom teacher turned stay-at-home-mom started SoftRiver Words on Etsy, selling affirmation cards for kids.

“After the birth of our son, our 6-year-old daughter had a difficult time adapting, so I created these A-to-Z affirmation cards for her,” she explained. “It has been neat to see a lot of other teachers have purchased these cards for their classrooms.”

That has been a separate, but full circle moment, further igniting Whitesel’s passion for helping people of all ages to feel loved, included and connected.

Whitesel is excited to see how Sioux Falls Mom Connection has evolved and looks forward to what the future holds, like partnering with local businesses and taking the connection offline and into real life for group meetups this spring.

“I think the response has been incredible, especially because I have been anonymous,” Whitesel said. “I get kind of sentimental about this because it means that the 2,000 local women who trust me to be the relayer of this information are not just from my small pocket of the community, participating because they know it’s me.

“Instead, it’s become a melting point of all kinds of mothers with varying experiences and realities. I think that makes the response really unique, and I’m grateful for it!”