Navigating motherhood can be very difficult, but Ellie Sillery, 32, is utilising her multimedia skills to ease that process.
She set up St Albans Mama - helping those in the city and afar - while documenting her passions, posting how to guides, relatable content and even hosting events.
We sat down with the talented social media star to find out more about her work in the community.
Ellie grew up in northwest London, before moving and giving birth to her daughter, Summer, in "the best place to be a mum" 18 months ago.
"There's so much going on for mums in St Albans," Ellie exclaimed.
"There's been lots of opportunities to put myself out there and lot of lovely things for us to do. It's made me very grateful for the area that I live in."
The birth of St Albans Mama
During some downtime from producing TV hits like Made in Chelsea and Saturday Night Takeaway, Ellie honed her skills to launch her social media page @summer.and.me_, and later St Albans Mama.
"There was this sort of gap in the market and I thought, you know what? I'm going to go for it," she continued.
"I began my own Instagram page and created content. I started it as a little creative outlet, I love to get out and about and I have a very busy life. I love fashion too, so it was just a way of me being able to share that."
Ellie's social media provides a how to guide for holidays, gift giving and documents some magical moments about being a mother, as her daughter Summer also helps entertain over 2,500 followers.
Meanwhile, St Albans Mama launched its first event at The Hub on Verulam with a sold out mum and baby brunch.
"It was it was a great success and I had so much lovely feedback," she said.
"People from all generations appeared, I've got my generation of mums with all their 18 months old kids to people with six week old babies, which was incredible.
"The event felt like the perfect opportunity to try and do something for yourself, which I found I didn't really do enough of when my daughter was younger."
Ellie didn't stop there, she then sold out an event a Pots of Art on Holywell Hill nicknamed "Brushes & Bubbles".
With canned wine, nibbles and pottery painting, the event proved another success and Ellie hoped that it gave mums a "lovely night off".
The free festive market
From 10am to 1pm on December 5, mums, children and everyone in between are invited to St Peter's Church for a free Christmas Market - in Ellie's latest venture.
When asked why she made the step up to launch her own Christmas market the 32-year-old said: "It's a way to champion local and independent businesses and a lot of the stores that we have on the day are run by mums too.
"There's no tickets or anything, you can just turn up and do a bit of Christmas shopping."
Among the stallholders are Love Montessori, The Little Gym, Luxebounce and Evie Grace Photography, to name a few.
"It's something that's easy to come to on your own because I know when you're a mum it's very difficult to get yourself out there and try to doo things on your own. It's not easy," Ellie commented.
"Have a little wonder, enjoy the little café area with coffees and cakes from some amazing local businesses as well."
"I used to prep the Made in Chelsea events. I'm going to feel like that on the morning of the Christmas market. But this time I'm not preparing it for Jamie Lang or Spencer Matthews, this time it's very different crowd - hopefully an easier crowd to please," Ellie joked.
Ellie was full of praise for the community of mothers in St Albans, recalling a time when she met one of her now closest friends on the street saying their "superpower confidence" helped them chat away as strangers.
"I have found it is a lovely community, I always tell that story in my speeches," she added.
"It's a nice, welcoming atmosphere, and when you have a baby in common, you can chat away for hours."
Looking to the future
Despite taking on a new TV project, Ellie has organised a collaboration with a popular gym in Harpenden in January next year.
"It's an exciting collaboration with a well-loved Hertfordshire brand," Ellie concluded.
To stay up to date with the latest St Albans Mama events follow https://www.instagram.com/summer.and.me_/.
Would you like to be featured in our new independent business spotlight series? Please get in touch with huw.richards@newsquest.co.uk
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