Posted by How Mormon Moms Became the Most Unexpected and In-Demand Influencers
What began as stay-at-home moms in picture perfect family towns like aptly named “Happy Valley,” where Mormon populations outnumber their counterparts by 70 percent, sparked a cultural phenomenon no one saw coming.
They were bloggers. Raising children and fulfilling the many duties of housewives and mothers didn’t leave a lot of time for pursuing personal interests. But between laundry and play dates and preparing healthy meals, they found time to blog.
Soon exchanging ideas on clothing and hairstyle choices or what’s the best early childhood product became a mainstay for the local Mormon moms, a collective place to meet and keep up with the latest trends and topics. In the competitive world of living up to their faith’s worthiness mandate, it was important to strive for excellence in every aspect of life. In Utah, the Mormon faith is more than a weekly church to attend – it’s a culture.
But today’s Mormon moms have come a long way from the traditional picture portrayed in media of years past. They were breaking the mold. They didn’t look or dress like the almost-Amish. They didn’t look like stereotypical “moms” even though they often had several children. They were fashionable and edgy. And so were their blogging choices. The social media world outside Utah began to notice.
One young woman, Rachel Parcell, author of Pink Peonies, graced the cover of Utah Bride magazine where Parcell was pictured mounted on a horse and kissing her fiancé in a meadow. After that, inquiries started pouring in about what skirt she’d been wearing, along with requests for her handmade floral headbands.
Jessi Draper, mother of three, is the founder of JZ Styles, her salon and hair extension empire known for its trademark “Utah Curls.” What she calls “Hair Candy Land” is a vast warehouse draped with thousands of extensions from white blonde (“Angel Food Cake”) to reddish brunette (“Cherry Cola”) and multitudinous others. Women like these formed a coalition known as “MomTok” and began to post videos in 2020 that would transform their livelihoods into small (or large) fortunes.
Hollywood noticed the sensation, too. Soon Draper began starring in the Hulu reality series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, and her professional life exploded. The show entered its fourth season and has outperformed The Kardashians as it follows the lives of these women who seek to “break barriers while balancing their public image, religious expectations, and the demands of family life.”
Perhaps the novelty of the unexpected – seeing Mormon moms portrayed in ways so contrary to traditional norms we’ve come to believe – added to the astonishing appeal of their public personas. Perhaps the real life scandal interwoven in their story lines soothes us in knowing everyone has their shortcomings and no one lives up to a perfect standard.
What can’t be ignored is that what they’re doing is working. LDS Mom Mindy McKnight parlayed a hairstyle blog into a thriving YouTube channel and product line. Amber “Fillerup” Clark authored the haircare brand “Dae” that’s now stocked by Sephora. And Parcell “could move product like nobody I had ever seen,” said Tan France, who collaborated with her in her early blogging days.
In an influencer age, how much their followers will engage with posts and buy what product the influencer is selling has become the industry’s most important metric. Mormon moms are hitting it out of the ballpark. Read their full story.