Courtney Hindmarsh knows firsthand how overwhelming the early years of parenting can feel. Inspired by her own experience navigating pregnancy, motherhood and the information gaps that often follow birth, she came up with the idea for Kinlyst, a platform designed to help parents feel more informed, supported and connected. Kinlyst brings together trusted information, expert guidance and real tips from parents. Balancing start-up life with raising her two-year-old son, Courtney, along with co-founder Tom, is on a mission to create a kinder, more collaborative parenting experience for Australian families. Here, she talks about the passion behind the business, the challenges she has overcome, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
The idea for Kinlyst started in the back of my mind the moment my partner and I decided we wanted to try for a family. There is so much information to navigate just to fall pregnant. Then in pregnancy, you do get a bit more support from your health or caring team, but once the baby arrives, the support feels like it drops off and you’re exhausted with all these information gaps.
I’m naturally quite an independent person, sometimes to the frustration of my friends and family. I did have incredible support around me: friends, family, an amazing parents group. But even with all of that, I often didn’t know the right questions to ask to get the information I actually needed. A lot of my friends with kids had been through it years before me, and the day-to-day detail of those early months naturally fades when you’re knee deep in the next chapter. I also lost my mum when I was quite young, so I felt like there was a layer of information missing from my own childhood that I couldn’t default back to.
After talking to parent after parent and realising so many of us were facing the same challenges, whether single, solo or coupled, I was inspired to make it easier for every parent going through it right now and everyone who will.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started in May 2024, still on parental leave with my six month old. I worked with an Australian startup studio called Hyper to test whether this was really a problem worth solving, speaking with parents, surveying them and digging through forums and Facebook groups. The answer was a resounding yes, so we built a prototype and slowly started reaching out to potential partners.
Parents told us they wanted an app that put privacy first and pulled together government guidance, expert guidance and lived experience tips from other parents. They wanted it designed beautifully so it felt nice to use at 3am and they wanted a culture where you could connect with other parents who didn’t always agree, but who shared the view that there’s no one way to parent.
In October 2024, I posted on LinkedIn to tell the world what I was building, which was a huge personal milestone. I’d been battling imposter syndrome for months, wondering who I was to bring this to life. But the truth is, I’m close to the problem, I’m living it and most parents piece things together from websites, forums and medical professionals anyway. I’m just formalising that.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The product concept clicked one Sunday morning at playgroup, when another mum told me about Connecting2u, a free text messaging service focused on child development for Queensland parents through the first five years. It struck me that parents would benefit from a guide, so we aren’t constantly trying to work out what question to ask for what’s coming next, especially with our villages thinning out. That’s what shaped the timelines at the heart of Kinlyst.
The next breakthrough was Tom joining as co-founder. A friend from school had seen my LinkedIn post, offered advice and introduced me to Tom, a senior software engineer who wanted to work on something with social impact. We trialled working together and it clicked immediately, I felt like I’d struck gold. Tom is a dad of two young girls and came at this wanting to support his wife through early parenthood but finding it difficult because so much of the information out there is marketed at women, so we’re designing with men and partners in mind too.
Once Tom was on board, the business really started to move. He built out our website, worked his SEO wizardry and set up our Patreon space so our founding community had somewhere to actually come together. Suddenly, we had the foundations for people to find us and join us, which made everything feel a lot more real!
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
My family is made up of my two-year-old son, my husband and a very needy cocker spaniel. I’m consulting three days a week and working on Kinlyst in the gaps in between.
It comes down to planning and flexibility. I plan on Sundays, catch up with Tom on Monday and Tuesday around gymnastics and swimming and try to be as present as I can with my son even while Kinlyst is humming away in the back of my mind. I work most evenings, except Fridays, which Tom and I have both protected for our families.
Every hour feels accounted for, which means there’s not much room for the admin of life, or honestly even replying to texts (sorry friends and family!). But they’re all so supportive and I couldn’t do this without them. Sometimes it’s balanced, sometimes it’s not, but so far we’ve made progress week on week and I’ve made peace with that. Tom and I are both in agreement that while we’re super passionate about this, we won’t do it at the expense of our families. This time is way too important to lose with them.
