We see you out there, struggling, aiming for more and better. Setting goals. Only to feel like you're constantly falling short. We see you buying the groceries to meal prep only to watch the kale silently wilt and rot in the fridge, untouched. We see you setting the sleep tracker on your phone with big dreams of eight hours of blissful sleep...that somehow dwindles down to five and a half most days.

We see you dealing with the really hard things—when your parents start to forget who you are or your partner gets sick, or your kid requires real medical intervention for an illness you hadn't even known to fret about in your 3 a.m. doomscrolls.

And we see the little things too: Summer camp schedules that mean your workday gets cut short around 2 p.m.. Trips with kids that are amazing and essential—and absolutely nothing like vacations. So often, getting dinner on the table and laundry in the dryer feels impossible.

It's chaos out there, and more importantly, in here, in our collective brains. 

So, it's no wonder that most of us, even the luckiest among us, just feel like we're barely hanging on, most days. We feel alone in our struggle. Often, we feel alone in our families. And our families are going it alone, too, for the most part. 

And that feeling of loneliness is actually damaging our wellbeing. In 2024, Dr. Vivek Murthy, then the Surgeon General of the U.S. wrote, “Loneliness and weak social connections are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” And the same year, he released an advisory around the state of parental stress and wellbeing with some grim findings, including the fact that “41% of parents say that most days they are so stressed they cannot function and 48% say that most days their stress is completely overwhelming.” That double whammy of stress and isolation is crippling for so many of us.  

But the thing is: We're not really alone. Or we don't have to be. Because when we do come together and forge social connections, we are happier. There is a famously long-term social science study out of Harvard (the Study of Adult Development) that has followed boys from their teens years into their 90s (yes, it’s been running for over 80 years and has followed up with the next generation of those original participants’ kids now!). Watch this beloved TED Talk for a breakdown on all of the learnings from over the years. But one of the most compelling takeaways is the correlation between building relationships and not just happiness, but also better health outcomes. Robert Waldinger, the current director of the study, says in the TED Talk: “Those who kept warm relationships got to live longer and happier, and the loners often died earlier.” A pretty powerful case for connecting across our families, neighborhoods, and communities. 

And that's where Umi Spark comes in. We want to be in it with you and the people you consider your own. We want to connect you to others who can help. Experts. People who are right there in the thick of it with you. We want every family to feel a little less alone in this—and in the process, find solace, support, and maybe, just maybe, a few precious, blissful minutes of extra sleep.