Photo via Fast Company
Spread the Jelly, a Los Angeles-based media platform, has launched The Sticky Stuff—a deck of conversation cards aimed at helping mothers move past surface-level interactions. Founded in late 2024 by Amrit Tietz and Lauren Levinger, the $45 card deck features prompts organized into four categories: foundation, identity, belonging, and intimacy. The founders created the product after realizing how isolated many mothers feel despite spending their days around other adults, addressing a gap in meaningful community connection that many Atlanta-area working parents likely recognize.
Research supports the demand for deeper conversations. According to Nicholas Epley, a University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor who has studied human connection for two decades, his research with nearly 5,000 participants consistently shows people wish they had more substantive conversations but often hesitate to initiate them. Participants in his studies reported feeling significantly happier after engaging in deeper dialogues, yet they typically hold back due to fear of seeming intrusive—a psychological barrier the card deck aims to overcome.
The rise of conversation cards reflects broader concerns about social isolation in America. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has highlighted the loneliness epidemic, with technology and smartphones making traditional connection more difficult. While social media creates the illusion of community, these networks often lack the depth and vulnerability that foster genuine relationships. For mothers navigating postpartum depression and isolation, even small tools that provide social permission to go deeper can make a meaningful difference.
Tietz and Levinger position their mission as distinct from traditional parenting media, which often prescribes what motherhood should look like. Instead, they're building a platform where women can share authentic, diverse experiences. The founders believe the conversation cards represent just one element of a larger effort to reduce isolation and help mothers feel less alone in their individual journeys—a message that resonates across Atlanta's increasingly work-focused family landscape.
