Thousands watch as they laugh over odd-shaped swimsuits, pack school lunches, and roll their eyes over sticky fingers and crying children. Jen Smedley and Kristin Hensley, the stars of web series IMomSoHard, have gone viral by poking fun at the struggles of motherhood.
With a Facebook page that has more than 1 million likes, the dynamic duo seems to be gaining momentum. They said they began their journey as friends, sticking by one another as they became wives and mothers in their separate families.
As actors and comedians, they played off each other's humor to become "co-conspirators in this parenting thing," Smedley said.
Their idea sparked while they were "cracking each other up" one night over wine. They decided to share videos on the internet that detailed the hardships of parenthood through short skits and dialogues.
"Honestly, when we started this idea, more than anything it was just this idea that there was this need," Hensley said on CNBC's "Squawk Alley" Wednesday. "There was a need for content that felt lighthearted, that took the pressure off of us as moms. I was like, 'I don't want to feel bad about this anymore.' We took this idea to the internet, and it exploded because everyone else felt the same way."
Since they began uploading videos to YouTube 14 months ago, Smedley and Hensley have been touring the country for audiences who pay to see the pair perform.
But the moms said money wasn't the main goal of their internet endeavor, unlike that of many other YouTube sensations.
"There's an idea that if you go to YouTube, you're going to monetize," Hensley said. "But I would tell anybody, you're not going to make a lot of money. You're going to get a check for 8 bucks, and you're going to be like, 'Oh.' It's better to just start it creatively and let it happen."
Even with their success on YouTube, the duo said their favorite platform for promotion is Facebook, which has been "wonderful" and "incredibly supportive." But the moms aren't preparing to expand on other platforms such as Snapchat just yet, in order to prevent social media overload.
"I can't do one more thing," Hensley said. "We're saturated on our literal amount of time to do it. We are moms — we are active with our children, we are wives, we are trying to live our lives. And just like anybody else with social media, you can get overwhelmed. So we really just kind of focus on, right now ... Facebook and Instagram."
The goal of IMomSoHard is to create a relatable and humorous space for fellow moms, rather than pushing for money-hungry platforms, Hensley says.
"We're very careful because we want to make sure what we're doing serves our moms, and that serves who we are as friends and as comedians," Hensley said. "So in a way we've protected the brand as a result."