A SON WHO’S “TOO BUSY”
Go Call Your Mom LLC was started by Matt Kelly, a guy who lives in Chicago and has spent his adult life working in Corporate America.
Until 2019, Matt would call his parents once a week or so, but it was all about anybody else but them. How are Matt’s cousins doing? What’s going on with Matt’s job? The goal wasn’t to gain an understanding about his parents. Matt was too caught up in his own life to learn about his parents’ lives, at least not in any meaningful way. It was all about Matt.
Like many of us, Matt learned about his own dad’s lifze when he died. His mom told him all about his dad, but it was too late. Here’s the obituary Matt wrote to honor his dad’s life.
CALLING MOM
When Matt’s dad died, he started to call his mom every day so she didn’t feel alone. Like any new behavior, it was unnatural at first. He didn’t know what to talk about. After all, Matt didn’t call anyone every day.
Over time, Matt started to learn about his mom in a profound way. She told him about the darkest and lightest moments of her life. In turn, Matt told her his. But, she already knew about those. She’d been there for him through all of them.
What started as a practice to help Matt’s mom feel less alone became a ritual that’s now as natural to him as brushing his giant teeth.
STARTING A MOVEMENT
In 2023, Matt did what most mid-life-crisis guys don’t: instead of buying a motorcycle, he learned how to make sneakers. Then he made a pair for his mom — every lesson, mistake, and ounce of love he had, stitched right in.
That’s how Go Call Your Mom started. Not as a company (it’s an LLC now), but as a reminder.
Matt still doesn’t know exactly what it is. But he knows what it does — it gets people talking again. And sometimes, that’s enough.