Though a mother’s intuition may be strong, she still needs support to get through the challenges and transitions that come with pregnancy and parenthood. In preparing for and raising a baby, the mother’s needs are often overlooked. This Mother’s Day, we’re spotlighting five small businesses that nurture new and expectant moms.
Milk Stork
After having twins, Kate Torgersen went on a business trip and didn’t skip a beat with her breast milk routine. Not wanting to “pump and dump,” she went to great lengths to ensure she could take the milk back safely to her babies. This proved to be difficult, involving an extensive TSA inspection and having to creatively keep the milk cold. There had to be a better way to feed her kids while she was away, so Kate called her dad, Mike, and a year later they launched Milk Stork.
In 2015, the father daughter duo essentially built the breast milk shipping industry. Thanks to this small business, traveling moms all over the world can rest assured that their breast milk will get home to their little ones. And while individual mothers are more than welcome to use this service, Milk Stork largely shifts the responsibility over to employers. In its first year, Milk Stork onboarded five clients to provide this service to their employees. Today, over 850 employers offer Milk Stork in their benefits packages.
Emilia George
When Elle Wang was pregnant with her first child, she realized that style was sorely lacking in maternity clothes. As an expectant mom working a corporate career, she especially struggled to find professional attire she could stand to wear all day. So in 2019, she decided to make a difference in the market. Striving to make maternity wear fashionable and comfortable, Emilia George is a sustainable motherhood lifestyle boutique in Tribeca, New York.
Emilia George curates a selection of professional silhouettes from producers around the world, catering to the modern mom with high quality pieces made from eco-friendly fabrics like bamboo and cupro. In addition to maternity workwear, the brand offers postpartum everyday wear, self care products, and home goods. Emilia George has also partnered with Mama Meals and Chiyo, small businesses specializing in nutrition guidance and meal delivery, to nourish moms through their maternal journeys.
Mysha is a membership-based service that provides women with community, resources, and support in motherhood and day-to-day life.
Ahma & Co.
Guided by postpartum practices in South Korea, Ahma & Co. is a postnatal retreat in Dana Point, California, committed to the proverb “it takes a village to raise a child.”
Founders Esther Park and Christina De Jesus saw friends and family members struggle to readjust to life after giving birth. They recognized that emphasis is often put on care during pregnancy without much thought for what comes after. Together, they built a safe haven for moms to recover and bond with their babies before delving into parenthood or returning to work.
Ahma & Co. is situated in a coastal resort, offering a serene setting for relaxing and recharging. Its dedicated team of doulas and therapists are available for around-the-clock support. Guests are pampered with massages, are given three nutritious meals a day, receive training and education, and can connect with other moms at a particularly vulnerable time.
Larken
Fertility struggles, postpartum anxiety, and battles with lactation led two best friends and law school roommates to a new passion and career centered around making breastfeeding easier. Despite having no experience in manufacturing or apparel, the women behind Larken, Katie Blouin and Maggie Phipps, designed the first nursing and pumping bra without elastic, hardware, or snaps. This patented design is called the Larken X and it is a relaxed-fit bralette that essentially takes on an X shape when a mom needs to pump and is easily maneuvered for feeding.
Focusing on simplicity, functionality, and comfort, Larken offers other high-quality everyday essentials like tank tops, high-waisted leggings, and pajama sets. Made to fit loosely and give light support, these clothes are intended to conform and stretch to a mother’s changing body throughout the stages of pregnancy and postpartum.
Mysha
The first in her friend group to become pregnant, Marika Frumes felt isolated and craved connecting with women going through similar experiences. She first turned to Facebook where she created a small virtual group of other expectant mothers. She began lightly facilitating conversations and word got out. As interest grew, she felt this was something that she could do on a bigger scale for other new moms.
Mysha is a membership-based service that provides women with community, resources, and support in motherhood and day-to-day life. Members are carefully grouped together in WhatsApp chats based on their due dates so they can be as in sync with one another as possible. Mysha researches and vets helpful tools or beneficial products and organizes that information to cut out the guesswork. Most notably, the grassroots business places members in pods based on their locale so they can meet their neighbors and build strong support systems. Neighborhood pods are available in select cities in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and Florida. Mysha regularly hosts events and retreats in those areas as well.
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here.
