My Mother’s Day
My artwork and career have grown around motherhood, so Mother's Day is big for me. Starting my business wasn't only about a love of florals and other pretty designs. It was also about making room for motherhood. I wanted to be a mother without letting anyone dictate my schedule or capabilities, so I founded my art brand to harmonize family and design.
Running my business has let me stay home with my daughter and create a flexible schedule. Starting from before she was born, I've preferred a fluid approach to the workday. I like to work when it's quiet and when I'm inspired to create, sometimes going late into the night. Having a career that allows for this has been vital, and I love the time it gives me with my daughter.
After starting my brand, I found much of my audience pursuing the same dream—balancing business with family. Many of my designs got picked up by mom- and family-owned boutiques specializing in products for babies and children.
Starting my business wasn't only about a love of florals and other pretty designs. It was also about making room for motherhood.
Getting to motherhood was hard, and Mother’s Day was not always a happy time. In 2013, I lost my mom to cancer. In 2015, my attempts at starting a family were met with pregnancy losses, years of infertility, and an incomplete adoption journey.
These experiences were devastating. (Deep breath as I write this.) The Mother’s Day holiday was incomprehensible and left me vulnerable. During those years of waiting, I would spend the day withdrawn and disengaged.
Diving into my artwork provided a welcome reprieve. It was one thing that felt good, exciting, and validating. While this didn’t make up for the losses, it felt constructive to continue working on my career through that season of waiting for a family.
In 2020, I had gracefully accepted that I might not be able to have a child when I was blessed with a viable pregnancy.
I feel connected to my late mom through the added identity of being a mother myself. I sense her passion coming through me and see it passing to my daughter. For this Mother’s Day, I’d like to celebrate by sharing some of my mom’s passions.
I sense her passion coming through me and see it passing to my daughter.
I’m grateful for her wisdom. My mom appreciated how critical literacy was and, as a volunteer, helped impoverished women and girls build literacy skills.
Her experience as a delivery room nurse gave her valuable insight into the politics and business of women’s health. It was important to her to share that information with other women. With a fierce commitment to owning one’s birth experience, she empowered women all around her—her family, friends, and community—to give birth without fear.
As a teenager, I felt embarrassed by her passion for birth. It came up in conversations with friends and could seem awkward initially, but it led to laughter and relief.
On the eve of giving birth, I felt her presence. The calmness and ease of her birth wisdom helped me own my choices. She had normalized unmedicated labor as a valid option instead of something to fear. I was overjoyed to give birth—without injury or complications—and with a team as committed to my choice as I was. Navigating societal perceptions of unmedicated childbirth was not easy, but I stayed the course with my mom's resources at my side, knowing she was my expert.
Many mothers have expressed appreciation for support my mom provided over the years. I understand their gratitude on a deeper level after having my baby. I now know why birth meant so much to her, my sister, and all the women she empowered.
Happy Mother’s Day!
