My Mother’s Day
My artwork and career have grown around motherhood, so Mother's Day is big. 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 found this in starting a business as an independent artist.
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 without my mom who I lost in 2013, to cancer.
In 2015, my attempts at starting a family were met with pregnancy losses, and years of infertility. (Deep breath as I write this.) Mother’s Day was devastating for me. My artwork was a welcome reprieve. It felt good and constructive to work on my career while waiting for a family.
I had gracefully accepted being childless when I was blessed with a viable pregnancy in early 2020.
I sense her passion coming through me and see it passing to my daughter.
For this Mother’s Day, I’d like to celebrate my mom. She was a helper, teacher, and nurse, all at once. She valued literacy and helped impoverished woman and girls build their reading skills. She had a fierce commitment to owning one’s birth experience and worked to empower her community of women to give birth without fear.
Her experience as a delivery room nurse gave her valuable insight into the politics and business of women’s health. As a teenager, her passion for birth was at times embarrassing, but it usually ended in laughter.
On the eve of giving birth, I felt her presence, evident in my peaceful state. Over the years, she normalized unmedicated labor. I was elated to give birth—without injury or complications—and with a team who specialized in unmedicated birth. Navigating societal perceptions of unmedicated childbirth felt uncomfortable but I knew in my gut that my mom’s expertise was my north star.