Whole World Baby

So, here we go! This Sunday we are celebrating our official launch with an afternoon of champagne, casseroles and women changing the world. We’ve invited a group of remarkable women in our community who have supported our journey to get WWooBies headscarves for babies and kids, out into the world.

These women are artists, activists, businesswomen, mothers and eco friendly. Our intention is to not only share Whole World Baby with our community but to celebrate the wonderful work these women are doing in their own lives. This will be an opportunity to share samples, stories and business ideas among a group of women who support one another and may have creative ways to get the word out about new ideas.

Just like our business, this day is about the family, friends and community members who have been there along the way and those like minded women we look forward to getting to know. It’s a day to leave the babies and kids with dad, grand mom or a favorite sitter and relax, converse and celebrate!  Sometimes we just have to find a good reason to connect with other women; even if the meeting is not always organic at least the product we’re launching is.

This is so much more than baby fashion however; it’s about powerful women, innovative Charities and making a difference in our world. Trendy baby clothes are always fun and this week we hope to prove that women changing the world one project, one unique baby gift or even one diaper at a time can be too!

I wonder how many times a day I think, “I’m overwhelmed.”  It seems like my mantra sometimes– I swear it pops in my brain at least four times before lunch rolls around.  I remember feeling that way before I had a baby, but oh my my is it a different ballgame now.

Adrianne | Jama | Stacey

Literally just shopping, cooking, and cleaning for your family is like a full-time Groundhog Day, and that’s just the basic layer.  Tack on kid classes and activities, (in my case) preparing for and executing auditions, constantly fielding emails and tasks for Whole World Baby – add to that the panic-inducing feeling that you haven’t done enough regarding bottle-weaning, potty-training, and pre-school preparation, and God forbid you want to go to yoga or the gym and have your hair cut and colored every so often, and BAM – there it is again, “I feel overwhelmed.” And I only have ONE child.  All women that juggle more than one are absolute heroes in my book and deserve a trophy of some kind.  And I have the audacity to hope to be so lauded one day. Humphh.

And I recall when I started Whole World Baby and my husband Curtis warned me that it might add an extra level of stress to my life that at the time, he didn’t have so much confidence that I could handle.  (In his defense I was crying daily about how overwhelmed I was by Addy’s incessant breastfeeding needs and complete disregard for my sleep.)

But something in me knew I HAD to – that somehow THIS would make everything okay. And you know what?  It does. Yes, it adds a dimension of stress to my life with the responsibilities and time commitment it takes to start up any small business…but our mission is not small.  And just by merely joining forces with my remarkable partners, Stacey and Adrianne, is like my version of going to church.  I’m consistently inspired, my compassion is constantly deepened, and my mind is forever expanding because of these two spectacular ladies and because of the vision we share.

Whole World Baby feels like service work – yes, we are hoping to pioneer a new line of baby fashion with our trendy, eco-friendly headscarves, but our business model is something loftier in our service to our nine children’s charities.  And we hope that these headscarves, albeit a cool kids fashion accessory, can take on a deeper meaning—a badge of honor if you will — a symbol that stands up for kids everywhere. And something about service doesn’t drain you – it has an energizing effect, actually — so even if I don’t have time to go to the gym, dipping into my partner’s reservoir of love, passion, and enthusiasm for this cause that we’ve adopted is like a full-body and soul workout.  And that leaves me the opposite of overwhelmed. I feel at peace.

Sometimes when I consider the fueling motto of our company, “Family First,” I realize how fundamentally sensitive a company we are.  And feminine—it’s so motherly.  This surely isn’t a motto that will drive the bottom line, or one that will even force a deadline.  And most definitely isn’t the primary tenet of capitalism.  Yet as a mother, I cannot imagine doing business any other way.   I consider an email from my partner Stacey just today saying that she can’t do our weekly meeting on Friday because her family needs to spend time together—and neither Adrianne, our third partner, nor I even question—enough said.

As three mothers, this ideology was the first we hinged on—it was the corner stone of Whole World Baby, and although perhaps it has slowed our productivity and certainly hindered our focus, it marks the only kind of company of which I could be a part.  I’m a mother, first and foremost, and my first priority is keeping my family strong and healthy—because without that, who cares how much money you make or how productive you are?

And in a bigger picture, this “Family First” motto also lends itself quite obviously to our business model as a whole:  Giving back to the children of the world and taking care of our Mother Earth, our world, in the process.  The three of us feel a pull and obligation to put family (even if not our own) first in our business mission—by donating 25% of our profits directly to organizations around the world that foster, feed, protect, and educate children.   And we also put our family first by our commitment to be as green and eco-friendly as humanly possible, because our planet is the home to our global family.

I like to imagine what the world would be like if every company hummed to our motto—but then I realize that I just want my cell phone to function, just want my stove to work when I turn on the gas, just want my car to be reliable. Maybe “Family First,” in the sense of making family a priority over production, doesn’t need to be the motto for every company.