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Guest Marla Ryan of Motherhood Maternity
82 Plays5 years ago
Have you ever asked yourself the question, "What should I wear?" or "Why should I even get dressed today?" We asked those questions to Marla Ryan, managing director of Motherhood Maternity, Pea in the Pod and Destination Maternity. Her answers and thoughts are ones EVERY woman needs to hear!
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Mentioned in this episode:
Motherhood Maternity on Instagram
Motherhood Maternity on Facebook
Motherhood Maternity IGTV exercise videos
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 74 and Guest Marla Ryan
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to Episode 74 of Outnumber the Podcast. Have you ever asked yourself, what should I wear today? Or even, should I get dressed today at all? Well, in this episode, we get to ask those very questions to Marla Ryan, the Managing Director at Destination Maternity, Motherhood Maternity, and P in the Pod. We think that what she has to say about body image is something that every single woman needs to hear.
Mission of Outnumber the Podcast and Introduction of Marla Ryan
00:00:31
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Outnumber the Podcast. I'm Bonnie. And I'm Audrey. We're experienced moms to a combined total of 18 children. Our mission is to help overwhelmed parents find peace in parenting and humor in the chaos. Come join us as we attempt uninterrupted conversation about parenting with joy and intention.
00:00:56
Speaker
Okay, and welcome
Background of Marla Ryan and Motherhood Maternity's Mission
00:00:57
Speaker
back. We are so excited to be chatting today with our guest, Marla Ryan, and she is the Managing Director at Motherhood Maternity and a P in the Pod, as well as Destination Maternity. And we're going to hear a little bit more about that in a minute, but we wanted to let you know that this is a very special interview that we have today, and we're so excited to discuss a variety of topics with Marla. So welcome, Marla.
00:01:23
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and to talk about all things on the maternity journey. Yes, this is going to be exciting. So to start off, we'd love to ask our guests to give us just a little introduction. So can you introduce yourself and your family to our listeners? Let us know who you are, how you came to be in your role as managing director at Motherhood Maternity.
00:01:47
Speaker
Sure. I have been at the company for just over two years. My anniversary date was last week. Time flies when you're having fun. I have been just thrilled to be here the entire time. It is really, truly a special company. The company is over 30 years old. It was started by Rebecca Mathias and her husband, Dan, and it was born out of a solution.
00:02:15
Speaker
She was a pregnant architect going into the office and did not have the appropriate professional attire to wear while she was pregnant and said, this just can't be. We must, we have to do something. Let's figure out a solution. And both Rebecca and her husband who was an engineer thought we can do this. And so the company was born and we have been in the solution business ever since.
00:02:43
Speaker
We are a maternity company, but one of the things that I really wanted us to champion when I got here was to talk about the fact that we are a solution-based company. We are here to find solutions for our customers, our moms to be, and our new moms, and to provide
00:03:02
Speaker
a community for them so that when they have questions, when they have situations, they wake up one morning, their pants don't fit, they've got to go to work, there's an event that they need to go to, but we can provide them with those solutions so that these are the little things that they don't have to worry about during their journey and they can really be focused on themselves and their baby.
00:03:27
Speaker
have had such a positive experience working with the team. We've been through a lot over the last two years, but the thing that we've remained consistently focused on is delivering the best quality maternity apparel and to do it with great value, to do it in a stylish way, because when you're pregnant, you should be able to be stylish. You should be able to be comfortable and you should be able to do it
00:03:55
Speaker
for not breaking the bank.
Challenges for First-Time Moms and Maternity Solutions
00:03:58
Speaker
So we really try to instill that all of our pieces, whether you buy them at motherhood maternity or you buy them at PMA Pod, are really quality value-oriented items.
00:04:12
Speaker
Okay, I love everything you said about being a solution-oriented company because if there's any period of time when we're bombarded with issues, it's during pregnancy, right? Like, well, what now? What does this mean? You know, we're Googling all the things. So at least having a solution for what to wear. I love that. I love that aspect. Well, I think one of the things that is most difficult is for our first-time moms, right? You don't know what to expect.
00:04:36
Speaker
And you haven't been down this road and every pregnancy is different. So while you may be able to rely on your family or your friends or even coworkers to say, what should I do? It isn't always the same. And I've heard the craziest stories even from my own family. You know, my sister was six months pregnant, still wearing regular pantyhose. And she was in her boss's office who wasn't around at the time.
00:04:59
Speaker
And her coworker knocked on the door and said, what are you doing? And she's like, I'm taking off my pantyhose. I can't stand it. And she said, I just got my maternity pantyhose. Why are you walking around in pain? This is crazy. And she did. And she said, oh my goodness, this was the greatest thing ever. And so I think so many women don't know what to do. We heard this time and again, when we would have women come into our stores, when we had stores and they just were so
00:05:26
Speaker
sort of deer in headlights and I don't know what I need and they're overwhelmed and sometimes you don't feel great, you don't feel great about how you look, your body is changing, you're not really sure of what to expect, every day is different and you are creating life and it's exhausting and to think about what to bear should not be one of the things that exhausts you.
00:05:47
Speaker
That is so true. I think that Bonnie and I, each having gone through nine pregnancies, can relate to everything that you just said about needing comfort and needing not to have to make decisions about your clothes, and that being a source of stress. So yeah, I think we're right with you there, root and you on, for finding those solutions for those beautiful pregnant bodies.
00:06:12
Speaker
So we want to ask you a question because we've got something new going on in the world right now. And when women are pregnant during this recent global pandemic, they're faced with highly unusual situations, doctor checkups while wearing a mask and in an office alone, giving birth while with maybe not their spouse there, missing out on those coveted social interactions that celebrate pregnancy milestones like
00:06:42
Speaker
baby showers and gender reveal parties and just being around other women who can tell you what it's like.
Support for Expectant Mothers During the Pandemic
00:06:49
Speaker
So this this is a very unusual and difficult time for pregnant women. And we want you to jump right in and tell us how is your company helping expectant women during this difficult time? Well, I think for us, we're we're continuing to do the same thing that we did before. We are, as I said before, a solution oriented company.
00:07:09
Speaker
We are a community. We are here to support as best we can. We're not doctors. We don't claim to be doctors, but we want to be able to have our moms to be and moms feel like they have somewhere to go. That has played out so well for what's going on right now. Being pregnant is stressful. You are, like I said before,
00:07:37
Speaker
may not know what comes next. Every pregnancy is different, even your own. Sometimes it's not, you know, the same, exactly the same as it was the time before. And you're likely juggling a household, possibly a job, maybe some young children in the house, a partner. We've heard people who've said, you know, somehow I am now the cook, morning, noon and night, I have to supply breakfast, lunch and dinner.
00:08:04
Speaker
If I have to empty the dishwasher one more time, I may scream. How could four people generate so much laundry? I feel like all I do is empty the dishwasher and run the washing machine. So we've heard all these really crazy, funny stories. And by the way, it's happening to all of us as well. And so we were on a couple of different Zoom calls and going about our daily running the business and our campaigns. And we had a few pregnant moms with us.
00:08:34
Speaker
two of them have since had their baby, and one is due in July. And they were telling us some of what was going on, that they were being asked to not come to their doctor's office, that they were having to sign up for a virtual doctor's appointment, and they were very worried and scared. All three of, two of the three are first time moms, and they really were freaked out.
00:08:59
Speaker
And so we started to say, hmm, you know, where there's one, there might be 50. And we bet that this is a thing. And we wonder if our mom community out there is as concerned as our internal employees. And we should probably try to do something because, you know, that's what we do. We maybe find solutions. And so we, um, you know, we decided to put together sort of some of the, you know, most asked questions and
00:09:24
Speaker
to figure out how we could adapt in this time and provide content and be able to push that through our social channels, through our emails that we send out through our website and provide avenues for the moms to be and new moms what to do. And we were able to tap into our community. We have spoken with
00:09:50
Speaker
doulas, we've spoken with birthing coaches, we've talked to doctors, we've had some of them on our video series, we've done a couple of one-on-one interviews where we've had two of our employees sort of chat and ask each other questions and talk about some of the experiences that they have had with regards to this sort of new protocol. And you know, information is different state to state, county to county, day to day.
00:10:18
Speaker
So we've really tried to stay on top of it as best we can and really give them a place where they can go and kind of ask questions. We've seen the most amazing comments and call outs and feedback on social media, heartwarming. The amount of engagement that has come from our video series is just overwhelming. And we're so happy and pleased to be able to provide that for our community. Wow, that sounds incredible.
00:10:49
Speaker
I have a girlfriend from college who recently gave birth to her fifth baby. So even though she's an experienced mom, she had some high risk behaviors with this pregnancy. Her baby was breached. She had gestational diabetes, et cetera. And she was really, really concerned because all of a sudden her doctor visits dropped off. She was supposed to have an ultrasound every week for the last six weeks or something and all of a sudden there were no more.
00:11:14
Speaker
And she's going, I'm getting a little nervous wondering if her care is going to suffer because of this pandemic. So I love that you guys have created this community where pregnant moms can reach out. So can you share, if someone is listening and they're expecting and feeling some of these same feelings, can you share where the best place is for them to go to be a part of this?
Engagement with Motherhood Community on Social Media
00:11:35
Speaker
Sure. You can either go to our Facebook
00:11:37
Speaker
or you can go on our Instagram page, which is instagram.com backslash motherhood maternity. If you scroll through, you will see our video series posted. We've been doing this since about the beginning of April, I would say. So there's definitely multiple parts to our series. You can go on and see some of the posts that we have on Instagram.
00:12:05
Speaker
I love scrolling through the comments, even on posts that are, you know, two and three weeks old. There's been so many helpful hints that people have given tips, things that, you know, they've been able to suggest, you know, hey, I don't know if this will work for you, but it worked for me. It's just a big sort of big share. And I think that's just amazing in this time because, you know, I said this to someone last week. It's one thing if you get a sinus infection or the flu or a bad cold or bronchitis
00:12:34
Speaker
You sort of know what to do. You might have been there before. You're not feeling as though it could be the end of your life. You're not thinking you're going to the hospital. And even when you're pregnant, these things will happen and you know you have to tailor your medicine differently or however you're going to take care of yourself. But you know you're going to get through it. This is so different and it's so new and there is not a lot of information out there and the information can be confusing in the beginning.
00:13:04
Speaker
And there aren't, you know, one set of protocols of how to handle or deal with it. And every person is being impacted differently, some very mildly and others, you know, unfortunately very, very hard. And so I think, you know, for us to be able to put just something out there that gives people a sense of comfort and support has been really important to us to be able to provide that. Yeah, definitely.
00:13:34
Speaker
Okay, let's go back to talking about clothes because that's kind of like we were to really hear about this from you because during pregnancy
00:13:44
Speaker
It's a struggle to get dressed. Lack of comfortable clothes, lack of energy, your changing body, it's all demotivating for getting dressed. So do you have kind of like a short list or a little capsule wardrobe or some suggestions for maternity and nursing must-haves to offer solutions for comfort and a great fit?
Essential Maternity Clothing Items
00:14:08
Speaker
I do. And it's funny, you know, when I got here two years ago,
00:14:13
Speaker
I think we had over 1200 styles in just motherhood alone and I remember having what we would call a best seller the first day and I couldn't believe how much product that we actually carried at the time. I was overwhelmed and I've been in this business a really long time and I thought wow if you're pregnant and you've never been pregnant before and you were to come onto our website or at that time go into a store you wouldn't know where to look or what
00:14:38
Speaker
to think that you had. And so we have made a really, really conscious effort to be super focused on what are the things that you need. And we've kind of boiled it down to sort of our top products. You need a nursing bra, believe it or not. Our nursing bras work before, during, and after, which is fantastic. They are
00:15:02
Speaker
wireless in some cases, seamless in others. And then we do have wired bras for extra support if you have a bigger bust. Genes, our genes are four-way stretch and they just pull on and they have the secret fit belly that just goes up over your belly. If you're early in your pregnancy or you don't show a lot during the pregnancy and then even after you can actually roll that band down and it sort of folds over kind of like a yoga camp. We also have the best
00:15:31
Speaker
I call them the yummiest, most comfortable, softest leggings. They also have a secret fit belly, which is great because again, if you want to wear them when you're first pregnant or after you've had the baby, you have the option of actually folding the waistband over. We've got a great knit t-shirt that works 24 seven. We carry them in short sleeves and long sleeves. And then we actually have, believe it or not, pregnancy underwear.
00:16:00
Speaker
You know, a lot of people think, well, I could just wear my regular underwear, but it sometimes doesn't stay up. Sometimes it doesn't accommodate your growing belly. So we actually have gone through a pretty extensive fit process for maternity underwear.
00:16:12
Speaker
And then we've got some great sleepwear, and that's perfect for what's going on right now with everybody sort of working from home. We've heard tons of stories of women who are like, I'm in my top for work, but I've got my fleece bottoms on. Nobody can see me from the waist down. We're like, great, you do, you know what, you do you, whatever makes you comfortable.
00:16:32
Speaker
Even in our own community, we've had folks, we're like, hey, you guys aren't on video. They're like, no, no, no, I'm in my pajamas. You guys don't wanna see me in my pajamas. We're like, hey, that's cool, whatever. We get it every day. It can be a struggle. So those are some of the top products that we really like to talk about 24-7. If you are engaged with us via email, if you're on any of our social media channels, if you go onto our site, you're gonna see, we're talking about those products 24-7.
00:17:01
Speaker
Every single one of them has great value. There's such a great deal for what we actually bring to the table. The fabrics are so soft. We have thought about solutions for every single one of them. And we love to tell that solution story. And we hear such great feedback on all of them in terms of just how customers love them. It's really wonderful.
00:17:27
Speaker
Yeah, you know what's really neat about that list? So as a mom to nine kids, what's really neat about that list is that those classic core items can go from pregnancy to pregnancy to pregnancy. And with you, your companies focus on solutions and good quality. Those items, I speak from experience here. Like I had this one motherhood maternity denim skirt
00:17:52
Speaker
that I wore probably seven out of my nine pregnancies. And I'm not even joking. Very true. We've got we have moms who have told us stories where they've had stuff for two or three years and they continue to wear it. My sister has a piece from us from 15 years ago.
00:18:12
Speaker
She loved it so much. We have moms who work here who I'm still wearing my maternity jeans. I just fold my waistband down and they love it. We're really proud that we can do that. We've been very conscious. We don't want to break anyone's bank. There are so many other things that a family today has to focus on and to worry about. And again, it shouldn't be what you have to put in your closet for such a short amount of time. And that's the other thing that we really tried to make a big deal over the last two years is
00:18:42
Speaker
There was a point in time years ago, particularly when the company was founded, where you would spend all this money on your wardrobe for those nine months and maybe even after. And today, times have changed. It's just not where people want to put their disposable income. So we really love the whole before, during and after concept. And we really try to make things have longevity and have a solution with them. So super excited about that list. They're great products.
00:19:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I was going to say as well. The thing that stuck out to me is how many of your products could be used for so long, not only multiple trimesters, but before and after the pregnancy. Because I know my first couple of pregnancies, that's what I did. I went out and spent a ton of money on maternity clothes, used them for a couple of months, sometimes not even the entire pregnancy, right? Because sometimes they only fit for the first couple of trimesters or something. And then I put them in a box for you.
00:19:35
Speaker
another year or two till I got pregnant again. And I don't do that anymore. I only invest in maternity clothes that will carry me for a long time because it's just not worth the time, the money, and also the storage, right? If you're not going to be using them right up. So I love that. That is very true. The other thing that we did most recently was we were sitting here talking one day about all of these core items that we have.
Pregnancy Kits for Various Stages and Needs
00:19:58
Speaker
And we had gotten some feedback from customers that they're just so overwhelmed when they come onto the site. They don't know what to pick. They would love to have a pregnancy list, which led to us putting together kits. And so we have six different kits that we put together that you can really have five fundamental pieces. And for the most part, every single one of the items that I mentioned is in one of these kits paired with some other things.
00:20:25
Speaker
But we have our blow and grow, which is for when you're just newly pregnant. We have a hospital to home. We have one for the weekend, which is centered around our denim. We have a cozy, which is really centered around lounge. And then we have a where to work kit, which right now may be where work from home. And then we actually have one for when you're in the hospital. And so there's just the kits are really fun. There's five great pieces. It's a great value for what you get.
00:20:52
Speaker
But each one of them has a component of one of the styles that I mentioned, which is just another thing. If you don't have that love of browsing or you just don't have the time, you can go onto the site, you can pick a kit, and you can experience the great product and the quality and value.
00:21:11
Speaker
I love that because I think one of the first things that hits you when you first get pregnant, especially your first pregnancy, is you don't know all the things you don't know, especially when I get depressed. You're like, you know what? In fact, I recall after having my first son, no one had ever mentioned to me the words sleep bra.
00:21:30
Speaker
And I never in a million years would have thought that that was a thing that I might need. And then I bring my baby home from the hospital and within two days I'm like, I am so uncomfortable. I cannot sleep. I have, you know, leaking breasts. I have these pads that are going everywhere. What do I do? I don't want to sleep in an underwear bra, right? And of course I walked in a motherhood maternity and they had this whole rack of sleep bras, nursing sleep bras. I thought, oh my gosh, someone has thought of this. So I love that. It's funny.
00:21:59
Speaker
Our bras are really the cornerstone of our brand and it is so important to have a well-fitting bra. Most women do not have the right bra size before they're pregnant and we really heard women who are suffering through with an ill-fitting bra and not recognizing or knowing how it could be so much more comfortable for them. Your breast tissue grows very rapidly and early on
00:22:25
Speaker
And it really does require you to have a different bra size. And as I said before, we have different styles and varieties. We actually have beautiful colors. And in some cases in our sleep wrap bra, we actually have printed ones, which are really beautiful. We've got a solution in most of them, has a small little clip down. The beauty of that is that if you're actually holding the baby, you can actually hold the baby with one hand and unclip
00:22:55
Speaker
with the other, which is pretty unique because we all know we all wish we had three and four more hands in the particular moments. And most people don't want to put the baby down if the baby's sleeping. It's the middle of the night. You're not trying to wake everybody up. And so that's the beauty of our seamless bra and some of our underwire bras that have that clip down function. And then the sleep bra is great. It has no wire in it. It comes in a printed soft cotton. You just pull it over if you need to nurse.
00:23:25
Speaker
have such a great variety. And we really try to educate our moms and moms to be about the importance of a great bra. And it's another piece we've heard too from our customers. There's such an after for this too. If you're nursing for a couple of months, we've heard women are really trying to prolong that. You are going to decrease in size as after you've had the baby, you're gonna need a couple of different versions.
00:23:54
Speaker
We've heard women who've come home from the hospital and they're like, ah, I need one or two. And then you realize, oh my goodness, I'm throwing these things in the wash, you know, twice a day. I need more than that. And so we have promotions from time to time where you can stock up on them and bundle them, which is great. But it's, it's a wonderful category for us and really allows us to again, provide a great solution for our moms and moms to pay.
00:24:19
Speaker
This is probably TMI and when I edit it, I might edit this part out. But my oldest is 22 and I have been pregnant or nursing except for a little four month span for about 22 years and been wearing motherhood maternity bras the entire time. So I totally think like I should be the spokeswoman for the motherhood maternity bras. I think you should too. I don't think that's TMI.
00:24:46
Speaker
He may tap you in August during National Breastfeeding Month. The question, Audrey, is it's not been the same bra, right? Oh, goodness, no. I take advantage of those specials that she was talking about where you can stock up. That's, I mean, hey, I'm a pro there.
00:25:07
Speaker
Hmm. Okay. So we want to talk about, you mentioned that some moms are wearing their pajamas in zoom meeting and don't want the video part or they're wearing pajamas on the bottoms. And so like that's a challenge of dressing are pregnant and postpartum bodies and the whole quarantine situation.
00:25:24
Speaker
So, like, we want to ask you a little bit on the philosophical side. Give our listeners a pep talk. Why should expecting moms get dressed at all? Or do you have tips for staying focused on wellness and safe and self-care while you're pregnant during this quarantine time?
Importance of Self-Care During Pregnancy
00:25:41
Speaker
We do. You know, I think one of the things that we started talking about early on in this crazy new world that we're living in is that, you know, the
00:25:51
Speaker
The struggle is real, right? We heard that over and over again. And one of our team members coined it and said, well, the juggle is really is real. I don't know where to turn and what to do. I've got my hands on the computer. I'm trying to cook at the stove. I've got a little one on my ankle. I'm pregnant. It's just like, I don't know what end is up. And so we thought, you know, this is a great idea for a campaign. And so we launched the juggle is real hashtag mh juggle.
00:26:20
Speaker
And it's really our social-based movement to reach expecting moms and new moms as they navigate through this pregnancy journey and also this really crazy time of us all being at home and having to figure out what the new normal is. We know that it's an emotional time period to begin with, never mind having all of the other stuff that's going on around you. And we know that we've got
00:26:49
Speaker
odd situations. And we wanted to try to make sure that people understood that you have to carve out a little time for yourself. You've got to focus on you. I think one of the things that we heard from some external and internal customers is, I don't have any time for me. When I was going to the office, when I was going to school, when I had everyone out of the house,
00:27:16
Speaker
at least I had a little time for me and I could sit and be reflective or I could read up or I could plan what it's gonna be like when the baby comes home or I had time to do things when the baby was sleeping and that's all sort of been upended. And so we wanted to make sure that we were not only providing a community and content, but also to give tips about wellness and how to take care of yourself. So we have a self-care fitness series
00:27:46
Speaker
that we offer on Instagram Live. It's a free Instagram Live yoga, meditation, and mommy and me session. And we have experts from around the country who are leading that. And you can absolutely watch past sessions on IGTV. We thought, what are the most important things that people are looking for right now? And definitely being able to move when you're pregnant and also
00:28:14
Speaker
after you've had the baby, which is what got us on the yoga and the mommy and me. And then we wanted to have a meditation session where people could just, you know, even if you only had three minutes, you, everyone could find three minutes. I know it's hard to say, I don't even have any time, but you could find three minutes. You could find a minute. You could find a half a minute. We've had moms tell us they got into the bathroom and literally locked the door and literally stood there for a minute and just,
00:28:41
Speaker
because if I don't, I don't know what's gonna happen. And of course the kids are on the door banging like, let me in, let me in. But we wanted to be able to give moms options and moms to be. And so we created this fitness series and we hope that everybody gets to take advantage of it and can use it and finds the support in it that we wanted to give to the community.
00:29:10
Speaker
I think that is an absolutely brilliant campaign to The Juggle Is Real. I think everybody listening can relate to that because we're all finding not more time on our hands, but less time on our hands because they're all here all the time. Yes, they don't go away. No. No one leaves.
00:29:32
Speaker
I'm definitely going to go check out your mommy and me yoga and try that with my little one. I know how important yoga was to me personally during all of my pregnancies for some of the prenatal anxiety and things that I was dealing with during my pregnancies. But also just how fun would it be to do it with with your little one too. So I'm definitely going to check that out. And we we tried to be really sensitive to people's schedules. So the the yoga
00:29:58
Speaker
that we're doing for prenatal is Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Saturday at 10 a.m. and then the meditation is on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. and then the mommy and me yoga is Wednesdays and Fridays at 10.30 a.m. So there's a couple of different time slots if you can't make one and hopefully you get to experience all of them but we're really excited to have people engage and participate in those.
00:30:26
Speaker
And you said that's on your Instagram live? Yes, it's on IGTV. Okay, we'll definitely link to that in our show notes. Okay.
00:30:34
Speaker
I love that you brought up exercise when talking about self-care, because we bring that up a lot in other episodes. But when we talk about self-care in general, I think that so many people instantly go to the fun self-care, right? Like, well, self-care for me is going out with friends, or getting my nails done, or, you know, these fun, like, unnecessary things. But really, and that can be part of it, of course, but really, the essential self-care is the stuff that might not be as much fun, but that we desperately need, like eating nutrition,
00:31:04
Speaker
good nutrition, you know, and exercise and getting enough sleep, things that just kind of go by the wayside when life gets crazy. And yet they're so, so, so essential for, you know, mental health, for our own physical health, especially when we're carrying another human being, right? And then nursing one and then caring for them, et cetera. So I just, you know, amen to that exercise is so crucial. I don't think people realize even if you have a job that requires you to sit a lot of the day, you are getting up and down.
00:31:33
Speaker
A fair amount. When I found even personally, the first two weeks, like I was taking three hundred steps versus maybe five thousand and five thousand was not very overwhelming at all. But then you go, oh, my goodness, I've only taken three hundred steps because I went from the bedroom to the desk and the desk to the laundry room and back to the desk and the day's over. OK, you know, I think we've been talking about it. We're all working more. It is hard to create those boundaries when you're at home because there is nothing else to do.
00:32:03
Speaker
You cannot go out and socialize with your friends. A lot of people are choosing to get groceries online and get it delivered. You don't have those commitments of birthdays or celebrations to participate in. And so it's either TV, deal with the family, or work. And so what we found is a lot of the moms and moms-to-be are saying, I'm working more. And I'm finding it really hard to figure out how to create that boundary. And what can I do? I'm kind of stuck in the apartment, though.
00:32:33
Speaker
The gyms in certain cities are locked, even in their apartment buildings or, you know, they don't have the gym equipment in the basement. What can I do? And so, you know, we just it's very difficult. And so we just wanted to be able to provide a small little outlet for folks to be able to just move a little bit and every little bit helps. And I think you realize if you can take that 20 minutes or 30 minutes for yourself, it does become a little bit addicting and then
00:33:00
Speaker
you start to get to a place after the first or second week where you're like, you know what? I'm going to put the pencil down. I'm going to put the phone down. I'm going to shut off the video camera and I'm just going to go meditate or stretch or, you know, maybe even just walk around, you know, outside if I have a backyard or a front yard, just to get some fresh air. And we've people saying like after a couple of days, like I actually feel better. And so that was important to us to try and do something.
00:33:28
Speaker
Yeah, most definitely. Sometimes we just don't even realize what we're missing out on. Like you said, oh, how did I only have 300 steps today? Whoops. Exactly. Okay. So we have one final question for you and that is regarding the fourth trimester.
Fourth Trimester Clothing Solutions
00:33:41
Speaker
So we all know that when the pregnancy ends, our body doesn't just magically snap back. And there's so many things that we're dealing with in addition to a newborn baby. And sometimes it lasts for a long, long time, sometimes years, this juggling of this new body and new person that we've become.
00:33:58
Speaker
So, do you have a handful of must-have clothing items for that period of life? I know you said that there were quite a few maternity items that last into the fourth trimester, but just specifically talking about those. We do. We do. As you said, you get home from the hospital in those first couple of weeks, you are really trying to just get the schedule down and you're nursing and getting whatever little sleep you can get yourself.
00:34:24
Speaker
And what we have found is that a lot of women are in our sleep products, whether it be the nursing gowns or our pajama sets. But after about the second or third week, people are like, okay, gotta get out of the house, gotta take a walk, gotta run to the grocery store. And so we have both leggings and denim that have a compression band, which we find to be very helpful for women who are recovering after the birth.
00:34:52
Speaker
Organs need to be supported. You want to have a little bit of support yourself. And so this is a tighter weave of our regular Secret Fit belly. We absolutely tell women not to be wearing it prior to giving birth. It's really only meant to be worn after you've had the baby. But it's definitely a fantastic product that we have in our leggings, our denim, and then we have it on our Maya pants.
00:35:20
Speaker
which is a stretch twill. So fantastic piece that smooths, it supports, and it really helps shape that post-baby belly. And then we also carry swimwear with this same concept. For women who've had the baby and are wanting to either sit outside, traditionally it would have been at the beach or the pool to see what happens this year.
00:35:48
Speaker
But really allows people to be able, we have nursing clips on our swimwear as well as having the smoothing and support and shape function in that swimwear. So we carry all of that. And then obviously our nursing gowns and our sleepwear have that nursing clip down function as well. So you can get the cami or our nightgowns and have that as well.
00:36:17
Speaker
Oh, that's an awesome list. You know, I'm the kind of woman who, when I was done with pregnancy, I was not wearing those maternity clothes any longer, even though they may have fit. I was done. The baby's out, I'm done. I am never looking at these clothes again. Of course, you know, then two years later, they were back.
00:36:35
Speaker
out, but not one more day afterwards. So I kind of referred to my closet as the escalator closet. So I would have sizes that I would go up into and then into maternity clothes. And then as soon as maternity, that baby was out, the maternity clothes got packed away and then I went back down the escalator, but they weren't maternity clothes, so they were good. So I definitely was one of those women who was looking for something different for postpartum.
00:37:02
Speaker
Yeah, I think, you know, it depends on what your lifestyle is, what you're most comfortable in. We've got dresses that have a nursing function where you can just pull. We have a separate piece of fabric behind the top of the dress so that you can very discreetly be able to nurse if you're somewhere. We've got hidden zippered seams. If you're an event, again,
00:37:31
Speaker
probably not something that's happening right now. But we heard women who would say, oh, I went to a wedding or I'm in the office and I want a pump and I literally have to take my dress off. And we said, OK, nobody needs to stand in a stall and take their dress off. That's crazy. So our designers develop seams that go across the bust, under the bust and on the side where we have a hidden seam and it's got a small zipper in there. You can't even tell. And you can actually pump and just maneuver the pump inside.
00:37:59
Speaker
We also have a great sweatshirt that has hidden zips on a princess seam. So if you're in public, you could actually unzip one and kind of slide the baby in and under the hoodie and you can nurse and the baby's covered, you're covered. And when you're done, you just sort of zip it up and nobody would ever know the other, you know, differently. So really fantastic. Our design team has taken great pride in trying to come up with these really fun solutions.
00:38:26
Speaker
I think those solutions offer as much well as much as they offer, you know, physically for the way you look. I think they also offer a mental solution for for how you feel and just feeling feeling great about what you're wearing is always huge for me. I think it's so important. There is so much going on after you've had the baby and just try and especially if you're a first time mom and trying to figure out that schedule and and get it all, you know,
00:38:56
Speaker
down pat, you want to feel confident, especially if you are going to go back to work and we are all going to go back to work. You make that first step out that first day and we heard from so many moms, you know, I just, I'm not comfortable. I, you know, I don't know how to do this and I've got to go to work and I've got to pump and I, you know, this is just, I can't get my head wrapped around all of this.
00:39:21
Speaker
And so that has been another mission of ours is to really make sure that after the babies come, you've had this incredible life event. How can we make sure that you feel confident, you feel comfortable? And again, we don't want you to have to break the bank to do that.
00:39:38
Speaker
I love that. I think there's something so empowering about being pregnant. I think every woman would probably agree that, especially towards the end where you feel just so excited for this new baby, so proud of yourself for getting through this pregnancy, and then the baby comes out and then you're left with this body that you've never seen before.
00:39:59
Speaker
It is so different. And there's all these struggles that you've never dealt with, and it can be very, very shocking for a new mom. Like, what is this? And so to have those tools that help a mom feel, again, empowered and beautiful and capable of doing all these things that this new motherhood role asks of them is just amazing. I love that. I'm so glad you showed that.
00:40:23
Speaker
Well, we tried, you know, I think for so long, the solution for so many women was just a pair of leggings and, you know, your partner's oversized shirt, t-shirt, sweatshirt. Right. And for some people, that is a great uniform. And we offer items like that. But we also have moms who have to go back to work, who have to be in a public environment, who want to be more put together. And, you know, it's just a challenge. And so it's
00:40:52
Speaker
We take great pride in trying to find those solutions. And it's a pretty fun brainstorming experience here with our design team in terms of how we come up with some of this stuff. And we have some things down the road later this year that'll come out that we're pretty excited about that continue on this path to try to find out how we can make her life as easy as possible. Because again, getting dressed should not be her challenge. Figuring out how to breastfeed in
00:41:21
Speaker
an environment outside the home should not be a challenge. Trying to nurse and not have to change your clothes or figure out a contraption to throw over your head to cover you and the baby should not be your challenge. It should be a no-brainer and that's what we want to try to provide.
00:41:37
Speaker
Ooh, those sound really intriguing. We can't wait to see what you come out with. And as we say oftentimes, so often in so many of our episodes, we want to help moms find joy in the chaos of motherhood.
00:41:53
Speaker
And that's why we really wanted to talk to you, because it sounds so much like that's what your company is doing, is helping women find joy in this part of the motherhood, of the chaos, of pregnancy, and of the motherhood journey. And so we really enjoyed, just love talking to you today and hearing more about your solutions-based company. And we just want to thank you.
00:42:16
Speaker
Can you tell our listeners where they can find all of the things that we've talked about today on the internet? Sure,
Accessing Motherhood Maternity Products and Discounts
00:42:22
Speaker
absolutely. Well, first of all, for all of our apparel that we offer, you can find us at motherhoodmaternity.com. And on our social channels, as I said before, we are on Facebook. So Facebook.com backslash motherhood maternity and on Instagram, Instagram.com backslash motherhood maternity. And you know, we,
00:42:45
Speaker
We hope you guys, our listeners will enjoy checking out all of the posts that we have and then the self-care fitness that we have on IGTV. You know, we are continuing to bring new things to the table.
00:43:03
Speaker
a lot more of the campaign to go. So as the year goes on, we're going to continue. Whether the pandemic is over or not, we're going to keep going. We have enjoyed starting this mission and we are committed for it to continue.
00:43:19
Speaker
Yeah, what a beautiful direction for your company to take. So thank you so much for talking with us today, Marla. No problem. And I wanted to let everyone know too, that we have a promo code for the listeners. It's $10 off a $50 order with the code outnumbered. So please try, if you haven't tried motherhood maternity, please check us out. You can get $10 off your $50 order. And if you are a motherhood customer returning,
00:43:46
Speaker
We want to say thank you and you get $10 off your $50 order. That's awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that. No problem.
00:43:55
Speaker
Thanks so much for tuning in. Did you know you can help the podcast in several ways? First up, we're on Patreon, and there are three different levels to support us there. Just head to patreon.com slash outnumbered. Next up, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a written review on iTunes. It helps other parents find the podcast and receive the help you're enjoying. And finally, you can follow us on Instagram at Outnumbered the Podcast. We're always having fun over there too.
00:44:21
Speaker
As usual, if you have any questions or ideas for future episodes, you can reach us at outnumberthepodcastatgmail.com. Thanks for all your support. We'll talk to you next week.