 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||
Necessity is the mother of invention—a cliché that seems to be truer than ever when applied to the
modern-day momtrepreneurs who are, in droves, divining, creating and shaping the paradigm that is
motherhood 2.0 with their new-and-improved takes on everything from high chairs to haute couture.
Holli Harris is one of those moms. An international business dynamo, she realized that breast-feeding and pumping while on the go, go, go during her busy workday was less than efficient. Heck, forget efficient—it was downright difficult. But as dedicated as she was to her career, she was (and is!) equally, if not more so, devoted to breast-feeding her daughter.
Enter: HadleyStilwell, her line of breast-feeding-friendly, ultra-stylish business attire.
Here, Holli shares her story, her passion, her favorite designs of the moment and gets you pumped up to be a working mom with a mission.
“Launched in January of 2009, HadleyStilwell was inspired by my experience of returning to work after maternity leave—shouldering new time constraints, competing priorities and a large dose of sleep deprivation. I ducked out of meetings to pump, pumped in parking garages and arrived at business dinners carrying the telltale black bag. It didn’t take me long to understand why 32 percent of mothers in the U.S. stop breast-feeding seven weeks after returning to work (according to a joint study by the National Women’s Health Resource Center and Medela breast pump company).
Caught in a constant quest for increased efficiency during work hours, I hit on the fact that in addition to the logistical challenge of pumping in cars and planes while in business attire, I was adding precious minutes to pump sessions by having to get undressed.
Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, and I realized that if I could minimize the challenge of pumping or nursing at work through well-tailored designs that enable quick and discreet access to breasts—and help new mothers to breast-feed that much longer—then I’ve accomplished my goal. It’s really much larger than the clothes. It’s about empowering women to succeed at both career and motherhood.
At the prototype stage, I test-drove the Signature Dress and Jacket at a shareholder meeting, and no one knew it was anything other than a suit. When challenged, my female confidantes couldn’t locate the hidden zippers. Then, a few hours later, I was in a plane bathroom pumping away in close quarters with clothes intact. Mission accomplished! I approach the design process by creating clothes that women want to wear. They just happen to also accommodate nursing and pumping. In fact, some early customers have been women who are not breast-feeding at all, but who simply like the design details, coordinating colors and soft fabrics.
A little more background: Before recently entering the momtrepreneur world (although I still sit on two boards), I spent 20-plus years in international business, ranging from oil and gas in Russia to investment banking in London. My daughter Hadley is indeed the namesake and muse for the collection. At 2, she is still an avid breast-feeder (who would have guessed?), so I’m still wearing nursing-friendly clothes on a daily basis.
The HadleyStilwell collection is available online at www.hadleystilwell.com. The models are real mothers, all of whom are engaged in various careers, including an attorney and a software product marketing manager. The revolving slideshow on the home page profiles their stories and tips for working moms.
The website also has a section called “Milk Notes,” which provides advice on nursing and pumping. It includes a chart of the breast-feeding phases, tips on presenting the business case for breast-feeding to your boss and the art of pumping in a car. Through weekly “Milk Tweets,” I share vetted sources for new-mother information via Twitter.
I’m pleased to offer TFG readers a 15 percent discount on all purchases with the coupon code TFGMoms. See the images and descriptions below for information on specific designs. The website has more photos with outfit suggestions and shirt mechanics. Below is a sampling of my favorites from the current collection. Congratulations on motherhood, and I wish you a wonderful breast-feeding journey!”
 |
“The Signature Dress has hidden zippers for quick access to breasts, and it’s accented by Asian-inspired frog clasps. Paired with the Signature Jacket, it becomes a suit. The Signature Dress is equally at home with a scarf and heels as it is with a jeans jacket and sandals. And just off the production line: the sleeveless version!” |
“The Signature Jacket turns the Signature Dress into a suit, and the Signature Shell into a twinset. It provides additional privacy for breast-feeding or pumping, and can be worn cascading down or belted. It also coordinates with all colors of the Crossover Shirts.” |
 |
 |
“The Signature Shell, like the Signature Dress, has hidden zippers for quick access to breasts and is also accented by Asian-inspired frog clasps. It becomes a twinset when paired with the Signature Jacket and is meant to coordinate with a mother’s existing pants and skirts.” |
“The Crossover Shirt (also available with long sleeves) comes in a variety of basic and jewel-tone colors, and features an inside panel that allows you to control the amount of breast exposure you need—just enough for baby, or more for pumping. The Crossover Shirt works under suits and blazers as well as with jeans. It can be worn tucked in or over pants and skirts.” |
 |
What the heck does "Special Section" mean? Well, it means that these businesses paid a small (like, pretty darn small) fee to be included. THE FAMILY GROOVE strives to support mom and pop businesses by giving them a venue for their super cool sites, ideas and products—and, quite honestly, we strive to pay our bills, too. So we've taken seven articles a month (out of 25+) and made them fun and exciting ways to promote the next best thing, much like in the way a publicist would. We believe in the companies we feature. We research, vet, scrutinize, analyze and obsess over every single solitary company that is included in this section to bring you the grooviest of the groovy. We're all in this brave new world together, right? And so we've got to support each other in any and every way we can. We hope you dig our finds as much as we do.
HOME | ABOUT TFG | CONTACT TFG | FREE TFG | ADVERTISE TFG | SHOP TFG | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS & CONDITIONS
