Note from Kim:
I love to see when women conquer fear, take risks and do something most call crazy….start their own businesses! It’s amazing and inspiring and this year, we start our focus off with Kathryn Roman, owner & founder of Denver Natural Mom.
– K
Natural Moms Need Nurtured, Too!
By Kathryn Roman, Denver Natural Mom
If you’re inspired to take a risk, is there a right time for risk?
If you’re a mom, is there a right time for taking on more?
And if you’re an inspired mom, is there time for anything else at all?
These are my struggles, three months in to starting a new business.In April, when my daughter was just coming out of the ‘fourth trimester’ ie. 4ish months old, I bought a URL, www.denvernaturalmom.com. I wanted to make a job out of connecting with other moms, but that’s all I knew. So getting a URL was a $10 investment and that’s about all I could manage at that time.
As the spring and summer progressed, baby Lillian grew and changed and I felt more and more comfortable each day as a mother. At the same time, it seemed everyone around me was also getting pregnant and having babies!
Our texts were about nursing schedules, favorite swaddles, when and how to start solids, which playgroups were the best, who was my acupuncturist or doula, and on and on! Even in our google-happy world, we were all still looking to hear from a peer, another mom, if they had they faced this sleeping challenge, or if they had ever seen a rash like this one. <insert iPhone photo of a fear-inducing yet completely normal newborn skin reaction.>
It all started to click. How do I create a community for moms where we can ask each other questions? Or even better, ask our questions to the experts! To the post-partum doulas and the lactation consultants who have helped moms and babies hundreds or thousands of times!
That’s when I launched the Denver Natural Mom facebook page and moms started following what we were talking about! A few weeks later I ran into Amanda Ogden, IBCLC and director of lactation services at the mama’hood in the produce section of Safeway.
That night an idea struck! I should ask Amanda to do an interview with Denver Natural Mom! Listen to the interview here that started it all. This was after FOUR months of incubating, praying and questioning where would this lead and was it the best decision for our family. I know I’m not alone in the juggling act. We all have responsibilities as partners and parents, and big jobs to do, some paid and some unpaid. We’re up late meeting deadlines and we’re up late soothing teething babies.
I have often contemplated what example I am setting by doing so much. Is it unrealistic? CAN we have it all?? Or will my child learn that all we enjoy comes from working for it? Will she see that it’s the unrelenting combination of dreaming + doing that helps us live out our purpose?
So you see, I have put a little pressure on myself to make her proud. Though there is more pressure to make myself proud. I’ll be proud when Denver Natural Mom is known for educating and empowering parents in their parenting decisions.
Fast-forward to today: Denver Natural Mom has hosted workshops on topics ranging from pelvic floor health to cloth diapering to infant sign. Please check out our list of upcoming events and send me your suggestions for a future class! We’ve put together a FREE gift for you, the Denver New Mom Survival Guide! This PDF details all the resources you need for those first few weeks at home with baby.
Get your copy at http://denvernaturalmom.com/new-mom-survival-guide.