We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Anna O’Steen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The Mom Lounge is a small business located in the heart of Lubbock, Texas, that provides a comfortable and welcoming space for mothers to relax and socialize while their children play. With young children under 5, busy moms need a break from their hectic schedules, and The Mom Lounge fills this gap in the market. The business aims to make a significant difference in the lives of mothers in the community and is seeking support to reach more people. While our name is Mom Lounge we really cater to families.

The Mom Lounge’s name is exactly how it sounds. A comfortable cozy lounge where moms can drink coffee, meet new friends, work on post partum, all while watching their kids play.

Anna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Anna O’Steen (40) and Mary McCabe (30) are business partners motivated by their passion to help women. After having their first children, they realized the importance of women supporting each other in raising their kids. They both found themselves yearning to meet new moms, ask questions about their changing bodies as well as their babies, and to relax in a safe space that wasn’t the local mall’s playground. They created The Mom Lounge to provide a space where moms can learn, socialize, and relax while their young children play.

Description of The Mom Lounge:
The Mom Lounge is a 2,065 square foot space located in a busy retail area in Lubbock, Texas. The space has been renovated to include a play area for children, a lounge area with couches and cafe tables for mothers, a private classroom, a privacy lounge, and brand new bathrooms. The restroom is equipped with a changing table and other amenities for mothers and children.

Services and Amenities:
The Mom Lounge offers a large custom play deck with a long slide and a safe foam pit at the bottom. A sensory wall with four sections stimulates children to explore, touch, spin, and play. The reading nook, play kitchen, and puppet theater under the slide encourage children to imagine and play. Two sensory swings next to the deck add to the fun. All the toys are Montessori-inspired and help children learn balance and dexterity. The cozy tummy time area and lounge seating provide a safe and clean space for moms with infants to relax, meet new friends, and drink coffee.

The separate classroom flooded with natural light offers “Parent and Me” classes that help families bond and navigate milestones. The classes are geared to socialize, encourage cognitive learning, and mindfulness. They include music, yoga, balance and movement, art, cookie decorating, sensory, and more. The Mom Lounge offers free coffee, iced water, neck massagers, and a comfortable privacy lounge where moms can breastfeed. The business is a designated Texas Mother-Friendly Worksite with a private area for mothers and employees to feed their babies. Mothers have access to running water and a place to store their breastmilk or formula. The Mom Lounge has had consultations with IBCLB, RNs, IBCLC, Doulas, and free breastfeeding or bottle feeding advice days.

Objectives:
The objectives of The Mom Lounge are to provide a safe and welcoming environment for mothers to socialize and relax while their children play and learn. The business offers a range of services and amenities to make the experience enjoyable and convenient for customers. The Mom Lounge creates a sense of community among its customers, fostering friendships and support networks. The business generates revenue through day passes, memberships, events, classes, and retail sales. The Mom Lounge aims to grow the business and expand its services to meet the needs of its customers.

How’d you meet your business partner?

You can never have enough friends. Mary McCabe and Anna O’Steen met when Anna moved back to Lubbock Texas from Los Angeles California. Mary McCabe just had her first baby and Anna sold her some of her lactation cookies “Boob Food” They met up in the Glazed Honey Ham parking lot to exchange the lactation cookies. Anna leaned into her car to pass off the cookies and said, “I just moved to Lubbock and I have no friends do you want to hang out?” This is the hardest thing for some new moms. To find “Friends”. They met for runs at parks and eventually meeting for wine nights. They both have kids and their conversations turned into into similar ideas. This is how the idea sparked for “The Mom Lounge.”

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Corona times had us all pivoting. Anna was running her successful online Lactation cookie company, “Boob Food.” And Mary was helping run the, “Pie Bar” in Lubbock Texas. We both learned so much. But the most import during that time was to build a dream they had in their heads. Anna couldn’t do Baby expos to gain new sales, and Mary just had a baby. We took the down time to really focus on building The Mom Lounge and how moms need other moms. We are a HUB for moms. A movement for moms.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.themomlounge.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themomloungelbk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themomloungelbk/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-o-steen-75abb921b?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/themomlounge
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-mom-lounge-no-title
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@themomloungelubbock?lang=en

Image Credits
Damon O’Steen Mary McCabe Anna O’Steen