We were lucky to catch up with Chelsea Lewis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chelsea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

The funniest thing is that I never intended to start a cosmetic company. In 2014, while pregnant with my son I started a blog on Instagram to document my pregnancy experience. Because my parents are both in the healthcare field, I thought my blog would be a different perspective coming from the daughter of an OBGYN and Pediatric Nurse. I discussed my prenatal journey and various holistic alternatives I would use while also utilizing my knowledge of medicine from a doctor’s perspective. By the time I had my second child, my blog had picked up in popularity amongst my college peers that were becoming mothers as well. One day while in the E.R. with my daughter I decided to make something for her to improve her immune support. We frequented the emergency room when my daughter was under age 2 and I was getting frustrated there were minimal options for her to take over the counter. I began researching natural remedies for cold and eczema, started curating products, and would share the results with my followers. Once I found ingredients that I worked for my kids, I posted the results to my blog. Almost immediately I gained a lot of interest and my friends and followers offered to pay me to make products for their child’s ailments. Before I knew it, I had a line of 5 products within a month. After receiving so many inquiries for orders, I knew I had something special. I was flabbergasted, here I thought I was blogging about my experience and now I had a customer base.

Today, My Mommy Wisdom is a certified cruelty-free product line that caters to women and children throughout the postpartum, prenatal, and infancy journey. Our products respond to the most common ailments such as eczema care, teething, breast milk production, hair loss, and feminine hygiene. Our products are sold in boutiques, and major retailers like Amazon and Walmart Marketplace.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Chelsea Lewis, I am the owner of My Mommy Wisdom, an all-natural product line for women and children. Both of my parents are healthcare professionals—my dad is a retired OBGYN and my mom is a retired pediatric nurse. I believe having grown up immersed in an environment surrounded around the health of women and children; I developed an innate passion for wellness.

As I got older, seeing so many of my friends in motherhood struggle left me unsettled and I wanted to use the knowledge I’d acquired from my parents to become an advocate for African-American women. Once I saw how many women were interested in this type of platform, I decided to explore motherhood on a deeper level and curate products specifically to the common hardships women and children experience during the first year of infancy. I began to survey customers and asked them what some were struggles they experienced during their first year of motherhood. I quickly realized topics like “not producing enough milk” “postpartum hair shedding” and “caring for a sick infant” were triggers that not only affected how mothers felt about themselves but impacted their mental health. And I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to make products that would be easier for moms of that population, to give them one less thing to worry about and find a solution for them.

Thusly, My Mommy Wisdom’s growth and success. I don’t want to be known as just a product line but as a brand that cares about its customers and their children, I want mothers who buy our products to feel secure in knowing that I care for their needs and their children’s needs, as I do my own.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I’ve had to unlearn is that I cannot do everything by myself. In order for a company to excel and grow, you cannot do everything on your own. It isn’t feasible and it will make you begin to resent your business because it will drain you. During my first 3 years of inception, I was doing it all. I took pride in telling people “It’s just ME! I do it all”. But by the end of that third year, I had a “heart check” and took survey of my personal life and realized I wasn’t living. I had stopped doing the things I loved and enjoyed like traveling, and engaging with friends and family because I was always ‘so busy’. I did not have a manufacturer at the time, so I was making 500 units of product a week alone. Not to mention, running my company’s social media pages, editing my website, and finding new innovative ways to market.

It wasn’t until I was selected to be a member of The Macy’s Workshop that I realized this was not healthy, in fact, it was impacting my own emotional health. The Macy’s Workshop is a cohort of minority business owners that are looking to go into retail and need mentoring and assistance. I was a part of this program for 6-weeks and got to meet other owners who were not following my same business model, in fact, they were outsourcing the largest parts of their companies so they could focus solely on the day-to-day operations. And that is when it hit me, I was limiting my own growth because I wanted to be solely in control of my company. I needed help. So, once I graduated from The Workshop I took a month to goal-set and started writing out ways I could begin to allocate tasks. One of my grad school professors had this saying “Great leader’s delegate. Anyone can credit on their own, but a leader appoints the necessary help to achieve the optimal result.” Once I began incorporating this mindset things really began to shift for my business. I was now able to hire experts that were coming to me with opportunities and helping me elevate my company’s exposure. It was the best thing I have ever had to unlearn.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The ‘mom community’ is a niche yet powerful market. If moms don’t like something they are going to tell everyone they know about it. And if moms LOVE something, they are going to tell everyone they know about it. Never underestimate the influence of moms. It has been that community that has been responsible for my business growth and success. For me, I think my brand transparency has been a key in building My Mommy Wisdom’s reputation. Every post or message you see from our team is spoken from the heart. I want moms to understand, I have been there, I have experienced some of thse same concerns and their wellness is important to me. Seeing my customers believe in my products and share testimonials makes me forever humbled and grateful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mymommywisdom.com
• Instagram: @my.mommy.wisdom
• Facebook: facebook.com/mymommywisd0m
• Linkedin: My Mommy Wisdom
• Twitter: @mymommywisdom
• Youtube: My Mommy Wisdom

Image Credits
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