We were lucky to catch up with Maria Berglund recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maria, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

After having two of my three children in the US, and realizing the lack of support families receive here, I decided to do something about it. I don’t think it’s right for new moms to feel alone in postpartum, or to have to be worried about basic essentials for their family. My mom was a mom in need, and after becoming a mom myself, I can’t imagine how hard that must have been for her.

Now I get to pay the kindness forward that my family received growing up, while also helping to reduce inequalities and promote good health and well-being for families. At In Kind Boxes we believe that every mom deserves quality postpartum care.

Maria, 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?

I am a mom of three boys, and until I started In Kind Boxes, I was a stay-at-home-mom.

After digging into research about postpartum support, and maternal health statistics, I have learned that there is a maternal health crisis happening in the US. This is the only developed country that has a rising maternal mortality rate. And 60% of those deaths are preventable. There is no excuse for this.

I care very deeply for new mothers, and use the platform I have build to advocate for them and their needs. It’s not fair that the support stops for people once the baby is born. Especially since one in seven babies in the US is born into poverty.

What sets our work apart from others is that I volunteer my time to In Kind Boxes. We’re a volunteer run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. So any donations or funding we receive makes a direct impact on families who need it most.

I’ve worked very hard to curate our postpartum gift box to include natural and organic essentials for both mom, and baby. This is for two reasons- every mom and baby deserves high quality care, and because moms deserve to feel special too. Often times a baby shower gift is purely for the baby. Our boxes are special because there are several self care items for moms.

Whether a mom receives an In Kind box as a gift, or as a donated box, I want her to feel seen, and loved, and supported.

I want moms to know that they matter, and that they’re not alone.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

As a nonprofit, we are very cautious with our spending, so having a social media presence is important to us, because it’s a free way to bring awareness to our work.

With the pandemic we had to focus on social media marketing because in person events weren’t happening either.

In 2020, we had a LOT of support from expecting or newly postpartum content creators/influencers sharing about our work in their Instagram stories.

It’s amazing when you can build virtual relationships with people from all over! We love it when our online village helps us spread kindness.

In 2021 I shifted our focus to building better relationships with our community and having our audience get to know me better, and my reason for starting In Kind. It was very hard to share more personal stories, and be on camera, but it has been so worth it. Video has become incredibly valuable for In Kind, and I’m so glad I put my fears aside and started showing up for In Kind Boxes in this way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience is a muscle I’ve had to build from very early on.

Before my mom chose to leave my father, we were living in a very unstable and dangerous environment.
Growing up I could never understand why people would be so mean- whether it was with words or unkind acts. I used that as fuel to get myself out of a toxic environment, and have always tried to spread kindness in some way.

When I started In Kind, and even today, there will be times when I reach out to people for help, and they say no. It happens a lot more than you would think. When that happens, I don’t get angry. I use it as fuel to keep going. Some people just don’t understand the importance of our work, or have the capacity to help the way they said they would, and that’s ok.

After a lot of inner work, I’ve learned that my value, and the value of my work isn’t defined by anyone else but me.
Sometimes imposter syndrome still sneaks in, but it’s not nearly as bad as it used to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inkindboxes.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/inkindboxes

Image Credits
evelynne gomes greenberg photography for the photo with the mom sitting with the paper bag, and the event with the bag being handed to the mom by the table.