Mom Talk with Carli from Partum

In a few sentences (we know you don’t have much time!) tell us about yourself and your little one…

I’m a “newish” first time mom to Gabby, who will be two this May. I’m from the states, born in Ohio and worked in NYC for 5 years before moving to Canada. My daughter and I just moved to Ottawa with my husband, cat and dog. My background is as a director of brand marketing for startups.

Fill us in on everything we should know about Partum: 

I’ve recently launched Partum, an online marketplace for women to discover and shop the female-founded brands moms love. I had the idea for Partum when I was a few months postpartum - I had struggled my whole pregnancy, and then as a new, breastfeeding mom, to find products I loved. My background is working in the startup world so I knew there had to be amazing small businesses and startups out there that were creating all of the products I wanted but it wasn’t easy to discover them through a Google search. After scrolling Instagram while I was up all night nursing my daughter, I finally started to discover tons of female-founded small businesses with products that would be perfect for mothers. By creating a collective platform for women to shop all of these brands in one place, we hope it will be easier for moms to discover products they love and help female-founded businesses thrive.

faves

What is one thing you couldn’t live without as a mom?
(your ultimate must-have!)

Coffee! I’ve always been a coffee person but I don’t think I could get through the mornings without coffee. Between a lot of sleepless nights, a busy toddler and launching a company during a global pandemic, I’ve definitely been drinking a lot more coffee to survive.

What are Gabby’s current faves? 
(if it suddenly disappeared tomorrow - there would for sure be tears!)

Dirty dishes. Lol my daughter loves to ‘help’ clean up and her very favourite thing to do right now is washing the dishes. She will push a chair over the sink and beg us to turn on the sink so she can practice washing the dishes!

What are three things that you take everywhere with you … 
(diaper bag essentials - besides diapers!)

Besides diapers and snacks of course, I always have hair ties and a long-wear, matte lip gloss with me.

Book Club

What is your favourite children’s book?
(a childhood fave or a post children discovery)

One of my favourite, classic children’s book is ‘Dear Zoo’. As a child, I had the book memorized and now my daughter loves reading it with me and lifting the flaps to see all of the different animals.

What is your child’s favourite books?
 (bet you can recite from memory!) 

My daughter really loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eight Silly Monkeys and an Itsy Bitsy Spider puppet book.

Mini Style

What are your favourite places to shop for your babe?
(mostly online these days I’m sure!)

We are lucky to have really amazing grandparents and aunties who love buying gifts for Gabby so they really do most of the shopping lol! But I love buying clothes from brands like Mini Mioche and Rylee + Cru. I’ve also like to look for cute sweaters and basics from bigger brands like H&M and Zara. And I actually have gotten some really cute clothing and toys from second hand stores. (Bumbleberry Kids in Toronto is my favourite!)

What children’s clothing brand do you wish they made in your size?
(because let’s face it, we’ve all once thought “I wish this came in my size!”)

So many! I absolutely love Mini Mioche and want every single piece of their clothing in my size. There are also tons of cute items from Rylee + Cru that I’d love for myself. 

Mom Talk

What advice would you tell your pregnant self?
(if only you knew then..)

I wish I could give my pregnant self advice to help better prepare me for postpartum. There were a lot of things that I wish I had known or done differently in those early weeks postpartum. I wish I had known how hard the physical recovery process could be. And I wish I hadn’t felt the need or desire to jump right back into ‘normal life’. I definitely struggled during those early postpartum days and looking back, I wish I had taken more time to rest and recover.

As a working mom, how do you find balance between work and motherhood?
(really is there such a thing?)

I’m definitely still trying to figure out ‘balance’ with work and motherhood. It’s been especially hard to try and find some type of balance as I’ve just become an entrepreneur with a toddler and little to no childcare during quarantine.

Who is your momspiration?
(it can be more than just one because there are so many superstars out there!)

There are so many!! Some mom entrepreneurs that I’ve recently been extra inspired by are Katia Beauchamp, Co-Founder & CEO of Birchbox and Brit Morin, Founder & CEO of Brit + Co.

What has been your pandemic saviour?
(we need all the sanity tips!) 

I wish I could say something inspirational to say like working out or getting outdoors more! But taking a few moments to be alone has been especially helpful lately. I definitely feel a lot better when I sneak away for an extra hot shower or escape to my bed for a quick scroll or nap. And wine, definitely a lot of wine has also been a saviour during this pandemic!

Follow Carli on Instagram: @joinpartum and visit her shop website: https://www.joinpartum.com/

#TMLmomtalk