That's Total Mom Sense

We are so lucky to be living in this day and age. Start-ups have become so ubiquitous that literally anyone can take an idea and build an entire company around it and have investors scale it to attain mass market. Men and women now have the freedom to work remotely and give priority to their children, the elderly, or their health without compromising productivity.

Twenty years ago, things weren’t as easy. 9-5 was the norm and if you were adventurous enough to start your own business, you had to show up on the job around the clock.

Today’s guest is a famed fashion designer Cynthia Steffe who not only took risks with her collections, she made bold moves to be a dedicated mom when she built a childcare facility right in her showroom.

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As the adage goes, “it takes money to make money.” For female entrepreneurs, that money can be elusive when starting a business or trying to grow one.

According to a Forbes article by Kerry Hannon, author of “Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life,” her friend Linda Abraham — a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and start-up board member told her the biggest hurdle for female entrepreneurs: “Raising capital. I am sorry to say that, but it’s true.”

Hannon interviewed several women in the early stages of starting ventures and each said that having enough seed money in the bank is what is slowing them down. A few said they considered launching a crowdfunding campaign — raising cash online through a campaign and inviting people to help them. But they were nervous about taking this non-traditional approach.

On today’s show, I am joined by Kate Anderson of iFundWomen, a popular crowdfunding platform for female entrepreneurs.

Kate Anderson is a leader in generating change and gender equality within the private fundraising space. As co-founder and Operations Director of iFundWomen, she has driven millions of dollars into the hands of female founders. iFundWomen's flexible crowdfunding platform combines a pay-it-forward model, expert startup coaching, professional video production, and a private community for its entrepreneurs, all with the goal of helping female entrepreneurs launch and grow better businesses. Kate lives in Boston with her husband and their three kids, Maggie, JR and Audrey.

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Founder Penny Goffman grew up in Montreal with some of the most unique and fast fashion in the world. Inspired by European trends and a father who owned his own fashion line, she loves to dress ahead of the curve. With a degree in business and a passion for style, Penny decided to take the high road and launch Gotique! Jolie, by French definition, means “Pretty” and Jolie is also the name of Penny’s sassy sidekick and beautiful daughter. Inspiration and model, Jolie regularly wears clothing from our children’s boutique and weighs in on her favorites!

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Press:

• JOLIEGOTIQUE.COM: Press Page 

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Jana Blankenship authored a book called Wild Beauty and is here to tell us all about it. She is the founder of Captain Blankenship.

Founded in 2009, Captain Blankenship is a green beauty company based in New York’s Hudson River Valley that makes haircare, skincare, bodycare products and scents with organic ingredients. Social responsibility and sustainability of ingredients and packaging are at the heart of the company, which is a B Corp, Leaping Bunny Certified and part of 1% for the Planet. Captain Blankenship was born out of Jana Blankenship’s desire to create organic beauty products that create a direct link with nature. From its birth in Jana’s kitchen, the company has grown into a full product line sold at The Detox Market, Credo Beauty, Anthropologie, Follain, CAP Beauty, and over 300 stores nationally and internationally. Captain Blankenship also launched a gender-neutral skincare and grooming line called Sailor by Captain Blankenship in 2018 that is available in Target stores nationwide. Jana is the author of Wild Beauty, a holistic primer for green beauty rich in practical wisdom, anecdotes and 45 DIY recipes for natural perfumes, skincare, hair care, body care, teas and tonics. She lives in Gardiner, NY with her husband, two children, dog and cat.

She’s a mom of two kiddos, Mila (6) and Caspian (4). She’s a passionate educator about plant based beauty and says, “It’s been a wild ride running a growing business alongside two growing kids, but I am loving the joyful chaos of it all.”

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As founder, Sean has used his success in disruptive innovations to develop Bambino, a ground breaking babysitting app that is disrupting the underserved segment of in-home childcare.

Prior to Bambino as CEO of MatchCraft, llc., he led a turnaround and successful exit, and saw significant growth in revenue, profits, and personnel.

As a long time leader and innovator within consumer platforms, local search and SMB marketing, Sean has a proven and consistent track record of achieving profitability through revenue growth and operational improvements, and he has a talent for building top-flight teams while instilling a customer-centric approach. While at Dex, he pioneered their early transformation into the digital space with the introduction of performance-based marketing, and led their efforts to be the single largest reseller of Google AdWords to SMBs in the mid 2000's. In addition, he innovated with early consumer models with a focus on consumer generated content (ratings and reviews) and introduced one of the first mobile applications for local search.

Today, Sean continues his efforts to transform local media and enjoys attending and speaking at conferences around the World. While in the process of growing Bambino nationally, he serves as a Board Member of SafetySkills, an online learning company.

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Mom Haul:

• BAMBINOSITTERS.COM: The Bambino Babysitters App (Receive $10 off your first booking using promo code MOMSENSE10 

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Founded by Michelle Piccolo, Feeding Our Toddlers is an online community highlighting toddler-friendly recipes from food-loving moms.

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As women, our bodies are constantly evolving. From our teenage years and puberty to our prime in our 20s and 30s to our pregnancy bods and postpartum. So it makes sense that our workouts should evolve as our bodies needs change. We must focus on the areas that need the most attention, have the correct form and cadence to each workout (sets/reps), which prevents injury and allows us to achieve those results we are seeking.

Brooke Cates, Founder & CEO of The Bloom Method, is a Pre & Postnatal Fitness & Health Expert, as well as a Diastasis Recti & Core Rehabilitation Specialist. Brooke created The Bloom Method with a desire to empower women through movement before, during and after their pregnancies. Recognizing gaps in both the mainstream and pregnancy fitness world, she created a method that consists of diastasis recti rehabilitation and prevention exercises, labor training, functional exercise movements and innovative core techniques that are designed to keep women strong and thriving through pregnancy and into motherhood. The Bloom Method is the recommended fitness method trusted by Doctors, Chiropractors, and Pelvic Floor PTs. In 2018 Brooke took The Bloom Method online with Studio Bloom, making it the first ever Pre and Postnatal virtual fitness studio. Since then thousands of women have experienced empowered pregnancies, birth and now experience a deeper connection to their body, movement and exercise than ever before.

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We wear so many hats in our lives, or shall I say, outfits - as mothers, entrepreneurs, stay at home moms, and working moms. Now the trend has become to embrace these roles while we look and feel our best. Today I have two of my friends and stylists with me - Jasmine Snow and Liz Teich.

Jasmine Snow is a Fashion and Accessories Editor, Creative Consultant and On-Air style expert in New York City. She has over 10 years of experience in fashion market, editorial development and curiating exclusive content for major fashion brands.

Jasmine built the foundation of her career as the Senior Fashion Editor at Seventeen Magazine, which reaches 12 million readers in the US and appears in 10 different countries worldwide. She developed strong relationships with some of the industry's leading stylists, photographers and creative directors as well as discovering the new generation of design stars. Jasmine creates and conceptualizes co-branded editorial partnerships with celebrities, fashion tastemakers and global brands such as ShopBop, ShoeDazzle, Bauble Bar, Kendall & Kylie, and while also consulting on editorial projects for leading print and digital brands such as Glamour Magazine, People Magazine, People's Style Watch, Elle, InStyle, Barney's New York and Tommy Hilfiger.

Jasmine is known for her insider advice and extensive knowledge in fashion, styling and pop culture. Her expertise on Millennials along with her approachable sense of fashion has led her to become a style expert appearing regularly on E! News, Extra, MTV, Seventeen Magazine's YouTube Channel, Good Morning America and as a judge on Lifetime's Project Runway: THREADS.

Liz Teich is a NY-based fashion stylist, lifestyle blogger and mom to her toddler son with a baby on the way. Her blog, The New York Stylist, covers affordable wardrobe ideas, advice on motherhood, fitness, home decor trends and a behind the scenes look at the fashion industry.

Liz has been a professional stylist for over a decade. She works on print and digital advertising campaigns for major brands including Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Target, Lane Bryant, Netflix, Alex & Ani. She has appeared on-camera as a style expert for Rent The Runway, White House Black Market as well as a recurring fashion & lifestyle expert on Good Day New York. Other press include Glamour, Instyle, Women’s Health, Huffington Post.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with both Jasmine and Liz. I was on Jasmine’s holiday segment for the TODAY show hosted by Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie and Liz’s segment for the hottest holiday trends on Fox 5’s Good Day New York hosted by Lori Stokes and Roseanna Scotto.

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Lori Caden is the COO & Co-founder of Belly Bandit,® a company dedicated to helping women look and feel their absolute best before, during and after pregnancy. In 2008, Lori along with her two sisters, Jodi and Kari, introduced the Belly Bandit® Belly Wrap, a postpartum compression wrap that revolutionized the body after baby marketplace. Doctor-recommended and mom-endorsed, the Belly Wrap modernized the ancient practice of post-pregnancy belly support and quickly turned Belly Bandit® products into a new mom must-have.

Since its launch, the company has seen tremendous growth. It has evolved from its signature product, the Belly Bandit® Belly Wrap and expanded to include solution-based maternity wear, intimates, activewear, and a complete line of compression shapewear, the Mother Tucker® Collection. Belly Bandit® products are sold in more than 1,000 retailers nationwide and over 80 countries worldwide. Their success has earned Lori and her sisters the moniker, Sisterpreneurs of Shapewear.

I am so excited that I not only have Lori on the show today, but her sisters Jodi and Kari are here too. Ladies, welcome to “That’s Total Mom Sense!”

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As moms, we lead very busy lives and whether we’re working women or hold down the fort at home, there’s something that changes in us when we feel we look our best - it’s that mani/pedi, that blowout, or those perfect makeup essentials that take us from feeling drab to fab and ready to put ourselves out there and take on the world.

On today’s episode, we’re zeroing in on makeup essentials that enhance your natural beauty, are quick/easy, don’t take up much real estate in your cosmetic bag or diaper fanny pack, and most importantly have a patented packaging (they’re crayons guys, and who doesn’t love crayons -- not just your kids) and unique formulas that give you a fresh, flawless face. The brand I’m talking about is Trestique and I’m here with the founder and Co-CEO, Jenn Kapahi.

Jenn grew up on her family’s organic farm on the North Fork. Besides working in the fields and on the retail stand, her side hustle was waitressing, starting a piano school, babysitting, working with the vet and doing makeup at Saks in Southampton. In college she studied fine art, played on the women’s soccer team and held 3 part time jobs.

Upon graduation, she worked at Bloomingdales and worked her way up to becoming the Assistant Store Manager of the Cosmetics Dept. responsible for 7 brands and 300 employees. She loved the world of makeup but disliked the lack of creativity in the retail sector, which led her to join the marketing team of a top global cosmetic manufacturer, then she moved to Revlon where she worked as a Global Product Developer, and finally, launched her own cosmetics brand, trèStiQue in June 2015.

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