This is a story about Kate Westervelt, a new mother from Massachusetts who wanted to encourage other women to use healthier products. Kate is a mother and self-made business woman and CEO who first reached out to us via Instagram. She wanted to include Rael in her first ever product launch for Mom-box.com, a company she started shortly after giving birth to her son. While tired and hurting she trudged to Target (with ice in her undies) to shop for pads, rinses, and creams. Soon after giving birth 48 hours prior, she returned to the car crying and told her husband there must be a better way to get women everything they need to heal after giving birth. Based on her experience of being a new mom and understanding how painful and inconvenient it is for new moms to actually go out to shop for their essential needs with new born baby, she created MOM-BOX.
MOM-BOX takes the legwork out of the product discovery and shopping process. They carefully pick, pack, and ship recovery kits directly to new moms so they have all their postpartum essentials after returning home from the hospital. They are on a mission to help new moms remember to care for themselves in the chaos of entering motherhood.
Each box features two packages of the Rael Overnight Pads. After testing a vast selection of pads, they told us our pads were perfect for postpartum moms because of our pad length, organic cotton material, and wings which give support. We wanted to know more about Kate and her experience with our products, so we asked a few questions.
1. We are so grateful you chose our Overnight Pads for your Mombox! How did you come to create Mombox?
After the birth of my son I ended up waddling around Target looking for items I needed for my own recovery. It seemed like everyone had gifted me stuff for the baby but no one really directed my attention to the products I would need after giving birth. I think, especially for first-time moms, there's not a lot of dialogue around what you will need to recover from the act of giving birth. Peri-rinse bottles and postpartum bleeding aren't very sexy topics, and so they often get overlooked and under-discussed. By the time I stumbled back to the car I realized there had to be a much easier (and more convenient) way to get new moms the care items they needed.
I also was disappointed by the lack of product variety on the store shelf. There were plenty of chemical-packed products, but more than ever I was apprehensive about the substances I was putting on my healing body, given that I was a new, nursing mom. This fueled my idea even more: there was no reason why, given the power of the internet and this convenience-driven economy, we couldn't pick, pack, and ship new moms the best products on the market and save her a store run.
2. How is your life as a mom and as a woman entrepreneur?
[Refills coffee mug.] Busy. But that's expected, right? The balance idea is very subjective. My idea of balanced might look completely different from another mom's idea of balanced. I put my son down by 8 p.m. try to fit in a little fitness and time with my husband, then often jump back online until 1 a.m. But I choose that because right now I feel lucky that I have the opportunity to chase my entrepreneurial dreams. I am constantly uplifted and encouraged by other working mothers who give each day the same gusto. I have also found that just talking about big ideas is way less impactful than forging ahead and doing it. I'm reinvigorated every time we hit a wall and overcome it with hard work.
3. How did you first find Rael? What were your first impressions?
I had spent months and month ordering and testing out maternity pads -- sanitary napkins that were marketed to new moms specifically with heavy postpartum bleeding. I was very unimpressed. Most of them were big, bulky, and didn't have wings. I stumbled across Rael on Amazon one night and was immediately drawn to the pesticide-free organic cotton overnights. Then, when my sample arrived, I felt like I won the lottery because the overnight pads were really long like hospital pads, but without all of the bulk. There are two wing placements, and they came in beautifully packaged bunches. I felt like I hit the jackpot and knew the world needed to learn more about what y'all were up to.
Thank you again, Kate, for your love and support of Rael.
We always work hard to provide the best quality of organic feminine care for all women all around the world.