The Mom Behind BR…
So I started this company and long to help any mother who will allow me…so I guess it’s only appropriate I introduce myself. I am hesitant though, because as I enter into my 30s I feel like I own so many different hats that I hardly know which hat to wear from day-to-day. So, to put it simply I am a wife first, mother second, and an engineer-saleswoman-turned-Stay-at-Home-Mom-turned-lactation-consultant at all other times. All these little pieces of me though are what were uniquely formed to make me the best fit to be the owner of Breastfeeding Reborn.
I have thought a lot about what my “why” was for this change in career. My “why” for starting a business when my 3-littles are a full-time job all on their own. My “why” for essentially giving my husband a part-time job, following his full-time job to make this all happen. My initial instinct is to tell you about how unprepared I was for breastfeeding. Maybe even begin to tell you, how difficult my breastfeeding journey was with my first two. I even thought to give stories of the good (and horrible) lactation consultant I have had that inspired me. At the end of the day though, I have to go way back to the young girl who was graduating with her undergraduate degree to truly express my why.
I graduated college with a bachelor's in chemical engineering in 2016 from Arizona State University. I was offered a decent job before I even graduated, I started full-time work 2 weeks after graduation. The slight delay, because I also married my husband and went on our honeymoon right after graduation. I like to say I double-majored, BSE & MRS degrees.
My husband graduated the following year and commissioned into the Air Force. This meant <1 year after starting my first job, I would be moving across the country looking for my next job. This end up being a great move for my career though and I was able to begin a career in engineering sales, which really was my niche in the engineering world. When I was interviewing for this position though, the manager (who I still adore greatly) asked me the very serious question, “So, Antoinette. You’re a year into your engineering career. Tell me what you want to do when you grow up?” Maybe he was hoping I had some well-thought-out 5yr & 10yr plan, but I was just trying to get a job at my husband’s next duty station.
As I sat there, questioning how I wanted to answer the question, I am sure I rambled. “Well, I like to work with my hands, enjoy working in the field, but I also look forward to managing people, blah, blah.” Then I finally shut up long enough to realize my true answer. I said, “I do not know what the future holds. I will be honest that I can get bored easily…I think it is a common trait of engineers. What I can say though, is I want to help people. If I can work with others and gain the satisfaction of solving other people’s problems - I’ll be happy.” That statement is truer today, than it even was then.
So, even though I have faced a lot of struggles in the breastfeeding world. Even though I have been met with some great (and not-so-great) lactation consultants. Those are not the reasons, I became a lactation consultant. I am here to serve you, because solving problems is my happy space. And boy, do we know that there are many problems to be solved in lactation. So, I am here to come alongside you and help YOU bring your breastfeeding journey to life.
If you can relate to any piece of my story, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out to me - always looking forward to meeting others.
With love,
Antoinette C., CLC.
Owner, Breastfeeding Reborn