When I became a mom, I expected my life to change.
I didn't expect to lose pieces of myself along the way.
Somewhere between the diapers, school drop offs, never ending laundry, and putting everyone else's needs first, I realized I couldn't remember the last time I had done something just because it made me happy.
I loved being a mom.
But I missed being...me.
How It All Started
If you've been following me for a while, you know The Not So Perfect Mom didn't come out of nowhere.
Before there was a shop, there was just me - a mom sharing her life online.
I've been creating content since 2017, documenting my honest journey through motherhood. I shared the beautiful moments, but I also shared the ones that people often kept hidden: postpartum recovery, breastfeeding struggles, sleepless nights, and learning to accept a body that looked nothing like it did before having babies.
For a long time, I felt like I was failing.
Social media made it seem like every other mom had it all together. Their homes were spotless. They bounced back after having a baby. They somehow managed to make Pinterest worthy lunches while keeping up with work, friendships, and self care.
Meanwhile, I was just trying to survive the day. I was overwhelmed, exhausted, and constantly wondering if I was doing enough.
The more moms I connected with online through my honest motherhood posts, the more I realized something important:
None of us actually had it all together.
We were all carrying invisible struggles. We were all comparing ourselves to unrealistic expectations. We were all trying our best.
That's when I stopped chasing perfection.
In April 2020, I launched The Not So Perfect Mom.
At the time, the world looked very different. We were in the middle of a pandemic, moms everywhere were navigating a new kind of exhaustion, and I felt an even stronger pull to create a space where moms could feel understood.
TNSPM started as a way to turn the message I had been sharing online into something moms could physically carry with them - a reminder that they weren't alone in the messy, beautiful reality of motherhood.
The Post That Changed Everything
One day, I shared a side by side photo of my postpartum body - 9 months pregnant and 9 months postpartum with my second child.
I wasn't trying to go viral.
I just wanted another mom to know she wasn't alone.
The response was overwhelming.
Moms from around the world commented saying things like:
"Thank you for showing a real postpartum body."
"My body looks like yours."
"I thought I was the only one."
Those comments reminded me how desperately moms were craving honesty. For the first time, I realized that simply sharing my truth gave other moms permission to share theirs.
But alongside that encouragement came something else.
The criticism.
People - both men and women - called my body ugly. Some said it looked like I had dirty diapers stuffed inside my stomach because of my loose skin. Women commented that they don't want to have kids anymore after seeing my post...other women commented that they had multiple children and "snapped back", implying I just wasn't trying hard enough.
They criticized my stretch marks.
My loose skin.
My mom pooch.
My body became something strangers felt entitled to judge.
As painful as those comments were, they revealed something much bigger.
There was this expectation that every mom should "bounce back."
That if your body didn't, you somehow failed.
And I was tired of that narrative.
I Was Tired of the "Perfect Mom" Narrative
It wasn't just about postpartum bodies.
It was everything.
The pressure to love every moment of motherhood.
The pressure to never complain.
The pressure to always be patient.
To always be grateful.
To always have a clean house, make food from scratch..
To somehow balance work, motherhood, marriage, friendships, and self care without ever admitting you were struggling.
The truth?
There are days when motherhood is really hard.
Days when I'm exhausted. Days when I need a break. Days when I don't enjoy every single minute. And saying that doesn't make me a bad mom. It makes me an honest one.
Somewhere along the way, moms started believing that they had to hide those feelings because they were afraid of being judged.
I wanted to change that.
Creating a Different Kind of Space
That's why I created The Not So Perfect Mom.
Not as another highlight reel. Not as another place telling moms they needed to be better.
But as a pushback against the unrealistic expectations that social media had created.
I wanted to normalize conversations about postpartum bodies, breastfeeding struggles, postpartum depression, mom guilt, mental health, burnout, identity, and all parts of motherhood that so often stay hidden.
Because the moment we start talking honestly is the moment another mom realizes she's not alone.
Motherhood can be beautiful and difficult at the same time. You can deeply love your children and still need a break. You can be grateful and still feel overwhelmed.
Those things can exist together.
It Became More Than a Shop
What started as sharing my story online eventually grew into something much bigger.
The Not So Perfect Mom became a shop - but not because I simply wanted to sell products.
In February 2021, I launched the #STILLME Campaign, where I interviewed four incredible moms about their self love journeys after becoming mothers. We talked about body image, identity, confidence, and what it looks like to rediscover yourself after having children.
Those conversations inspirired one of my favorite designs: our #STILLME Shirt that reads:
Still Beautiful. Still Confident. Still Me.
Because becoming a mom doesn't erase who you are. You body may change. Your priorities may change. Your life may look completely different. But underneath it all... You're still you.
That shirt is a wearable affirmation - reminding moms that they are still worthy of love, confidence, and taking up space.
(if you'd like to read the full story behind the #STILLME Campaign, I've shared it in a separate blog post here.)
Every item I create is designed with one question in mind:
How can this help a mom choose herself today?
That mission has shaped everything I've created over the years.
Whether it's a shirt that makes her laugh because it perfectly describes this season of life, a tote bag she proudly carries into her favorite bookstore, a bookmark that encourages her to read one more chapter, or a Blind Book Date that gives her an excuse to slow down for an evening...
I want every product to feel like a little reminder that she matters too.
Motherhood has a way of convincing that everyone else should come first. We buy things for our kids without thinking twice. We celebrate their milestones. We sign them up for activities. We make sure everyone else has what they need.
But when it comes to ourselves, we hesitate.
We talk ourselves out of buying the book. We put back the sweatshirt. We tell ourselves, "Maybe another time."
Somewhere along the way, we stop asking ourselves a simple question:
When was the last time I chose myself?
I hope when a mom shops online or at a market, she sees something that makes her smile and thinks,
"Ooo.. that's so me."
"I deserve this."
"I've been wanting to read more."
"I needed this reminder."
Because sometimes choosing yourself doesn't have to look like a week long vacation or an extravagant spa day.
Sometimes it looks like buying the shirt that makes you feel seen. Picking up the book you've been wanting to read. Carrying a tote bag that reminds you of who you are outside of motherhood.
Those little moments matter.
They're how we slowly begin finding ourselves again.
Today, TNSPM is so much more than a shop. It's a community where moms can show up exactly as they are. Through honest conversations, blog posts, local meetups, online friendships, and products created with moms in mind, my goal has always been the same:
To help moms feel seen, supported, and a little more like themselves again. To remind moms that they are more than what they do for everyone else.
They are still worthy of joy.
Still worthy of rest.
Still worthy of investing in themselves.
And never have to pretend to be perfect to belong here.
My Hope
If there's one thing I hope you take away from The Not So Perfect Mom, it's this:
You don't have to have the perfect body.
The perfect house. The perfect routine.
Or love every single moment of motherhood.
You can deeply love your children and need a break. You can be grateful and still feel overwhelmed. You can be confident one day and struggle the next. You can be doing your absolute best and still have hard days.
None of that makes you a bad mom. It makes you human.
That's why our motto is "Embrace the unfiltered side of motherhood."
To me, that means embracing all of it.
The beautiful & exhausting moments. The laughter and the tears. The postpartum body and the messy house. The breastfeeding journey that didn't go as planned. The days you feel like you're thriving, and the days you're simply surviving.
Because motherhood isn't perfect...and neither are we. That's what makes it real.
My hope is that whenever you visit this space - whether you're reading a blog post, joining one of our meetups, chatting with other moms in our online community, or finding something in the shop that makes you smile - you leave feeling seen, encouraged, and reminded that you are never alone.
We're all just doing our best.
And that's more than enough.
Welcome to The Not So Perfect Mom. I'm so glad you're here.🩷