Women supporting women.
Finding community as a business owner, but also a mom, can be a daunting task. I am reminded of a graphic I saw years ago, maybe before memes were even a thing: on one side, there were two women climbing a ladder, and the one at the top was pushing the one below her down with her foot. In the next one, they were multiple women, each reaching down to pull the others up to help them climb the ladder. This always resonated so much with me and became how I wanted to live my life: to lift others up, especially other women. Once I became a mom, this became so much more significant, and I decided to not subscribe to gossip, to learn other people’s stories, to not pass judgment.
When Flavia and I started The Nurtured Seedling, this belief was at the core of our deep desire to foster community. We completely adore the brilliant, inspiring, ambitious community of women around us, and it has been an absolute delight meeting so many incredible women, moms, and entrepreneurs since launching back in the Fall of 2021. We now consider many of them good friends and it’s been an honor navigating the journey of motherhood alongside them.
Last month, we made even more gal pals and were totally inspired when we attended Mother Mag and In Good Company’s beautiful retreat at Flowers Winery. Our hearts are still so full!
Founder Katie Hintz-Zambrano has a true gift for bringing people together and thinking of every single perfect detail - from the stunning venue, to the flower bar, the food and wine…but the best part is the people. What a powerhouse group of very stylish women this was! Such an inspiration to listen to a panel of entrepreneurs in various stages of their businesses, and how they find balance with their passion and families. We especially loved the breakout sessions (also personally curated by Katie!) where we got deep about motherhood, entrepreneurship, and pivoting in terms of your passions.
The women at this event attended for various reasons- to spend some quality time with girlfriends, to network with other entrepreneurs, to treat themselves to an indulgent day in an inspiring setting…but ALL were there for connection, to build community, to learn from each other, and above all, to empower other mothers and women. Everyone we spoke with was genuinely curious about what we’re working on, whether we were talking to someone who is passionately starting to pivot toward a new idea, to well-known brands that have been around for a long time.
{It’s been so lovely keeping in touch with ALL these amazing women from our breakout group and watching them live their passions.}
We left with big bouquets from Matilda’s Bloombox, our bellies full of Butterand cakes (yum!), Katie’s famous goodie bags full of some of our most beloved woman-owned Bay Area brands, and best of all, to bump into women we’ve partnered with on events, those we’ve been “online friends” with for a long time, and meet new friends that we look forward to hanging with again!
Thank you for having us, In Good Company and Mother Mag - we can’t wait for the next one!
{All images above by the loveliest Kara Brodgsell for Mother Mag, who we also now consider a friend and can’t wait to collaborate on something cool! ;) }