With the aim of supporting women through the postpartum period, Naturopath, Herbalist & Postpartum Doula Betania Gonzalez created Mama’s Tribe. Understanding the challenges that new mums face, she set out to create specially formulated teas with a blend of healing, soothing and nourishing herbs to support healthy lactation and recovery after labour. The carefully selected herbal ingredients help with lactation and contribute to a mother’s wellbeing through the potential challenges of postpartum and motherhood. Here Betania talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Mama’s Tribe, the challenges she has overcome, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Mama’s Tribe was inspired by my own experiences throughout pregnancy and postpartum: from nausea and anxiety to how emotionally worked out and drained I felt at times, and the realisation of how important it was to have a support system ready to help my recovery and postpartum journey.
At that time, I had to think of what I was going to do regarding work after my maternity leave payment finished. My husband and I were not yet ready to consider putting our baby in daycare and we didn’t have family around to babysit. Going back to one-on-one Naturopathic consults was not going to be viable yet but I still wanted to do something that fulfilled my wish to support other moms while allowing time to be present for my baby and take care of my family.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
It was a slow process that started to take a bit more shape when I got my mom visiting all the way from Uruguay. I was then able to take little breaks to start working on my vision for Mama’s Tribe, trying out recipes, and working on the brand design, packaging, suppliers, permits, etc. There was a lot to consider and a tight budget to play around.
As it was my first time creating a brand and a product line from scratch, you can be sure that the road was full of challenges and it has been, and still is, a huge learning experience on so many levels.
After my mom left and with my baby not yet attending daycare, I would work naps, nights and any time my husband could care for our little one. This was tough and inefficient. However, we made it work and I officially launched Mama’s Tribe on my birthday last February and have been working on the background as much as mom life allowed me.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
My biggest breakthrough so far must have been to actually come up with my first two blends after realising there was a gap in the market that needed to be filled, and a very important public deserving more love and attention in such a crucial phase of their lives.
As a herbalist, the medicinal properties of the chosen herbs were very important, as a consumer, tastiness was essential and as a new mom myself, I knew that it had to be pretty because I wanted to focus on the mother and make her feel special, as we can often feel neglected with all the attention going to the babies.
The result was a delicious and beautiful range of “functional gifts” specially created to nourish moms’ bodies and souls so they can become better versions of themselves.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
That is a very funny question right now. As I slowly started creating Mama’s Tribe during my own postpartum, I have to say that I never had a very defined balance between work and family time. I have to work around my baby’s schedule: the 2 days he goes to daycare – the most productive hours of my week – and hoping he naps longer than 20 minutes at a time. There are also house chores, groceries to buy and … oh yes, sleep when possible. I love working towards building and growing the Mama’s Tribe of my vision board, but at this point, I have prioritised supporting my husband – who’s also working hard on growing his business – and overall spending quality time with my baby. I don’t want to look back and regret having missed this time in his life where every day there’s a discovery and learning. At the end of the day, I chose to redirect my profession this way so I could have more time to dedicate to my family.
