Who here has had a defining moment? A time in your life when you’re urged to make a pivotal decision. When you experience something that fundamentally changes you and you decide to take action and stand up.  Well, I had a BIG one on May 21, 2018.

I was six months into my mat leave, having just become a mom for the first time. I had a brand new 4Moms Momaroo4 that my son did not like. I wanted to free up space in our house, make some cash back, and get it into another family’s home to enjoy. I listed it on two separate platforms, haggled back and forth with a handful of people for what seemed like hours until a price and meet up was confirmed.

I packed my son into his bucket seat and off we went. We sat in the mall parking lot and waited.  The buyer was late, my son was hungry and crying.  I felt too nervous to breastfeed in the car - I was not the best at it, our windows were not tinted, and I just did not feel comfortable. 20 minutes late, the buyer showed up. I handed him the swing and he handed me the cash. 

I got back into my car and counted it; I had been ripped off. My entire body filled with fist clenching anger, but then something special happened. My hands relaxed, my breathing slowed, and a very different feeling took over, empowerment. I pulled my crying son out of his bucket and screamed NEVER AGAIN, and I just started feeding him right there without any nerves as tears rolled down my cheeks.

I am not the loudest or the most aggressive, but I’ve never been one to stand by and watch something I disagree with unfold.  I was not satisfied with the baby gear buy/sell options that existed for parents. I found them to be time consuming, completely inconvenient, lacking quality control and often unsafe. I started initiating chatter amongst other moms and quickly began to realize that there were others, a lot of other moms, who felt the same as me. Us moms were dreading selling our baby gear because we did not want to deal with the hassle. As a result, amazing & quality baby gear was going to waste instead of being sold and passed back into the community for another family to enjoy.  

This moment changed me. It motivated and empowered me to build Rebelstork for us ALL. This is OUR disruption to the way it has always been. The Flock is our COMMUNITY that is standing up for small changes that over time will add up to big impacts on moms lives and on our environment for our future generations. I vowed in that parking lot two years ago that I was going to use my voice to stand up for my community of moms out there like me and rally for a better option that we deserve.

So, today on International Women’s Day, I wish each of you feel empowered to use your voice to stand up for your community. 
Dialogue picks up momentum, and momentum stirs change.

I hope you enjoy our community, Rebelstork.
 

Emily