Speaker 1: 0:10

Hey guys, welcome to Preview Alliance podcast. This is Sarah, and this week I am speaking to Amy Van Heren. She's the CEO and founder of Humpst and, as it says in some of her taglines boobs, babies and business. But most importantly, she's coming to you taglines boobs, babies and business. But most importantly, she's coming to you as a mother, an entrepreneur and someone who wants to encourage you, no matter which way you choose to feed your baby, that you're not alone and that there is a support system there for you. So stay tuned, hi guys, welcome to Preview Alliance podcast. As I said in the intro, super excited I have Amy here with me. Welcome, amy, and I'm so excited to talk to you.

Speaker 2: 0:51

Hi, sarah, so excited to be here, so honored. Thanks for having me on board.

Speaker 1: 0:56

Well, I know a lot about what you do and who you are, but I would love to introduce you to our listeners, so can you just kind of give us an overview of who you are and what led you to where you are today?

Speaker 2: 1:08

Yeah, absolutely so. I'm Amy, I'm a mother to two, I'm a Mainer, I am a two-time breastfeeder and I started a company called PumpSpotting. That is really about comprehensive baby feeding support, supporting parents wherever they are on the journey through pregnancy, feeding back to work, weaning all those stages that we go through. And we do it through community support, through access to experts. We do it in technology, on our 36-foot school bus, in person, and then we also have an offering for employers. So we're helping bring breastfeeding and pumping support into the workplace. That's what I do.

Speaker 2: 1:47

I would never have guessed that I would have been on a quest almost a decade to be supporting parents in this phase of life and really focused on breastfeeding, because I don't come from a maternal health background. I really came to this journey through my own pain and raw need. So when my second was born, I was running a marketing agency and I had to go back to work when he was just four weeks because I didn't have a lot of support and resources and someone to fill in for me, and so he was very little and I was thrown into a world of nursing and pumping and traveling and just navigating all the things all the time with him and it was incredibly isolating. I just felt all the time that I was removing myself from all aspects of my life and I think you know I didn't know that or think about that until I got into feeding, but for me it was like every time I had to pump I had to step away from the office, I had to step away from my family. You know, when I was traveling I had to pump before I got on the airplane, in the middle of the airplane when I landed, and so I'm constantly stressing and thinking and how are you finding spaces and time away? And then you know, in the middle of the night getting up to feed, and 3 am, again and again and again. And so I just found myself in a whirlwind of loneliness, really, and overwhelm, trying to navigate all the things, and I was just constantly it's all I thought about was nursing, or pumping, or feeding, or the next time, or the logistics, or the safety of it. Was there enough milk? Was there too much milk, dry ice and all of those things.

Speaker 2: 3:36

And I think for me at that moment I really felt like I wanted to quit, like I remember the exact moment of breakdown for me and I was probably like my eighth red eye in a matter of months, just like back and forth across the country. It was in the San Francisco airport. It was like a tiny bathroom. I had a like limited amount of time before I had to get on the plane, so I was in a stall and I'm sweating, I'm crying, I'm just like feeling all the emotions and I can hear the line of women waiting to go to the bathroom out the door. So I'm feeling like more and more stressed about the time I'm taking up in the stall and just all these things that had me get to a point where it was like what am I doing? Like why am I doing all this? Like I love, love my son, I love breastfeeding. There's so much that's hard about it, so much that feels amazing.

Speaker 2: 4:29

But I felt like I was having, you know, mental health breakdown, trying to do it all, and at that moment my sister sent me a text and she said how are you doing? Just checking in? And so for me it was like a light bulb went off, that in the palm of our hands we had this ability to unite women who were in this phase of life. Because that's what I needed. I needed to feel seen. I needed to talk to people who were going through the same things, not massive crisis and clinical issues, but just the day-to-day stress and vulnerability and emotions and all of those things. And because-to-day stress and vulnerability and emotions and all of those things, and because my background was in connecting and in community building, I just had a vision for Imagine a World in which we use technology to create a space that really brought us all together to get us out of those bathrooms, to say the truth about what we were feeling and to really feel so much more seen and capable on the journey. And that was where it all began for me.

Speaker 1: 5:30

I hate that you had that feeling but I think we all resonate at one point or another of feeling like you know. I remember, specifically with my oldest, we were traveling in somewhere and I had a clogged duct and I was in a bathroom just in tears trying to manually get this clogged out and I remember this younger girl came in and I was literally like over the sink and she was like terrified and I was not in a good state and I'm sure she's like I don't ever want to be a part of whatever she's doing and at that moment I probably would have been like don't ever be a part of what I'm doing. But I remember thinking. I remember I can't remember if my husband was with me or my parents, but I was like there's nothing I can, like they couldn't help me. In that moment I was in my core group of friends.

Speaker 1: 6:20

We were kind of going through motherhood as first-time moms together and we didn't know. I mean it was hard to be transparent. Now we have more kids and we're very transparent, but I feel like, especially those first-time moms, we have this social media impressions or like these expectations that society puts on us that, hey, you're supposed to know what to do the first time. It's supposed to look easy. I mean, you're supposed to know what to do the first time. It's supposed to look easy, amy. You're supposed to take that eighth red eye and not have no issues and show up and do the work and everything. Is that kind of what the themes you're hearing from your community that you've built is that gosh, it's hard and we need someone else in this journey.

Speaker 2: 7:00

Yeah, you know, no one knows what it's like until you're in it. I think that one of those things at least for me and in terms of what we're hearing again and again from so many moms is it's something that's very hard to prepare for. You know, in some ways it's like birth and what have you, and so you can read all the educational material, you can have a plan, you can kind of come to understand it, but until you're in it you don't know how it'll go for you. It'll go for you. Everyone's journey is so individual, so different. You won't know how you feel about it emotionally. You know whether it's working and you are able to do it without sacrifice or stress or struggle, or whether it's the hardest thing you've ever done and you are sacrificing sleep and sanity and self-preservation. All those things come into play, and it's also physical supply and demand, and so there's so much to figure out, even from just the human body perspective, of what it's like and all of those things. And I think it's just not talked about as much as it should be that it's normal to have trouble and go through a process of struggling and feeling different ways, and sometimes it's working, sometimes it's not, feeling like it's not for you, feeling like you enjoy it. Even some of our community loves breastfeeding and feels really good about it, but then sometimes are afraid to talk about it for fear of isolating those who are hard.

Speaker 2: 8:26

And I think we just keep seeing more and more that we need to create spaces where we can really show up as we are in the moment of what we're going through, and that we're creating nonjudgmental environments.

Speaker 2: 8:38

I mean, that's one of the things that's been super important from day one for me at Pump Spotting is that this has to feel like a space where everyone is welcome, like no matter how you parent, no matter how you feed, whether you've taken a shower in two weeks or you're going into a professional office, all those things and we just need to create a space where there is no judgment and no shame, because that's how people can show up honestly and ask the questions and really talk about what they're going through. And the only other thing I'll say is that I have just seen and you probably are the same way such tremendous impact when someone is able to say something out loud about what they're struggling with or what they're feeling with breastfeeding. It can transform their entire trajectory, which is so important to health for both of them and their mental state and all of those things, and so it's all those tiny little moments of connection that are actually incredibly vital and powerful, I think, for mothers in this time period.

Speaker 1: 9:38

You know I love the point that your sister texted you. I'm interested to know, you know, because I know that probably wasn't the first time you were like I'm going to lose it in this airport Were you reaching out at that time? Or were you thinking, still like it's on me, I can handle this, keep pushing, amy. Like what was what was on your headspace before that text? What was stopping you from reaching out? Or did you and maybe you know it wasn't response you wanted Cause. I think sometimes women I hear that it's like, well, I've tried or maybe I try to hint at that to someone, but it didn't hit right.

Speaker 2: 10:11

Yeah Well, for me it depended who I was reaching out to. Or I think I felt that there were a couple of people in the parenting space that I trusted and sort of in my circle who had been through it, and so for them I was here and there saying, man, I'm so exhausted, or you know, the sleep deprivation is real or certain things around that. But I think for me I'm very type A perfectionist, like I have it all together, I can handle a lot, I can do all the things. Like I'm not look at me, I'm not stressed. And so that weighed on me.

Speaker 2: 10:45

I felt as though if I was really honest with a lot of people in my family, in my circles, about the fact that I really didn't have it all together and that like, and that it was a felt like a burden, and that I felt angry sometimes and that I felt sad. I think that I put a lot of pressure on myself to hide that so that I didn't threaten whatever that silly story I told myself about how the world saw me by being vulnerable, and so I really only reached out to a few people. But even then I think it was more like humorous, like ha ha, we're going through this and not like red flag, like I'm not okay. I'm like crying every night as I'm feeding because I'm trying to get through this. I had a really hard time being honest about that with people.

Speaker 1: 11:35

You're not alone and I think that's the power we have seen in the impact of hearing people like you and a lot of our guests and being so transparent and someone it all takes I say this all the time is someone else to be listening to this and go, oh my gosh, me too, right, or I feel the same way. It takes that scary out. We say name it to tame it a lot. And you're not alone in this. It's not a me issue, it's not a Sarah issue, it's not an Amy issue, right, it's not a personal characteristical flaw that we paint on ourselves. So I really appreciate you just saying that because it resonates with so many people. And then you're right. Then we get to have spaces where we can be vulnerable and come to the table and say you know what this is, what it is, and I know one part of my feeding journey was I had to pump quite a bit because I had a NICU baby and so I had to be pretty meticulous, which really added to my postpartum depression and anxiety and OCD. On top of that, to measure the ounces and I remember I would, even when he was sleeping through the night I would have to wake up at a hospital grade pump and it would just make this horrific noise.

Speaker 1: 12:43

While I was pumping and I remember my husband was sleeping and at one point I was like is the pump talking to me? And I was like this. I'm like, am I sleep deprived? Am I going manic? I was like what is occurring?

Speaker 1: 12:57

And I remember my husband had woke up and he was like doing the. You know where you hit the bed. He's like where is she? And then he like looks and he was like I just felt like so helpless. There you were just sitting on the floor with this pump machine and he was like Sarah, is it worth it? And I had so much, I think, pressure on myself, especially because he was a NICU baby and from the moment he arrived it was like you're breastfeeding If you want your child out of this NICU, like it was just no questions, a lot of shame, a lot of just. It is what it is and I never was honest with anybody about you know, gosh, I'm so lonely or I'm crying half the time I'm pumping, or I'm feeling resentful, or you know, I hate living my life in three hour increments resentful, or you know, I hate living my life in three hour increments.

Speaker 1: 13:48

Yeah Well, I used to feel as though my breast pump sounded like.

Speaker 2: 13:50

Darth Vader. Like when I got to a dark point right, I was like that's the sound it evoked in me is just the darkness of breath and I mean, honestly, is there, is there much worse than having to hook yourself up to a machine in the middle of the night and then just sit there? I just like hearing you talk about it. I can just remember and feel there's no give back. I mean you have to mentally go to a place to say I'm doing this because I love, and you know, my child and this and that. But like there is no reward in the moment other than the uncomfortable nature of it, the disruption of it. And they keep doing some amazing things with breast pumps, but it doesn't change the fact that that act alone is like singularly painful for like, maybe not, but I can't. I've never met a mom yet who's like, oh yay, I get to wake up in the middle of the night and breast pump.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Yeah, met a mom yet who's like, oh, yay, I get to wake up in the middle of the night and breast pump. Yeah, and one of my friends and she does a lot of lactation education for our premium moms. She always says you know, listen in this moment, which I think this is just what your community is. You can go on, you know. She said look for you know there's lights all over the world of moms right.

Speaker 1: 14:57

Or now it's our cell phone lights, right, like we're all probably on Amazon or Instagram or your communities on PubSpotting. But it is just knowing like I'm not the only mom out there at this moment, at 2 am Again feeding when I fed an hour ago. It's just that community, because it does. I mean you can be a house full of people. The worst is like holidays parties right, where you're just like, oh, you brought your pump, you got to sneak to the bathroom or you know the baby, or taking the baby and everybody. You feel like everybody's living their life around you. But just to know someone else is going, I'm right there with you, I'm in the corner bathroom with you too. Or I had to deal with Aunt Judy making a comment about me half formula, half breastfeeding. You know as well. I think that is just half formula, half breastfeeding. You know as well.

Speaker 2: 15:46

I think that is just it's so invaluable just to have a safe space it is. And the other thing that we've seen so much time and time again is that when you as a parent come to bomb spotting, for example, or community or anywhere where you're connected to other moms, in the beginning you might be asking questions, or you're getting insights or advice, or you know you're saying, does everyone feel this way? And then, as you start to go through the journey and you have an opportunity to give back to another mom to be able to say, oh, yes, yes, that happened to me. Or you know, here's what happened with my milk supply or it's cluster feeding is totally normal. Or, gosh, yes, I felt like I wanted to stop every time I had to go back into the office or what have you.

Speaker 2: 16:24

What we've found and seen is that power in making a parent go from feeling like they aren't capable or they're not understanding what it is or what have you, to feel as though they are the one who has the knowledge and the expertise and the support for someone else.

Speaker 2: 16:40

That actually solidifies even more their ability to be a parent themselves, because they are seeing strength in the journey they've been through. And once you kind of get to that other side or when you're in the middle of it. The value is not just in what you receive in a community, it's also what you're able to give, and I think that's something that over time we've really leaned into with PumpSpotting. We've had a motherboard, we have ambassadors. We really encourage moms who've been there and been on the journey to stay there and to stay connecting and communicating, because it's really sort of like breastfeeding it's a give and take where everyone gets the endorphins and the feel good and the win from it, and I think that's not always talked about. But I think there is something in the community return that is equally as important as people who come to a community to be seen in the first place.

Speaker 1: 17:34

You know they always say it's more blessed to give than receive right, and you know that you can be that person for them that you needed and I think that's a lot of value and it's a part of your healing journey. When we see a lot of our previa, moms is when they're on the other side of it, and it's part two of a therapy process is telling your story right and feeling seen and feeling validated and sometimes just laying it out of like this is how it happened to me and again sharing that with someone and they may not have that exact same story happened to me and again sharing that with someone and they may not have that exact same story, but for the again, it is knowing that you came to the other side. There's someone ahead of you. We always say you need someone ahead of you. We need someone in the middle with you and someone behind you, right, and you can be valuable to all of them.

Speaker 1: 18:14

We've talked a little bit about work and employers and I know you do a lot of advocacy, work, a lot of education. How are you seeing now, in 2025? What is kind of the employer's agendas and the line when it comes to? You know moms breastfeeding at work, you know getting pump breaks, or is it kind of don't ask, don't tell again situation.

Speaker 2: 18:39

Well, I think over these past years, we've seen so much positive. I think that the Pump Act there's been legislation that passes that really requires companies to be considering what it looks like to be giving breaks and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. And how are we communicating about the needs of pregnant, breastfeeding mothers and parents? How are we creating space? How are we making sure there's break time? There are more implications when employers don't follow the rules and regulations and things, and so some of that onus, I think it's starting to drive more positive impact within workplaces For us, and we always say that pumping and breastfeeding support for employees is a must-have, not a nice nice to have.

Speaker 2: 19:25

This isn't like a hey, this is wonderful, let's get our meals delivered to our house. This is vital. This is essentially keeping tiny humans alive and fed, and they need that. And so I think that there have been some amazing things that have shifted the landscape so that employers are thinking about it more. They're more open to having conversations, there's more offerings, more companies doing amazing things, and I think that it's still a conversation that is hard to have. That it's still either.

Speaker 2: 19:58

Employers sometimes think they're checking a box. Oh great, well, we have a space. Wonderful Support is covered. You know which is. You know space is vital, but that's only one piece of what employees really need when they're going through this or they're not apt to want to put it on as a benefit. You know, financially, like, how can we do it in a way, how are we building that into our wellness benefits systems? And so there still feels like a fair amount of work to be done to get to a place where everyone is where they need to go.

Speaker 2: 20:27

But there are a lot of companies that are leading the way and doing amazing things. I think the paid leave momentum and where I'm, in Maine, for example, and now every employer is offering paid leave and we're starting to transform, and so I see things getting better and better all the time, and I remain optimistic that where we're going is good, but it's still culturally. It has to change systemically, it has to change politically, it has to change, and even within workforces. I think one of the things I want to say a lot to companies is that you, as a leadership team, might believe in this and bring this in, but if you aren't building it into the communication and the culture for every manager, every employee, consistently across your workforce, then your employees who are navigating, pumping or feeding are not going to be feeling the benefits. And so those are some things we help companies do is how do you think about that? How do we really make true support and change across your workforce?

Speaker 1: 21:29

I remember before this I was a nurse for many moons and during different nursings, but even from like 12 hour shifts and having coworkers who were pumping and just the comments to your point that other women that are moms that have been there done that't want to cover your patients again, or she's gone to pump again, or I think she's using this to take a break, and this is way before kids. But I thought my gosh, I don't think she'd be choosing to go and hook up to a machine for no reason, like her baby needs this. But it was very interesting because parents were sometimes the harshest critics on fellow parents and I just remember thinking you know, she has to hear your comments and she has to take that to heart. And one I remember she would say you know, I look at my baby's photo while I'm pumping to try to help my milk come, because my milk's starting. I mean she was already stressed out that her milk was drying up.

Speaker 1: 22:31

And here you're hearing your coworkers being hateful. So you're hearing your co-workers being hateful. So you're right, it is. It's like your manager's like, yeah, go great, but your co-workers, who you're spending 12 hours with, or eight hours with, five days a week, are not supportive. Is she really going to want to do it?

Speaker 2: 22:46

yeah, yeah, well, and I think, as we talked about earlier, you we all, as parents, I think already have our own stories of guilt or you know, or or what have you. It's hard enough at least for me, it was in so many moms I meet it's hard enough to ask for help just generally in my life, sometimes things in an environment where you wouldn't necessarily be prone to. I think that's shifting for all of us to think about in some ways jobs in the workforce, and it's a lifetime with our employees and with our coworkers and what have you. And it's a give and take.

Speaker 2: 23:24

There are time periods where I know I was able to work more, I was younger, I had more energy, I had no kids, there was so much I could give in. And then there were seasons, in postpartum for example, where it was a lot harder and any company that supported me through that or the coworkers that were there, it made me so more apt to give back when I was outside that season of life and that phase. And I think we just have to think about it more as a tapestry of give and take for what we're doing. But it is very hard and if you didn't get that, support yourself as a parent in a workplace. I do think you're very right that sometimes that can make the situation more difficult for how you treat or feel towards other people. So it's an ongoing conversation I think we need to keep having.

Speaker 1: 24:12

And it's important too. You know we're seeing a progressive employer support IVF, right, and it's like so I always tell them. I'm like, listen, if you're supporting her getting pregnant, you need to support her during pregnancy and postpartum when it comes to how she feeds her baby and, to our point, mental health. Because you know I've said this before a lot of times but depression and anxiety for me was very bi-directional to the pumping into the breastfeeding and then even when I did switch to formula which I switched very early with my second one because of an allergy, but it was the guilt and shame.

Speaker 1: 24:41

So we keep going back to these cycles of guilt and shame of moms and it's like, no matter which way you do, we're our own worst critics at times because we all at our core want to be the best moms, right, and we want our babies to be healthy and fed. But really we're up against. I tell people it's a marketing machine of you need the best baby product, you need the best this, you need to do that. Do you see that in your community of moms being like I'm so overwhelmed what everybody is telling me to be?

Speaker 2: 25:15

A hundred percent. I mean the amount of breast pumps alone that you can choose from, or you know what it is, and there's some amazing ones, but even that one choice is just overwhelm in terms of you know where it is. Yes, and everyone has an opinion. It depends who your lactation consultant is in the hospital when you start, how they're going to feel or what they're going to do or how they're going to direct you, who you see when you're home. You know how your own partner and support system, your. You know your mother-in-law.

Speaker 2: 25:46

There's so many people who come with perspectives around this and what it is, and so I think the mothers that we are having conversations with are so inundated with the emotions of everyone layered on top of their own, and it's hard to separate. What is it that I feel? What is it that my baby needs? What is it that I need? How do we sort of quiet the noise to just honor what that journey looks like? I think the best of guides and this and that and all those things. It's so noisy that it's really hard to lean into our intuition. Oftentimes that's what I want to tell other parents is.

Speaker 2: 26:21

The best thing for me was when I could quiet the noise and really just sit with myself and my feelings. And what is it that I need in this moment? Do I need water? Do I need a walk? Do I need a hug? Do I need more time for cuddles? Do I need water? Do I need a walk? Do I need a hug?

Speaker 2: 26:35

Like, do I need more time for cuddles? Do I need to stop? Like do I need to skip a pump? No matter what, because I just need to like what is it that I need? And really holding that as your true north, regardless of what anyone else says and it's not easy to do because we already doubt. But that's where, having conversation with others and I now with friends who are new parents and what have you I'm always proactively checking in and my question is what do you need? Like, where are you, how are you feeling? How can I help? They can't always put it in words, but at least checking in and trying to get us to have those conversations of checking in with ourselves feels super valuable to me in terms of what I'm seeing and the impact it can have.

Speaker 1: 27:21

And now let's turn a little bit about work-mom-life balance, because you're balancing it all.

Speaker 2: 27:26

Is that a thing, Sarah?

Speaker 1: 27:28

It is. It is it all you know? And you know? What have you? What is some wisdom you can impart on us that you've learned along the way of raising your kids running these companies? We haven't even touched that. You guys did a like a huge tour, which we will on a bus, but what from a mom perspective? What if you came away that you'd wanted to tell the new moms? You know their moms are going, amy, I, how are you doing this, cause I can barely get my kids to school this morning?

Speaker 2: 27:58

Yeah, well, I feel as though I've adopted advice from other mothers that I've met along the way, and so I remember one of the stops that we made with the bus was at NASA and we had an amazing conversation with a group of mothers in the room and it was so beautiful and powerful. You know, it was astronauts and mission control operators and engineers and lawyers and just the whole workforce and I remember feeling so blown away to be in this company and that's one of the topics that we brought up to talk about and I remember one of the mothers said to me there is no work-life balance, there's only finding harmony.

Speaker 2: 28:30

And I just loved that concept of work-life harmony, that sometimes it's all work or sometimes it's all life or sometimes it's half and half, and that you'll never feel enough in any direction. But maybe the goal is not balancing the scale, but how can we just be at peace or come to harmony with where we are? And so that's one thing I try and check in with myself. Like, am I feeling that I have the right harmony over how I'm feeling? And if it's feeling not so much that I feel as though I'm missing my kids or I can feel the strain at home from me traveling too much, then I have to just say, okay, I've got to recalibrate, I've got to take a moment to be more present with my kids, I've got to get on the floor. That's the other thing for me. I always just get on the floor. That's a piece of advice, because that helps me remember to be present with my family and my kids. Like, don't be on your phone, don't be on the technology, just be on the floor. Like, build the puzzle, do the thing whatever it is like in the moment present. And so I say that. And the moment present. And so I say that.

Speaker 2: 29:37

And the the only other advice is I just I have not been able to separate. So for me my kids are part of the company, the company and the kids are. All there was just there was to build these companies and to be all in the way I needed to. I just couldn't separate, I couldn't turn off my hat at the end of the day, all of that stuff, and so we really learned to embrace it as a family.

Speaker 2: 29:56

You know, my kids see teal and they'll joke, they'll go it's pump spotting's color, mom, and like I'm trying to just remember that, while this might not be the trajectory everyone has, they're seeing me as a role model in certain ways. They are finding joy in things that happen for the company. They see me struggle and understand that I'm. You know it doesn't always work and I fail and I'm upset and we sort of work through it, and so I've really leaned in to letting them be a part of my professional journey in a way that I'd hope we never know until they get older but we hope shapes positively. It certainly has been wonderful for the relationship because I don't feel I have to hide things or separate the two.

Speaker 1: 30:41

Yeah, no, I love that. I love all that. What age is where your kids when you started Pumpspotting?

Speaker 2: 30:48

Yeah, so Max was just a few weeks old and Emma's two years older than him, so two and a change, so you were in the true trenches of it 100% Like working on the idea while pumping, doing all the things, pitching, going out to pitch for funding and what have you like right after I had just finished feeding. I was like fully in it.

Speaker 1: 31:11

Going back to those moments when you had the toddlers and newborn babies, which is a lot of our audience. Speak to the mom who has a dream and she's like I want to start this business or I want to do this too, but I'm scared. Can I balance it all? Can I still breastfeed while I do it all, or I'm afraid to be rejected? I'm sure me and you both have had multitudes of times of learning how rejection goes in this space. But kind of speak to that for a minute because I think again. People tend to see where you are now, but they don't remember that you were there, where they want to be, with that dream, that concept, that hope.

Speaker 2: 31:49

Yeah, I feel as though if you have a thought or an idea or a vision about something that this world needs, that you need, that someone else in the world could use, I think you just have to follow it of ideas and inspiration and dreams are really important, whether they just keep you dreaming and creative and energized for a period of time, or whether you build them into something. I think that they are important and if you need them, the world needs them and someone else does. There's a reason we get those flashes of inspiration and I think that they're super important, and we always say at Pumpspotting take it one feed one day at a time. And I feel like the same is true for me for building a business where my advice is you don't have to boil the ocean Like, in fact, I still wake up every day and could argue I have no idea what I'm doing now every day in the role, because it's ever changing always and you just like, one day at a time, what is the one step that feels like it moves you towards something or teaches you something or put something in motion, and that's. Those little steps have really formed the foundation of you know what I've built and where I've gone.

Speaker 2: 33:07

And the other thing is just, motherhood teaches us so much strength, us so much strength. It teaches us to be able to endure the rejection and to be able to say I have done something so valuable in my life and so much meaning that whatever I do next to that doesn't quite hold up or can't hold up to what it is for me to navigate motherhood. And so it gave me strength, I think, and mojo to go. You know, I made it through birth. I can make it through this rejection or this moment or what have you, because I can always return to my family and there's something there. And so you know, I think that don't be overwhelmed by it, don't be isolated, like there's community everywhere for women building things, and that has been vital to my journey, just the same way that parenthood has and just get curious about what's on your mind or what's in your heart.

Speaker 1: 34:00

I think moms come up with the best ideas, they have the most innovative ways of the ultimate task managers. I mean, I've had moms go. Well, you know, but I've been a stay-at-home mom for X amount of time. I said but look at all what you do on a day-to-day. You run things. You're super valuable to an employer or yourself. And if you have a dream of a cookie business, go for it. If you have a dream of organizing, do it.

Speaker 1: 34:23

If you want to be that person for your friends, that kind of say hey, I've got all these Valentine craft parties, I'll handle them, please. I will happily Venmo you, you know. So it is just one of those things that my talent may not be your talent, but vice versa. But there is so much space and I do think it's freeing that you can start thinking about that Once you find again that community, that support, that you're not carrying it alone. And then it does open up your mind to say what am I passionate about? What do I want to bring forward? What is, as a mom, do I need? So tell our listeners, amy, before I take too much of your time. Where can they find Pumpspotting? Where can they find you? Tell us about the bus, so they can connect.

Speaker 2: 35:06

Yeah, okay, amazing. So we're just Pump Spotting. So, at Pump Spotting, pumpspottingcom Find us in all the social channels, and I'm amyvanheroncom and at avanheron, so super easy to find us. We'd love to have you on board. If you go to the website either the Apple Store or Google Play you can download PumpSpotting, you can be part of the community all of those things. And then, yes, Barb, the Breast Express, our 36-foot school bus. She's a roving nursing and pumping suite. We started her in 2018.

Speaker 2: 35:36

We decided if we were going to really solve the pain points around breastfeeding, we needed to meet as many parents as possible. So, the first iteration I bought a 40-foot RV and I moved on board and I traveled across the country for five months. So talk about crazy Little ones in tow. My husband is a saint. He's the best. He supported the whole back and forth journey and all of those things. They have the cutest pictures of my kids sitting on the bus, and so that's where we started, but we are now gearing up for our fourth tour. The bus has actually is been acquired by an amazing organization called the Chamber of Mothers, and they are a nonprofit that's fully focused on maternal health and paid leave and affordable childcare all the things that we need and uniting mothers around that, and so we are building the tour. So if you come to pompspottingcom tour, you can sign up for information about where part of the bus will be showing up this summer.

Speaker 1: 36:30

That is commitment. I love that. That is like I am going to. You know they always say in startup worlds, you know your audience. You know, do you have this? You know thing that you're like? Yes, I rode around in an RV, I know what they need.

Speaker 2: 36:44

Thank you Like yes, I rode around in an RV, I know what they need. Thank you, yeah, exactly, well, you know. What's funny is the reason that that idea came to life is someone had asked us on the investment side, had said how well do you really know your audience, sort of pushing back that there wasn't a need. And this was 10 years ago. And in breastfeeding and postpartum it's all evolved quite a bit even since then, and part of it was that gumption to say, oh no, we're going to prove you wrong, that this is not an isolated thing I'm feeling, but this is something that people need, and so it's really meaningful and powerful to see that the movement and the bus continues to roll on these years later.

Speaker 1: 37:31

Well, the last thing I'll ask you and we ask all our guests this and so this is there's no right or wrong answer. But if Amy now, who's a veteran mom, your kids are a little older, what would you tell Amy when you first got your pregnancy positive test? What information would you tell yourself about motherhood that she would need from that first pregnancy test on?

Speaker 2: 37:41

Yeah, I think for me it's trust yourself, Like just quiet the noise, listen to yourself. You've got everything you need to be able to navigate this. And that's what I tell myself still today. So I believe that's what I would tell myself back then.

Speaker 1: 37:56

I love that and I think our listeners need that. Amy, it's a joy. I am cheering you on and if you guys are any employers out there or you think your employers are offering it again, pump Spotting, check it out and help us continue to advocate. It's the voices. This is what changes and moves the needle. Okay, guys, we will be back next week with a new podcast episode, but, amy, thank you so much. Thank you, sarah, it's been a joy.

Speaker 3: 38:22

Maternal mental health is as important as physical health. The previous alliance podcast was created for and by moms dealing with postpartum depression and all its variables, like anxiety, anger and even apathy. Hosted by ceo founder sarah parkhurst and licensed clinical social worker whitney gay, each episode focus on specific issues relevant to pregnancy and postpartum. Join us and hear how other moms have overcome mental health challenges, as well as access tips and suggestions on dealing with your own challenges as moms. You can also browse our podcast library and listen to previous episodes at any time. Please know you're not alone on this journey. We're here to help.