Shout out to the women who raise businesses and babies! Entrepreneurship is not easy and it isn’t for everyone. It takes a special and courageous woman to want to hustle around the clock, building a business brick by brick while managing a home and raising children – it takes a mompreneur. Specifically a mompreneur who was frustrated by the limited fenugreek-free supplements on the market for lactation support. By definition an entrepreneur is someone who creates a solution to a problem. They are problem solvers for the greater good and that’s exactly what this mom did!
Meet Luna Feehan. Mom, entrepreneur and founder of Legendairy Milk.
1) What was the inspiration for your business? When I gave birth to my premature son, I struggled with low milk production. The first several weeks postpartum involved a seemingly never ending process of triple feeding in order to increase my supply — nursing, pumping, hand expressing, supplementing baby with my pumped milk, washing bottles and then starting the cycle all over again! When I reached out to a lactation consultant, she recommended I take Fenugreek, a commonly used herb to support lactation. Unfortunately my son had a bad reaction as did I so I stopped taking it. When I started searching for lactation supplements without this ingredient, I came up empty. I realized there was a true void in the market and that was the catalyst for creating Legendairy Milk.
1a) How long have you been in business? I started out small, on Etsy, and most orders were the result of βword-of-mouthβ recommendations from other mothers. During this time period I received tremendously valuable feedback from our moms which helped me further tweak the product line. I was convinced there was a real need for fenugreek-free lactation supplements and that Legendairy Milk products could help — we’re now 4 years in with a full-fledged small business!
2) What breastfeeding advice would you give a first time mom? Support and education are key, especially in those first few weeks postpartum — the fourth trimester. If you can attend a prenatal breastfeeding class, please do. If you can meet with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) shortly after you begin your breastfeeding journey and/or prenatally, even better!
3) How do you balance being a business owner and mom? With the help of my incredible support system! If it were not for my family and friends cheering me on and urging me to expand beyond Etsy, Legendairy Milk would most likely not exist today. I have a very close-knit family who have been by my side through every facet of starting a small business.
4) How old were your children when you started your business? What were some challenges you faced? How did you overcome them? My son was just a few months old when I started Legendairy Milk. I call him my little assistant because he was in my arms or strapped to my back for every meeting, work call, order fulfillment, or email exchange. The biggest challenge was keeping up with the incredible growth of the business within such a short period of time. Thankfully, like many new moms, I learned to perfect the art of multitasking. I don’t know how many business calls I took while I was pumping or feeding baby!
5) What advice would you give a mompreneur? Don’t be afraid to branch out and find other mompreneurs in your area. I’ve found female-owned, local business groups on Facebook and many of the members meet monthly to discuss their ideas and new ventures. Even if a mompreneur specializes in a different industry than yours, she has most likely experienced or is currently experiencing similar challenges. I’ve found that for the most part, other mompreneurs are very willing to help out and provide their assistance and support.
6) What would you say to a mompreneur who doesn’t have the time to go all in with their business? If this venture is something you’re passionate about, delegate some of the work to those you trust. This was difficult for me to do in the beginning because I felt I needed to be good at all the things — to the detriment of my mental and physical health. After several weeks of running on fumes, I finally realized that I can’t pour from an empty cup and I needed to rely on my support system to take on some of the workload.
7) Looking back, knowing what you know about business, would you do anything differently? I wouldn’t change a thing. This may sound cliched but even the pitfalls were a learning experience. I’m still in awe of what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short time. We have so many exciting projects in the pipeline as well!
Inspiring story! I am always amazed at the determination of a mother on a mission. There were three things from her interview that really stood out to me.
- She saw a lack in the industry that she depending on for support. Instead of giving up trying to breastfeed her son, Luna decided to create her own solution and create a whole business around it to help other mothers who have similar difficulties.
- She didn’t let the age of her son become an excuse to why she couldn’t start a business. Having a no excuse attitude will get you far in business.
- She realized very early on that she couldn’t do it alone. Instead of waiting to long to get help, burn out, and quit, she found a support system and delegated work tasks early on to help build her business. Often times, mompreneurs will go to the solopreneur route to have control over everything or to save money from having to hire help, but that will only slow down your progress and affect your health.
Thank you Luna for sharing your story with me! You are doing amazing things in support of mothers everywhere and I cannot wait to see how Legendairy Milk continues to grow!
You can follow Legendairy Milk on Instagram @LegendairyMilk or visit her website at http://www.legendairymilk.com.
*DISCLAIMER/Β Always consult your personal physician before taking supplements. Β Any products and/or services offered by third parties on The Mompreneur Project are offered and/or sold by their third party creator, performer and/or brand. The Mompreneur Project SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER IN CONNECTION WITH THESE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.