Pumping breast milk is just part of the job for many moms. But, for most, it’s not a job that sparks much joy…in fact, it can be a real drag. Even if pumping is a new, unfun fixture in your life, there are ways to make it a little easier and more productive. Whether you’re exclusively pumping or are pumping at work to supplement breastfeeding, here are a few tips to take some of the suck out of pumping.

In these “uncertain times” there are so many unknowns, and for first time moms especially, birth can seem like just one more thing to fear. The mindset shift from one of fear of the unknown to an innate trust in your body’s ability to birth your baby is crucial when there is a limitation on the support mothers have access to during their labor. Through the use of breath and self-hypnosis, you will come to realize how powerful your mind truly is.

Comedian, Creator and “Me-Time” enthusiast Angelina Spicer has built an impressive online presence with her viral comedy sketches. It began as she portrayed Tyra Banks, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj on the Disney web-series Electric Spoofaloo. Her viral success catapulted her career from phone screens to the silver screen, when she's appeared several episodes of hit talk show THE REAL, and playing a crazy mix of characters on JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE, and CONAN. Many of her sidesplitting skits have featured onHuffington Post, The Wall Street Journal,

TV & podcast host, writer, social media influencer and food & philanthropy advocate, Dawn McCoy, is a personality…and, not just in a “TV personality” kind of way. She has been a frequent visitor to your television set, appearing on shows such as The Dr. Oz Show, Hallmark’s Home & Family, Access Hollywood, Extra, The Real and Chef's Layer, and on radio channels and podcasts including iHeart Radio, SiriusXM, Pandora, The Moll Anderson Show, The Dear Mattie Show, The Actor's Diet, Kathy Kaehler's Fit & Sexy For Life, and more

By Elke Govertsen,Co-Founder Mamalode

Once upon a time I had a baby. None of my close friends had babies. They were all in that phase of life where you are thinking about getting a dog but not sure if that is Just Too Much.

I loved that baby more than I knew possible. But with motherhood came a host of mixed feelings—exhaustion, terror, numbness and something akin to buyer’s remorse. Those feelings I kept inside and they threatened to topple me.
I found a group of women all with babies the same ages and we began sharing—the good, the bad, the ugly. It was those honest stories that saved me. Suddenly all of my mixed feelings lost their dynamite. It was all just part of the deal. Hard stuff became funny. Messy emotions were normal. Motherhood was something complex and that somehow made it simple.

I wanted to celebrate those women and thus Mother’s Day Eve® was born—a party just for moms on the night before Mother’s Day. The first year 45 women came together. By year three there were 450.

I was onto something—these women needed each other’s stories. Mamalode was born.

Mamalode started as a free, local PRINT magazine in 2009—which is probably the worst business model at the worst time ever. Our unlikely success came from our readers—they mailed magazines all over the world to friends or moms or sisters and then those women also wanted Mamalode. Within a year of starting a subscription program we had subscribers in all 50 states and 10 other countries.
Now Mother’s Day Eve® is a trademarked event that has been celebrated in 59 communities across North America. Mamalode.com is read worldwide. Our website has over 3000 stories from over 1500 writers—moms, dads, kids, New York Times Bestsellers, huge bloggers and a merry batch of first-time writers. We produced 27 print issues and a special anthology just for dads (Dadalode).
We never had staff writers—our stories came from readers. Their stories are the heartbeat of motherhood. Our story is really a fairytale come true—a little magazine that has chugged along the track laid out by our audience. They believed, so we did too.

And now, Mamalode is for SALE.

It’s a crazy thing to build, love, nurture and grow a business and then realize it’s time to sell it. We are proud and excited to see what this business will do next and know that whoever helms Mamalode next is in for an amazing journey.

Here are some of the biggest learnings from running Mamalode:

The sky’s the limit: We built Mamalode on a shoestring and bootstrapped our way into people’s hearts. With the right resources, savvy and plan, Mamalode can have enormous impact.

Authenticity is a rare currency: I shared the Mamalode story in the Girl’s Lounge at Adweek in New York. The next day I was invited to present to a team at one of the largest ad agencies in the world. The agencies, with all of their brilliant staff, resources, data, and planning wanted what we had: authentic content and trust.

This is an important conversation: Not only are moms one of the most powerful consumer groups in the world, they are also shaping the future. They are running for office, running companies, running marathons, and running households. Being at the center of this conversation is being at the intersection of change and influence.

We are open to any and all discussion about next steps for Mamalode. Our primary goal is to find someone to do the next best thing with what we’ve started. If you want to know more about the opportunity, please direct all inquiries and requests for information to Julie Gardner at juliegardnerproperties@gmail.com.