Inside the First-Ever Mamas Making It Summit Presented by Fashion Mamas
Photos: Howl & Rose
Back in fall 2015, Fashion Mamas debuted its #MamasMakingIt panel series — an intimate, members-only conversation where inspiring women discuss how they balance successful careers with motherhood. We've had more than ten empowering talks since then, so we knew that it was time to pay it forward to the public by creating a large-scale event inspired by the series. And the Mamas Making It Summit was born.
Our debut conference experience took place at the W Hollywood hotel on Saturday, July 8, 2017, and the sold-out event was attended by 130 entrepreneurial mothers. The day opened with a breakfast bar presented by Kite Hill, which also featured granola by Purely Elizabeth, mini cold-pressed juices by Pressed Juicery, water from Icelandic Glacial, and cold-brew coffee by Califia Farms. All attendees received a welcome packet which featured our notebook collab with Marissa Allie Designs and our "Mamas Run the World" enamel pin collab with New Moon Paper Goods.
Once everyone visited our partner stations featuring Spiritual Gangster, True Botanicals, LOOM, JIG+SAW, and MyDomaine (their lounge also featured complimentary headshots!), they took their seats and were treated to a surprise appearance by actress, activist, and entrepreneur Jaime King. Jaime was the perfect show-opener, offering her insight on the importance of support in the motherhood space, and explained that all of her collaborations — from her gender-fluid line with Gardner with the Gang to her sold-out cosmetics collab with Colourpop — come from the heart and have an emphasis on equality.
Jaime's inspiring chat was followed by our event's keynote speaker, Nicole Trunfio, the star of this iconic Elle Australia cover featuring Nicole breastfeeding her beautiful son, Zion. We jumped right into the controversy surrounding that gorgeous cover shoot, and Nicole — who was a natural on that stage even though it was her first public speaking engagement! — revealed how surprised she was to receive backlash from that innocent image. She continues to be an advocate of the #NormalizeBreastfeeding movement and reminds us all that a working mother should never have to apologize for putting her baby first.
The day included five more unique, business-focused panels: the Branding Brilliance panel starring AKID co-founder Ashleigh Dempster, gifting extraordinaire Simone LeBlanc, and lingerie designer TyLynn Nguyen; the Digital Gamechangers panel starring True Botanicals CEO Christina Mace-Turner, social media consultant Mai Nguyen-Miyoshi, and Simply Inc. founder Sarah Boyd; the Monetization panel starring Bachelorette-turned-blogger Ali Fedotowsky, Ritual founder and CEO Katerina Scheider, and The Influencer Podcast founder Julie Solomon; the Philanthropy panel starring Alliance of Moms co-founder Kelly Zafjen, In A Perfect World founder Manuela Testolini, and activist and alchemist Shiva Rose; and the Community panel starring LOOM co-founder Erica Chidi Cohen, Clique Media Group executive director of brand marketing Melanie Bender, and producer at On Air with Ryan Seacrest Patty Rodriguez.
Special thanks to Sweetgreen for the delicious lunch, Electric Sky Wine for the afternoon refreshments, The Bouqs Co. for the gorgeous florals, Smilebooth for the super fun photo booth, editors Alice Dubin and Danielle Directo-Meston who starred in our pitching-coaching session, and all of our generous giftbag partners.
Want to experience all seven panels for yourself to hear what our speakers had to say? Buy digital tickets here to receive access to these exclusive panel videos via our private Mamas Making It Summit Facebook group. And stay tuned for details on our next Summit!