The Best Advice From One MUTHA to Another with Hope Smith | Cocktails & Convos
This week we sat down with Hope Smith, mother of four and founder of beauty brand MUTHA, to chat about managing a business and babies all while dealing with insecurities & guilt, mom shaming, in-laws and a global pandemic. Listen to the end because she leave us with the best piece of advice for moms!
Check out the interview below and keep scrolling for our top takeaways from this episode.
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Although MUTHA only launched about a year ago, Hope had been working towards developing the product and brand for four years. People may not have believed that she'd ever actually do something with it, and it may have taken her a long time to officially launch, but she didn’t give up!
It wasn't a passion that lead Hope to create a product and brand, but instead she was driven by an insecurity. She hated her stretch marks so much that she made a huge investment in a product to get rid of them. But knowing that she couldn’t continue to fork out $2500, she began to research and order raw ingredients and make versions of this expensive body butter in her kitchen for 4-5 years prior to launching her own skincare line.
Hope says that when you do everything you can do, that's all you can do. She went to the full extreme to try and prevent future stretch marks, but through the process she realized that everybody has stretch marks and women shouldn't be shamed for them.
Although she is an esthetician, Hope never imagined she'd have a skincare line of her own. Her brand and collection of products evolved over time. Hope works with a lab to create products, but she's only making the best of the best because she's the first user. Rather than focusing solely on the profit margin, she thinks about the quality of the product and what she'd want to use on her own skin. The goal with MUTHA isn't to get rich, instead she works to employ many women and she makes it her mission to give back.
When it comes to motherhood, Hope has experienced a lot of mom shaming, but she tries to just remember that these people don't even know her or her story so they shouldn't judge.
As for her relationship with her own mom (who is absolutely stunning, by the way!), Hope went through a phase from about 12 to 25 years old where she wanted to do the complete opposite of whatever her mom said. She has always been really independent and had very strong beliefs about the way she wanted to live her life and the way things should be done. The good news is that we think these type of girls become very strong women. The bad news for us moms with headstrong daughters? They are so driven to find out who they are that they can't take anyone's opinion let alone their mother's opinion! But we believe that the children who give you the hardest time are probably the ones who are the strongest and most independent, which is a really good thing.
Being a mom now herself, Hope doesn't know if she'd be thriving in any area of her life if her mom wasn't nearby.
Hope has never taken a weekend away from her kids because the mom guilt is so real. That's not to say she doesn't need a weekend away though! She tries to schedule some time alone in the house where she can enjoy some self-care moments, but she does need to work on getting out.
It seems as though, as moms, we have an internal competition with ourselves to be with our kids more because they'll love us more. But what we realized during COVID is that the more we were there, the more dependent they became. They were like magnets. And the more you give as a mom, it doesn't actually make them love you any more. There's no gold medal for the amount of time you spend with your kid. We spent 24 hours a day with them during COVID and it still wasn't enough!
Hope made it her mission throughout the lockdown to make her 4 & 5 year old boys more independent which lightened the load a little bit.
While trying to juggle four kids and run a business, we wanted to know if Hope is able to make time for her relationship. Date night has to be built into a schedule right now, but she says that even if the intention is there, it doesn't always work out as planned.
Her best piece of advice for moms? Take the time for you even if it's 8pm. Take the time to do something you love to do and that makes you happy. And also have a ritual that you can look forward to every day!
MORE ABOUT HOPE SMITH:
Hope Smith is a mother to four under five (including 9-month-old twins) who turned her personal obsession into a product and beauty brand called MUTHA. Hope is on a mission to nurture mothers and also support global nonprofits that aid in maternal health.
Shop Hope’s skincare line at mutha.com. With every product purchased, MUTHA gives back to midwife and nurse education programs where maternal mortality rates are the highest.
Follow MUTHA on Instagram.
And check out Hope’s personal Instagram account here.