Mom with a mission: Lindsay White

Owner and designer of The Little Milk Bar
Home: Salt Lake City, Utah
Kids: Allie (7), Koda (2)
Instagram: @thelittlemilkbar_
Pregnancy craving: Coke—I usually don’t drink soda, but when I’m pregnant I drink one per day.
Recent obsession: All the women empowerment conversation being had. The energy behind the movement, women speaking up to use their voice, it feels powerful.

Where did you get the idea for The Little Milk Bar?
After struggling to breastfeed for 12 months with my daughter, I was determined to have a different experience with my son, free of worrying about offending other people or working my life around a feeding schedule.

I was at a wedding and was nursing him at my table when a woman walked over to me and said, “Do you really think you should be doing that here? This is a nice event. Maybe you should go do that in the bathroom.” Now, if she had said that to the 27-year-old Lindsay, I would have. But not the new, confident Lindsay. I looked at her, smiled and asked her if she really just suggested I go sit in a dirty bathroom stall to feed my son. It was this very moment that The Little Milk Bar was born.

I wanted to create a brand that gave mothers permission to feed their baby whenever and wherever they need to. A brand for the mothers who simply don’t know that they can breastfeed in public. A brand that was their voice when they felt they didn’t have one.

What do you enjoy about being your own boss?
I love that I can literally work anywhere (for the most part). When I first started The Little Milk Bar I was running everything out of my home, cutting and sewing all of our products, printing off orders, packaging and shipping right from my kitchen table. I’ve been able to outsource all of that now; it’s insane how much we’ve grown! A year ago, the business couldn’t run without me. Now, as long as I have my laptop with me, I can go visit my family in Mexico or go to my cousin’s wedding in Amsterdam, and business will still run smoothly.

The hardest part about being my own boss is turning that work switch off. I’m incredibly passionate about what I do. So, I’ll easily be up working all night long without realizing how much time has passed. There’s no such thing as a 9-5 for me. It’s nonstop.

Can you discuss your recently announced collaboration with Empowered Birth Project?
Yes! We released the collaboration in January, and it’s seriously been like a dream. This collaboration actually came from our customers. We started a petition when Instagram wouldn’t allow our ads on their platform because they labeled our photos of breastfeeding mothers as “nudity and sexual content.”

We were furious. We felt like we had to stand up for every single breastfeeding mother out there, so we went public with it. We called ’em out. Our followers and customers started flooding our DMs with the suggestion to reach out to Katie over at @empoweredbirthproject. She had just got IG and FB to change their policies to now allow uncensored birth content. We instantly fell in love with her work, and we had the idea to create a tee that empowered every mother and her birth experience; whether you had a C-section or vaginal delivery, got the epidural or went unmediated, had a home or hospital birth. We wanted to remind birthing people of their power.

This campaign has been one of the most amazing things I’ve ever worked on. With every EMPOWERED tee sold, we send a little note card asking our customers to post a pic in their tee and share their unique birth story for the world to hear, using the hashtag #igavebirth. Every time a customer posts her story, I get teary-eyed reading it. It’s been an incredible way to connect with our community.

What inspires you to use the power of your influence for more than just your brand and personal gain?
Every time I post on Instagram I think to myself … I have 37k+ people who are going to see this. This message will reach 37k+ people. What do I want these people to hear? Trust me, I don’t take my influence lightly. It’s important to me to get the conversation going. To post something someone has never seen before. To be vulnerable. Because not everything is butterflies and rainbows. If there’s a controversial photo I want to share but think for a split second that maybe I shouldn’t “go there” … I ask myself if people need to see this. The answer is almost always yes! Our message is to use your voice even if it shakes—we have your back!

How do you juggle everything and still manage to feel sane/happy at the end of the day?
Ha, is this a trick question? I don’t feel like I ever go to bed feeling sane. It’s exactly that—a juggle. Nothing is ever done at the same time. I can’t focus on work, take care of the kiddos and have a social life all at once. It’s important to focus on one thing at a time. Either the dishes get done tonight or my emails get answered. It’s not easy, but thankfully I have the most amazing partner who takes on more than his share. I couldn’t do it without him.

Speaking of partner, how did you two meet?
I met my husband Pete when I was 18. I was a freshman in college and he was a sophomore. I remember thinking he was so cool because he was from Las Vegas. (People actually live there?) We hung out as friends for months before we started dating. He was my first love. We honestly have a pretty incredible relationship. I’m still so in love with him; he’s my best friend. He’s always there to support my dreams, and he truly believes in me, and vice versa. I think we work so well together because we understand the importance of spending time together, yet at the same time, spending time apart for time with friends.

If you had a free afternoon with no kids, what would you do?
This is probably the hardest question to answer. Making time for myself is almost impossible. But this past year I’ve tried to make it a priority. Sometimes I just need to reboot. Anytime I feel stuck with my work or start to get ornery with the kids, I know it’s time to take a time-out. I take at least 20 minutes a day to myself to meditate. Meditation has been key to my business, my kids and my husband. It keeps me sane. If I had an afternoon all to myself, I’d take a bath, have a glass (or bottle) of wine and listen to some music, read a book or meditate.

What does your family like to do for fun?
We love going on trips. Whether it be taking the kids to Amsterdam or packing our bags and heading to Park City for the weekend. My husband works for a hotel, so we get to stay almost anywhere practically for free (and we may or may not take advantage of that). Anywhere we can go hiking or boating is a win!