Hey – it’s me Shannan. I’ve been thinking that I might need to re-introduce myself:
You may know me from high school as the shy girl on the dance team, who always hung out with her #twinning BFF (hey Laurie!).
Or, from college as the girl who lived in #AbbyHall (Psi Phi!!) and was the first woman copy editor in history of the all-male campus newspaper (slight flex – you see that?)
Or, more recently, you maybe know me as your mom-colleague who pumped breastmilk in a closet after my first was born, and who now is on UNPAID maternity leave (*eye roll emoji*).
Maybe, you don’t know me at all (yet), but let me introduce myself: My name is Shannan and I am an advocate for working mothers who breastfeed because of the crazy crap I’ve been through myself.
My advocacy might have started out as a small voice coming from the back of the room, shakily raising my hand with a question about the absence of a place to pump for the women in the office. But now, I’ve learned how to show up, hands on hips (yes, in my power pose) as a self-proclaimed badass who stands up for breastfeeding moms and makes sh*t happen.
I started my company, Queen & Baby Box, to help working mothers reach their breastfeeding goals. Now, every month, I get the chance to write encouraging notes and send essential products to breastfeeding moms who take their breastfeeding goal as seriously as their career goals.
That picture up there with those packages is of me living out my passion and helping other moms live out theirs.
Let’s face it: It is unacceptable for mothers not to have what they need to continue breastfeeding at work. Our employers need to be called out for their lack of support (just wait for my next post…) and we all need to demand change. In the meantime, I’m going to keep sending these boxes to my fellow breastfeeding baddies and keep it moving.
Look, it’s 2020 and we breastfeeding moms are gonna do what we gotta do.
#2020YearoftheMother #breastfeedinpublic #breastfeedatwork #standtallandpump