{New Sponsor Highlight}: The Dedication Company

     I want to introduce you all to one of our new sponsors! Rebecca from The Dedication Company and the blog Our Simple Souls is a very special woman and mom. She is an artisan who creates beautiful pieces of customized jewelry, that you can dedicate to someone in your life. With her son and husband, Rebecca is on mission to live a more balanced and simplified life. 

The Elephant Necklace I Have

     Being so intrigued by creative moms who've started their own businesses, I thought I would do a little question and answer thing so we all can get to know Rebecca a little bit more. So here it goes...

What's your family philosophy?

       We believe we have a precious chance to make this life amazingly whole and rich.  We're not not going to let that chance pass us by.  We are calling the shots and we're not going to settle for a 'status quo' life.  We are not afraid to step outside of the box to chase down our dreams.  We believe in making memories, keeping it simple, celebrating both the small and the big things, attachment parenting, and exploring sustainable practices that mesh with our family values.  At Our Simple Souls we blog about our daily life, the things we love and how we're working toward instituting sustainable practices without giving up the more mainstream parts of our life. 

How did you learn to create your The Dedication Company pieces?


     I've been designing jewelry for a quite a while and I am primarily a self taught artisan.  I've been retailing my jewelry online for about four years now.  I have a love for natural gemstones jewelry, minimalist pieces and jewelry that represents something special.  I first used Etsy as a business incubator to test all of those jewelry styles in the market under a different brand name.  In 2009 one of my personalized pieces was picked up by a major catalog and featured in online publications.  I built a line around that piece called The Dedication Collection.  Those pieces became my best sellers.  My sales, blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts all grew in response to that collection so I sought to expand upon it.  In January 2011 I launched my expanded line and new brand, The Dedication Company, which focuses on symbolism, personalization and minimalist pieces.  I do hope to return to my previous brand/shop to offer some one of a kind and limited edition natural gemstone jewelry one day soon.

What inspires you to do what you do?

      My inspiration for The Dedication Company comes from a love of creating jewelry that people wear as a tribute to themselves or as a memento for someone they love.  My customer's jewelry might represent someone they want to remember, an accomplishment, a treasured memory or maybe their personalized necklace is a little love note to their partner, family member or child.  I create pieces that people wear to express how much their experiences and loved ones mean to them.  Pure inspiration!  My inspiration for Our Simple Souls is based upon sharing with one another.  The Internet is a place to express yourself and learn about others.  It is a bountiful community and wonderful resource.  I hope that one day Our Simple Souls will extend beyond my family's story and be a little community for everyone to gather to share about parenting, sustainable practices, simplicity, great design, everyday life, art, music, etc.

How do you balance your work and family?

     It's funny you should ask.....balancing work and family, fortunately, just became a lot easier for me.  The Dedication Company line has taken off faster than I anticipated.  Since January my pieces have been featured on several online publications and a couple of television spots.  My wholesale accounts have grown and online sales have been fruitful.  That kind of growth is exciting, however I was working full time at a day job on top of running a business, being a wife and mother.  All good things but so incredibly unbalanced!  I was working at least eighty hours a week and missing out on crucial family time.  There was exhaustion, some tears and sheer craziness.  Sylas comes first in our lives so we made the decision for me to quit my day job.  We merged our blog and moved to one Facebook and one Twitter account all under the new The Dedication Company brand.  Although we had many followers with those accounts, its been worth starting over so we can keep everything simple and balanced.  Having work at home makes it tempting to work all the time so I am careful to keep regular working hours.  This allows me to spend more time with Sylas and John.  John and I both check in regularly with each other because when it comes to running a family finding balance is always a work in progress.

How has breastfeeding been for you and your family?

     Breastfeeding has been the most wonderful and challenging experience. I am so thankful for my decision to nurse.  I am fortunate that nursing is the norm in both my and John's family.  It is completely acceptable for me to rock a nursing session with Sy in the middle of Sunday dinner.  My mom will stare at me nursing and tell me, "it is the most beautiful thing to watch". My father in law will hug me goodbye while I am nursing Sylas.  Having that built in normalcy and support made it easy to keeping breastfeeding.  Sylas is now sixteen months old and I continue to have rewarding nursing relationship with him.  Now that I am working from home full time he seems to nurse more than he had been and I am okay with that.  As long as he wants to nurse we're going to nurse!  

Any advice for new moms?  


     Get a support system.  There might be days when you feel like giving up, there will be times in the middle of the night when you feel too tired to nurse, there will be times when you're questioning your milk supply, pumping, latch, etc. These are all normal things to feel, think and wonder when you and your baby are learning to nurse together.  Using your support system will help you process your thoughts and worries and celebrate your triumphs.  Your support system will cheer you on, share what worked for them, and be an ongoing resource.  If you don't have friends or family who are knowledgeable nursers find online forums or a local Le Leche League - you may end up making life long friends there! There is something so comforting about knowing that you are giving your baby a healthy, natural diet.  There is something so beautiful about gazing into your baby's eyes while they nurse.  There is something magical about being a source of comfort for your child.  You just have to be prepared for times when you have questions and know how to find the answers. Most of all - know that you can do it, have confidence and never doubt yourself!