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Entrepreneur, mother, and cofounder of Mamava—the inventor of the freestanding lactation pod—Sascha Mayer introduces her newest baby: The Bodacious Optimist, a podcast dedicated to celebrating and learning from the people who have inspired and supported her entrepreneurial journey. They are designers and storytellers, business leaders and activists who have challenged the status quo and thrived. Bodacious Optimists believe that there are always solutions waiting to be unveiled.
Sascha: Hey, Christine.
Hi, Sasha.
We're, are we doing a
sound check still, guys?
Are we good?
We're, we're rolling.
All right.
Okay, here we go.
I'm gonna really do it now.
Today we're talking to my co founder and
better left brain half, Christine Dodson.
Christine heads up the operations side of
Momova and now oversees our manufacturing
facility in Springfield, Vermont.
Before joining Mama Va full time
in 2017, Christine was the Managing
Director of Solidarity of Unbridled
Labor, where we met and were able
to incubate Mama Va as an idea.
Christine has held management positions
at Gray's Advertising in New York.
Christine has held, Christine has
held management positions at Gray
Advertising in New York City and
State Street Corporation in Boston.
and has worked on brands like
Pantene, Wolverine Worldwide,
Patagonia, and Black Diamond.
In addition to being a badass business
lady, she is also the mother to three now
adult boys, so I guess we could call them
men, which I can't even imagine because
I remember when each of them were born.
And you were the first colleague
I had who had kids, so that
was very formative, uh, for me.
They're just a few years
older than my kids, so.
Do you remember when we started
working on Mamava as a team?
Christine: I do.
Sascha: Yes.
So we've talked a lot about
the brand and origin story of
Mama Va on the podcast already.
So I want to focus today on the operations
and manufacturing side of the business.
Can you share when and why Mama Va
decided to take on our own manufacturing?
Christine: Yeah.
So it was.
almost three, it was a
little over three years ago.
It was September of 21.
And right in the middle of the
pandemic, correct, which some would
say that's kind of crazy that you've
made that decision then, but it, it
made a lot of sense for our business.
Um, Prior to that, we had been purchasing
finished goods from third party
manufacturers, and it was never, um, an
opportunity running our business that
way, and, and, um, From a cost for cost
of goods, sorry, cost of goods perspective
to get, um, control over our supply chain.
So we were really at the
mercy of the manufacturers.
We were working with to negotiate pricing.
Not really knowing what was going
into the product in terms of cost
of all of the parts and labor.
Sascha: Could you say that, um, go back
again, um, I'm just gonna say edit here,
uh, Go back to answer the question again,
just like a little bit more cleanly.
So
Christine: yeah.
Can you repeat the question?
When and why?
So, um, we decided to, um,
take on manufacturing purchase,
uh, factory in September 21.
So right in the middle of the pandemic,
um, crazy, crazy times, crazy times.
Yep.
A lot of reasons though,
that this made sense.
Um, prior to that, we had been
purchasing finished goods from, uh,
contract manufacturers and, uh, with.
Owning our own manufacturing and
having a vertical supply chain.
We were able to make significant
advances in controlling our costs.
Um, it also allowed for us to do more
product development more quickly through
prototyping and, um, just experimenting,
um, with, within the factory.
And, um, it, it just from a cost
perspective and what it did to the bottom
line, it was the right thing to do.
And we've not looked back since.
Sascha: It was the right thing to do.
And we had some help figuring that out.
Can you explain a little bit about what
gave you, uh, you in particular and the
rest of our executive team, the confidence
to move forward with that decision?
Christine: Yeah.
Um, that, that is, uh, a great question.
Uh, had we not had this
individual in the seat he was in.
So we had hired, um, a gentleman
who had a lot of manufacturing
experience to be our supply chain.
That's Head of supply chain.
So he was the one negotiating
with the contract manufacturers.
We were working with and sourcing
and all the above running
the engineering team as well.
And he knew and gave us the confidence
that this was the right move.
He had worked very closely with the
former owner of the factory that
we purchased, so he knew enough.
to know that if we were to make
this move, a, he could be, um, the
resource to manage the plant and
work with the folks down there.
Um, and he also knew that how we
could be more profitable and ran the
numbers for us and really pitched it.
Sascha: Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
His name was Mark Wiggins.
Mm hmm.
And um, I, I love that part of our story
cause you don't know who is going to
be kind of invested in your mission and
you know, he's a gentleman of a certain
age, tons of experience, a grandfather.
Yeah.
And I think, you know, recruiting him
to this mission was so pivotal and
enabling us to make this transition.
And demographically, maybe you would
see this guy, you know, the John Deere
hat or whatever, not making sense.
But, uh, He was so extremely helpful.
Um,
Christine: and a great mentor and,
and partner in this whole thing.
Yeah.
Sascha: Yeah.
So you're making it sound easy, which I
know it really wasn't having been there,
especially because we were now, um, you
know, manufacturers for their first time.
And just some of the stats around
manufacturing only about 2 percent of
manufacturing companies are women owned.
Um, Women now account for only about 29
percent of the manufacturing workforce,
which is actually a, uh, a growth number,
but still, uh, not a lot of women in
the arena of manufacturing and, um,
We have seen that it's growing though.
So female employment and
manufacturing reached its height.
Um, currently it's at about 3.
7 million workers.
And I think it's really interesting
for Mama Va because now we
are working in that space.
We have, uh, manufacturing, um, and
a corporate culture, and we're also
selling into, uh, manufacturing
facilities to place our pods.
Um, So it's clearly male dominated.
How did you, um, navigate that as you kind
of took over managing the manufacturing,
which even at Mama Va is male dominated?
Christine: Yeah, that was never
Consideration or concern.
I think part of that is I've worked in
industries and businesses with customers
and such that have been male dominated.
So it, it didn't strike me as a challenge.
Um, and I think the only thing that.
Maybe was an early consideration, which
we quickly got over was, are they going to
get it and get it like the business we're
in, understand who we're serving, what our
mission is, will they feel connected or
are they just making, feel like they're
just making pods and, and not really
feel what we want all our employees to
feel, which is connected to the mission.
Sascha: Yeah.
So what do you think happened there?
Christine: Um, well, it over time,
and I think this was a little
bit of a learning curve too.
And trust came into play where Mark
was, you know, all the things we said
amazing at, you know, giving us the
confidence to do this, having the skill
set and abilities to actually, um, do
the acquisition and get them on the
right You know, back up and running
because there was some, uh, period of
time where we were doing the transition,
but I think because he was, uh, from
the background he had much more focused
and rightfully so on operations and, and
we were behind the scenes at that time
saying, you know, Yeah, but could we,
you know, get in front of them and talk
about the mission and do some branding
within the space and he really wanted
to slow roll that which was fine and
probably appropriate at the time when
we had the opportunity, though, to get
more engaged with the staff down there.
I was surprised and Sasha, I know
you were too, that like the level
of connection they already felt they
were seeing, you know, from day one,
even before we acquired the factory,
because they were making our pods
already as a contract manufacturer,
they knew who we were selling to.
And they knew they were so excited
to see the designs and to see the
locations that these pods were going.
So they already had a feeling of pride.
around that and being connected to a brand
that was doing some good in the world.
So that, that was really reassuring.
And I think time's gone up has, as time
has gone on, we've really even more, uh,
deliberately increased that connection.
Sascha: Yeah.
And, um, We talk about Mama Va as
having a maternalistic culture, they
versus a paternalistic and obviously
in manufacturing, there is more of
a tradition of paternalism, sort of
because of it's more of an hourly,
it's more of a safety concern to be
more rigid and some of those things.
But, uh, Talk about some of the ways that
we have integrated, uh, and try to, try
to bring that maternalistic, uh, culture
down to Springfield and, and perhaps how
maybe Springfield has influenced the, the
broader Mama Va mission and, um, team.
Christine: Yeah, I think starting
with having to integrate.
Uh, business that had hourly employees.
When we first purchased the factory, we
had a lot of consideration, um, around
benefits and we generally gave the week
between Christmas and new year's off.
We have a very, um, a
generous, uh, time off plan.
And I think there was some resistance
initially from the leadership in
Springfield to apply the same time
off benefits because when production
is down, obviously we are not, not,
Potentially meeting the needs of our
customers and they had concerns because
they had never had that much time off.
And if all of the staff was taking
advantage of all of the time they could
get have off, would they be able to
maintain the same level of production?
So that was a big conversation.
We felt strongly, though, that we're
not going to have a different type
of benefit for manufacturing versus.
Our crew up in Burlington or other staff
that reports into Burlington or remotely
and, and it, at the end of the day,
worked out, we had to figure out ways
of, you know, making sure that there
was heads up and people were respectful
of not, you know, you know, everyone
taking the same time off at the same
time so that and, and cross training.
So it really improved, um, that
aspect of how they were operating.
We have lots of people who can
do lots of the jobs down there.
So when someone is out, it's not
a total shutdown of that station.
Sascha: Yeah, I'm really proud of that.
Just to say we have the same benefits
package for every single person.
Um, yeah, In the company.
Mm-Hmm.
. And we even have a stock options program
for everyone who is a full-time employee.
Right.
So I, I really think that's
a great point of pride.
I also just love going to the
factory 'cause of the tangibility.
Right?
So we work on computers all day long.
Often we're working remote, but when you
go there and you hear the sounds of the
machines and you smell and, and you see
folks, you know, putting their, you know.
Sweat equity and, and, and true labor,
um, into the product is very inspiring.
Maybe you can describe the factory
a little bit and how we've maybe
even brought brand to that space.
Christine: Yep.
It's about a 30, 000 square foot
factory and it's, A combination of, um,
cutting, assembly, packaging, sourcing.
We do logistics out of there.
And so even down there, there's
a little bit of a split.
There's the production staff that's on
the floor, um, doing the production.
And then there's a front office.
And the front office staff is a
little more connected to Burlington
on the regular because they're in our
staff meetings, they are on Slack.
So they're getting, and
they're in meetings.
So, so they do bring a lot of what
they hear about and learn about
back to the production staff.
But, but those, the folks on the floor
don't have phones, don't have email.
They're just, they're in a
different work environment.
So.
So that's been, um, also
a learning curve for us.
I think initially it was making sure our
communication channels accounted for, um,
all of the types of workers that we have.
So we post things, we have a lot more,
like they do meetings where they're
sharing information versus digital
where we had traditionally done that.
We also have a HR professional
who has manufacturing experience.
So she is amazing at connecting the dots
and supporting our staff down there.
She spends time down there every
month, you know, sort of office hours.
So I think we've done a great
job of supporting the staff and,
you know, just in terms of the
environment too, we've, we've.
Got lots of brand elements in that space.
So we've got banners, these, um,
happy breasts banners on the floor
that are hanging above the machines
that are making the product.
We've got an entryway.
Um, that's, uh, got a graphic that we
used to have up here in Burlington.
We brought down there.
That's pumped on mom
of, uh, And so they walk
Sascha: through a threshold when they
go into onto the floor that you know
what which has all this Um messaging
and there's the fact that we actually
do printing in house You know has been
an amazing thing for our marketing
team to just say like, okay, we want
to try this Okay, put these outside and
you know, we didn't do sign and yeah,
it's been a great resource for us and
Christine: we also have outside
the break room a monitor that runs
You Consistently with, um, images
of pods in the wild and news and
social media posts from our users.
And just really another way for
them all to feel connected to the
end product and who's using it.
Sascha: I know that's been really
important because we do also use
like a third party logistics.
So they, there was a time when
folks didn't know where the pods
were landing and it was much cooler
when they were like, Oh, this one's
going to a stadium in Oakland.
Oh, this one's going to a healthcare
facility that I've used before.
So I'm making deliberate effort to
show that connection is important.
And I think mixing our teams like at least
once a year, um, Everybody gets together.
We just recently had a picnic and like
mixing those cultures and figuring out
activities that are really deliberate
to get that cross functionality going.
And I think, you know, for me, it
was really revealing to hear actually
people's personal connection to what
Mama Vod does, you know, folks who
had kids and partners who have used
the pods or have needed them in a
healthcare setting or who've, you know.
Uh, our grandparents to breastfed
children, um, that's really powerful.
Christine: And those conversations
happen when we're down there together.
Um, one of the things I wanted to
point out too, is that every single
employee that we hire, we bring down
there as part of the onboarding.
So we make sure that.
no matter what the role is at Momova, that
they understand where the product's made,
who's making it, how it's made, and just
have, make sure we're reinforcing that
connection throughout the organization.
Sascha: So, you know, it's been a
few years now looking back, what
has been kind of the steepest
learning curve in this role for you?
Because you went, you know, really from
being a marketer to being like an operator
to being a manufacturing operator.
Christine: Yeah.
Yeah, it's interesting.
I think because my exposure with Mark
in that role prior to us acquiring the
factory was more around the finished
goods and product and now going deeper
and having a deeper understanding of what
it actually takes to You know, procure
the parts to do the planning, to, um,
manage the staff, to produce the product,
you know, manage capacity logistics of
getting it where we need it to go is a
whole nother level of, um, understanding.
And, but exciting, um, for me, it's in
my career at this stage, it's been an
amazing, um, learning curve and, and.
Interesting to, you know,
understand it and learn it as we go.
So I feel like the biggest thing when I
look back is, um, not fully appreciating
all that goes into the planning to
get the pods out the other end and
how critical it is for all of the.
Everything to fall into place.
It is, it is, uh, truly, uh, operation
that was dialed when we purchased it.
And we've even, you know, gone further.
With, with our operations down there
with some support from VMAC, which is the
Vermont manufacturing extension center,
just in terms of process improvement and,
um, looking at ways to be more efficient.
So it's, that has been an ongoing effort.
And it just, if one thing in the process
goes sideways, It, the impact is felt
throughout the whole line and at the
end of the day, quality of the product.
So it's just critical to make sure
everything is working as it should.
Sascha: Absolutely.
And you know, in the midst of the
pandemic, there's also been supply
chain problems and shipping problems.
And, um, that learning curve I know
was extremely steep and just the
fact that You're doing this thing
by acquiring your manufacturing and
bringing it in house to gain control.
But then all those variables of
putting it together and making it
run smoothly feels like it can be
go out of control very quickly.
So, right.
Christine: And there's a
lot at risk, obviously.
Yeah.
You know, we're putting a, um, product
out in the world that, that is an
occupied space in locations that,
um, just there's a lot of exposure.
So we have to, you know, be quality
is number one and all of the safeties
in place to make sure that we are
checking, um, Off the list as it goes
through the factory and out the door.
Sascha: So speaking of that, a lot
of our pods actually do end up in a
warehousing and manufacturing spaces
that are not unlike our facility.
Um, what do you say to manufacturers and
facilities managers about having lactation
spaces and the importance of that?
Christine: Yeah, I, I think even more so.
And one of the, the stories I would
bring into, To answering this question
is we had Amazon come visit our
factory to do, they're a customer
and they came to do a factory tour
because that's part of their onboarding
of new suppliers and just having.
The, the fact that we have a factory
and can talk the talk with a customer
who were, were fulfilling product
to their fulfillment centers.
And there's so many parallels to what we
experience and what they're purchasing
our pods to, um, solve a problem for.
So just those synergies are
huge and to be able to say,
yeah, we experienced that too.
But I would say.
More so than any other environment
that I'm aware of it, the factory
employee or the fulfillment center or
whatever warehouse employee, it's so
important that these pods or the spaces
that they can use a breast pump are
close to where they're working because
they've got a set amount of break time.
A lot of the facilities
that we sell to are huge.
So, you know, walking literally a mile to.
Get there and find out someone's
in it is just not efficient.
So I think we've realized our
product solves a big problem for
places like Amazon, because they
can see if it's occupied or not.
And in some cases they can, um,
they can actually set a time where
they're going to go and use it.
So it's, I think our experience just
resonates and we can talk to our,
our customers about the fact that.
Yeah, we have that problem, too.
Sascha: Yeah, and I can imagine,
um, not that there's a, not that
we have that many competitors, but,
uh, very few can say the same thing.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, that's true.
I'm gonna go back and
try some stuff, Nick,
Sascha: um,
you were a little older, you had
your kids a little bit before me,
and I remember, um, we were on a
business trip once, and we were,
uh, a scrappy, young design studio.
I think we were at a big trade show in,
um, Atlanta and we shared a room and you
were like, super pregnant, uh, with Isaac.
I don't know if you remember this.
And I thought, so I was like,
Oh, that's so interesting.
And it was, it was, um, informative
because it showed that, um,
this could be my path as well.
So I appreciate that.
I also remember, do you remember
what book you were reading?
Christine: Oh, the midwife
Sascha: you're reading, which is a sort
of a horror story by Chris Bohelian
Christine: when you're pregnant.
Sascha: And I was like,
this woman is badass.
And I also remember that, like,
shortly before you had Isaac, Tell,
cause the, the, the, the story of
Christine is that she is also an
amazing athlete, um, telemarketer and,
and, um, biker and, and other things.
But shortly before you had him, I think
you were like nine months pregnant.
Tell what you did in one winter day.
Do you remember that?
Moonlight hike?
Yes.
Yeah.
It was like the week before you had him.
Christine: Yeah, it was,
no, he was born in April.
Sascha: Okay.
Christine: I don't know.
It was probably
Sascha: March.
Winter.
So what were you doing when you were
like eight and a half months pregnant?
Christine: Some colleagues were
planning a moonlight hike up Mansfield
and Yeah, and I joined and and
skied down, I think, oh, no, no, no.
You're talking about something different.
Okay.
There was a No, I was, that was
actually in the Adirondacks.
That was not with colleagues.
I did a moonlight hike with JDK
people, but the Adirondack trip was
just with some couples and yeah,
we, we were skiing in like on.
Um, I tell Mark skis, but
skied in and then I actually
didn't do the downhill part.
I was smart enough to know
that was probably not what I
should be doing at eight months.
But I, I was, yeah, it
was a pretty grueling.
We were two miles from the cabin
we stayed in and then we were,
you know, in sleeping bags on.
Hard mattresses and a cabin.
Sascha: So I think that
informed your motherhood too.
You went on a lot of adventures with your
kids always and you know, what do you
learn from having kids and how has that
informed your work as a business person?
Christine: Yeah, I mean it's incredible
to be able to bring your own personal
experience into the company that you
helped create and that's that was you
know as You know, the origin story.
It's like that was an issue that I
had, you had as, as breastfeeding
employees and trying to figure
that out when we went back to work.
Um, I also think just being a
parent of, of young men now, they
have been exposed to This journey.
And first of all, as you know,
they're future entrepreneurs,
potentially, and understanding what
it takes and what the commitment
looks like to get something going.
And then also just understanding the
industry that we're in and the problem
that we've been solving all these years
and their own, I think, um, sensitivity
around it and they can talk about it.
And it's a not, not a thing.
And it's pretty cool to put, to have
more men who have that perspective.
Sascha: Yeah.
And I imagine like my kids,
they can, uh, educate people on
lactation as well as most people.
Totally.
Even as, as, as young people.
Yeah.
Um, do you feel like you had to
sacrifice anything like, or there
were trade offs because of the, in
kind of investment we had to make
and time we put into this company?
Sacrificed anything on, on the
parenting or mothering side?
Christine: Honestly, nothing I probably
wouldn't have done for any other career.
That's just like I had made a decision
I was going to work and raise a family.
And so I don't think that this, I actually
think this was better than had I stayed,
you know, at, you know, in the design
field or advertising or whatever, because
I loved it and it didn't feel like work.
All the time.
Like sometimes it does,
but not all the time.
And when you're building
something, it's exciting.
And so I think they got that
a better me because of that.
It wasn't a grind and it was not at
all something that I looked at as.
A job.
Sascha: Yeah.
I feel the same way.
And, um, well, I do, I do think it
was kind of a grind, let's be honest.
Well, it was for us.
Exactly.
And for someone else.
And for the mission.
Totally.
Yeah.
That mission is always
there to keep you going.
Yeah.
All right.
So, uh, a couple questions
just to wrap it up.
Do you have any advice that you'd
like to give, um, can be, like,
more personal or Or it can be
more about, uh, career advice.
Um,
Christine: yeah, I sort
of alluded to this before.
I feel like it's an incredible
privilege to be at this stage in a
career and still be interested, still
learning, still have new experiences.
And it, a lot of that had to do
with just taking risks and, and
having confidence to know that.
Yeah, I, I've never run a factory, but
there are really good people who are,
who are managing the day to day down
there and I trust them and they make
it possible and I'm learning from them.
And so I think it's just
confidence, having the right.
People who you work with, who are smart
and, and yeah, I mean, I think that's
Sascha: entrepreneurship.
I, I think I said it on the podcast
before, it's like an entrepreneur is
really good at one thing, which is like
getting other people to see their vision
and mission and, and who, who know how to
do the things you don't know how to do.
Exactly.
All right.
So what is your proudest achievement,
uh, so far professionally, or
if you want to share personally,
Besides your kids because
they're pretty amazing.
Christine: Yeah.
Thank you.
Um, I think I'll go with the professional.
I just having been part of launching
this business And that will carry
through to anything that comes next.
Doesn't matter if it's paid, unpaid,
you know, similar track, but just having
done it and yeah, like it's amazing.
It's amazing.
And I lose sight of that.
As I'm sure you do sometimes in
the day to day, you just get so,
yeah, you just lose sight of it.
I don't know.
Sascha: But I think sometimes too, I
always find travel helps because, uh,
we live in a sort of a bubble here.
It's a small state.
We know many people.
Um.
Um, and maybe don't always recognize
the impact until we like leave and
intersect with the folks that are both
on the customer side and the moms who
have used our pods is, um, as really
something, but you travel a lot.
So I think it's maybe me.
I'm talking to myself.
I need to get out more.
Christine: No, but it's true.
And what a funny thing is a lot
of my friends will be like, Oh
yeah, I was in this airport.
I saw a pod, but I didn't
want to send it to you.
Cause you probably get that all the time.
I'm like, Send it.
I love it.
Like send me those photos.
It's amazing.
And we have a slack channel that
everyone shares pods in the wild
that they see when they travel.
And it is, um, that's
the motivation for sure.
Sascha: Yeah.
I always ask actually anybody who
does that to have the app downloaded,
included, including my like 80 year old
parents go in, make sure it looks good.
Um, Turn the lock so
the session registers.
So for the listeners as well, download
that app, even if you don't need them
and be ambassadors to a Vermont business,
um, and check it out and let us know, uh,
how, uh, the pods are looking because,
um, it helps us just with keeping in touch
with our product and product development.
And it's something that we.
Do a lot of time, uh, listening
to and spending time, but we
can't always, there's no big
stadiums in, um, in Vermont at all.
And there's only one
airport as an example.
So what are you bodaciously
optimistic about?
Christine: Um,
I think we, as a company continue to
improve, I think where, like, it blows
my mind every time we have an opening,
how many qualified candidates And it's
just top of mind now because we're
hiring for two positions and we were.
inundated with qualified candidates.
So I think we have a reputation that's
really strong, which is amazing.
And I think we have a leadership
team who really cares about the
community, cares about the culture.
I think our employees are, are committed
and care about the mission too.
I, I think we've reached a new place where
not only are we as an operation improving,
but our, we have a, you know, with change
and change in people, you know, people
come, people go, but we have a solid
core culture and, and that excites me
because you can't You can't create that.
Sascha: Yeah.
And I think, you know, in the beginning,
what happens is you have to have general
lists and you're kind of putting your
team, you probably don't have resources
to, to, you know, have maybe the people
with a level of experience you might,
uh, need, but then as you grow and
develop, then you hire the specialists
and they can, uh, create a much more well
rounded ness for, um, for what we do.
Right.
Anything else you want our listeners.
Christine: We covered a lot of ground.
Um,
Sascha: I know you're very
involved with Let's Grow Kids.
Christine: Yes, I am.
Yep.
Organization in Vermont who
are, um, working to make sure
that child care is accessible.
High quality child care is
accessible to all Vermont families.
And they've done amazing work, and we are
in the final push to make sure that no
family pays more than 10 percent of their
income on child care, regardless of how
many children they have in child care.
And just elevating the profession
of, uh, child care providers and
making sure they're supported.
Fairly compensated, um,
at a professional wage.
And, um, yeah, so it's a lot going
on there, but all good stuff.
Good for Vermont.
Sascha: Good for Vermont.
And if so, let's grow kids.
If you don't know about them,
um, look them up, support them.
And I think that, um, The ability
to do advocacy work at mom of a, uh,
you're on the board of let's grow kids.
I'm on the board of Vermont businesses for
social responsibility and it's twofold.
The progressive advocacy
is close to our heart.
It's aligns with our mission.
But for me learning from what
it is to be on a big nonprofit
board, uh, has also been great.
So make that recommendation for, uh,
employers with executives, I think
adding, um, and, and having, um, your.
Execs be on one nonprofit board is
a great thing that reflects back on
your, um, company, but also is a great
learning opportunity for those people.
Absolutely.
All right, Christine.
So thank you so much for being my
partner for coming on the podcast.
And, uh, there's great things ahead.
Christine: Yes, there are.
Thanks, Sasha.
Sascha: Don't hang up because
we might need you to click off.
Thanks.
Sorry that went long and
in multiple directions.
I can't actually hear you
because I have bad hearing, Nick.
Yeah.
Are you and Joyce going back together?
No.
Okay.
Um,
uh, I'm trying to think back.
Sascha: I feel like we got it,
but you want it to be cleaner, um,
which question, um, how introducing
Mark Wiggins in a cleaner way.
So I'll
Christine: just say his name.
I wasn't sure if I was
like, I think it's good.
No, no, it's fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But, um,
Sascha: so tell us a little bit
about how it came about that we
acquired the factory and, and.
And, and made that happen
during the pandemic.
Mm hmm.
Christine: Yeah, it was September 2021.
And at that time, we had a gentleman
named Mark Wiggins, who was our, um,
senior vice president of supply chain.
And he had been in a relationship.
He was a liaison between us and the,
plant that we ultimately purchased,
they were making mom of pods already.
So he was working with them to
purchase the finished goods.
So we had nothing to do with how they
made them sourcing any of that, although
they were using our designs, obviously,
but we were working with several
contract manufacturers at that time.
So he, With his experience and having a
better understanding of how that factory
operated, he had some understanding
of their cost structure, encouraged us
and ultimately gave us the confidence
to move forward with the acquisition.
Um, it came about because
the former owner who was.
a partner of ours in,
in our initial journey.
And he helped create the original
pod, decided to open this
plant and produce Malabar pods.
He was ready to move on.
So he, he proposed this.
But Mark really was the one who was
able to dig in and understand the
labor, the cost of goods, the whole
cost structure, and what, how that
would play out for us, um, as a
business as we vertically, vertically
integrated with our supply chain.
So, so he made the pitch and, um, we did
the diligence and did the negotiation
and ended up taking over the lease.
Purchased the equipment and hired back
all, every single one of the employees.
They were all excited to
come over and work for us.
Sascha: And Marcus is great because
he may not be your picture or somebody
who's going to be a lactivist, but, uh,
what, you know, he's a, he's a grandpa.
He's like, he's like a grandpa as we say.
And so we're really indebted to, to
all of that, that he put into it.
And those folks that are mission oriented
that you don't even realize will be
kind of recruited into the company.
But, um, he is one of them
that has made a huge impact.
Christine: And he already had, this is
the other thing that made it possible.
He had great relationships
with the staff down there.
He spent time in the factory, getting to
know them even as a contract manufacturer.
So the transition was a lot easier
because they knew him, they respected him.
And, um, they, he also knew, you
know, that we had some quality
folks that were coming on board.
So.
That, that definitely helped
great job of introducing a
maternal how we bring it.
But if you could say that we promote
a maternalistic culture and quickly
define what that is, I think we
might want to have to transition.
Okay, sorry.
Sascha: So our maternalistic culture
at Mama Va is more about building
connection and agency and having people
feel like they're making progress.
So I always say like a good mom isn't one
that is like helicoptering and, and, and,
you know, a good mom is, um, actually.
Raising a child that can feel confident
in the world and have agency and, um,
go into the world, um, without, um, this
is, I don't know, Nick, I don't know.
I'm trying to figure out how
I'm going to edit that in.
Um, sorry.
Like where's this?
I'll write in the intro.
I'll write about it.
Okay.
Don't log out quite yet.
Sorry.
We're almost done with you.