Mothers of invention

THESE MOMS BUILT EMPIRES BY MAKING FAMILY LIFE WORK FOR THEM

Once a mom, always a mom. They gave birth to us, adopted us, fostered us, or in some other way took us into their hearts. However things go, they never stop caring, and they’re always thinking about their families. But there’s more to them than their identities as mothers. Believe it or not, they have entire lives outside of motherhood. Some of them run businesses in addition to everything else they’re juggling. Sometimes their search to be better mothers leads them to a million-dollar idea and a business that shares the finished product with other families. In honor of Mother’s Day, this month we celebrate a few of those mompreneurs (we promise we’ll use that word only once).

Sarah Lafleur

M.M. LAFLEUR

The founder and CEO of women’s workwear designer M.M.LaFleur (named, of course, after her mother) welcomed triplets of a unique sort in 2020. Born with a rare genetic condition that caused her body to develop only one fallopian tube, she learned from doctors that conceiving could be difficult. She and her husband tried in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy, and both were successful. LaFleur gave birth to a boy in August, and twins (a boy and a girl) arrived via surrogate in September. The changes her body underwent during the IVF process, in addition to bandages on her arms from constant blood draws, inspired her to create new designs for women taking on the same challenge.

Jessica Alba

HONEST