To our incredible Larken community,
We are so excited to celebrate our 4th anniversary. It still feels like yesterday that we were sketching ideas on a notepad and dreaming up this business. Where Larken is today has exceeded our wildest dreams. We thought it would be fun to share a bit more about how this dream became a reality and what it means to us.
It all started when Maggie and I were sitting at our desks, pregnant with our second babies, and anxious about how we were possibly going to manage breastfeeding again. Our first time around was a bit disastrous, and we were fixated on how uncomfortable every nursing and pumping bra we tried was. We were two corporate attorneys with zero background in apparel, manufacturing or entrepreneurship in general, but we were determined to solve this problem so we dove in. We knew moms deserved better.
We spent countless hours roaming fabric stores, trying every nursing or pumping bra we could get our hands on and sketching ideas for a more comfortable solution. On Mother’s Day in 2017, I had a bin of fabric scraps in my trunk and was explaining our idea to my mom over brunch. With my daughters and grandma in the room, my mom sewed the first working prototype for our Larken X bra. After putting it on, Maggie and I immediately knew we had our solution. My Grandma Iona had a huge smile on her face and confirmed we were onto something amazing. After a few more years of finalizing our design and searching high and low for the perfect production partners, we launched in 2019.
Today, Larken is still a family affair. Since launch, I’ve had my third baby, Maggie is pregnant with her third, and our kids have been a huge part of this journey. They helped us load your shipments into our cars in the early days and continue to join us frequently for zoom calls. And Grandma Iona? She just celebrated her 100th birthday. While she doesn’t remember everything these days, she always remembers that special Mother’s Day and asks how Larken is going.
Entrepreneurship hasn’t been an easy road, but it’s been the most rewarding work we’ve ever done. We cannot begin to explain how much Larken and this community means to us. Over the last 4 years, we’ve faced incredible highs and some tough lows, including losing family members, miscarriages, hospital stays with our kids, navigating cross country moves, postpartum anxiety and more. Through it all, Larken has been a constant in our lives, a bright spot, and a support system that we are forever grateful for. Each email, review, and photo we receive lights us up.
We are still motivated every day by all of you and our belief that moms deserve better. Thank you so much for being part of this journey. We can’t wait to see what year 5 brings!
From our families to yours,
Katie and Maggie