Celebrating Moms and All They Do

Hey there, y'all! Brendan here once again, and I wanted to kick off the wonderful month of May by celebrating the folks who are often one of the greatest influences in our lives: our mothers! There are a lot of small businesses, Nakee Butter definitely included, that would not have begun or thrived to the degree they have without the work and support of moms. In honor of the upcoming holiday that commends them (May 11, in case you haven't got your gift yet!) We wanted to share just a bit of how mothers have influenced Nakee over the years, and say thank you to them. 

In the beginning...

It seems like both yesterday and a century ago, but Nakee was once a dream. It was a big idea that Evan had and knew was something he needed to create, but like any big idea, it needed help to come to life. Steff's mom, and the mothers of other employees at Nakee, came in during the early days and helped with production, getting the company off the ground. One of the folks who works in the production of Nakee now is also a mother, and I myself, dear reader, am not ashamed to admit that I regularly rely on my own mom for advice and support. 

Since the very beginning, many of those who've bought Nakee Butter have themselves been mothers too, fueling both their own adventures and those of their little ones. We're always so grateful to hear about that sort of thing; good eating habits are important at any age, after all! At Eastern Market, where we have a booth every Saturday, and in our social media inboxes, we hear from mothers about how they pack Nakee pouches into school lunches, implement them into the diets of their student athletes and so much more. It's words like those that help to motivate and inspire us every day, and we can't say thank you enough for them.

The phrase "working mother" is redundant

It's not mentioned often enough how many of the movers and shakers in the world today are mothers. One of the very first that comes to mind is Sara Blakely, a mother of four who founded the apparel company Spanx and became a billionaire as a result of her intuition. Check out her Instagram today, and you'll see that she is rightfully proud of her accomplishments in the business world and in her personal life at the same time. She's an underappreciated voice, honestly, and seems to always have the best mugs!

There's also the late Susan Wojciciki, mother of five and CEO of YouTube for nearly a decade, as well as her sister Anne, mother of three and co-founder of 23andMe; Wendy Kopp, mother of four and co-founder of the brilliant non-profit Teach For All; Julie Aigner-Clark, mother of two and creator of the Baby Einstein books; Sheila Lirio Marcelo, mother of two and founder of Care.com and so, so many more. This isn't even close to all of them, and you're free to add them in the comments if you want!

Of course, so many other great entrepreneurs have been guided by their own mothers too. Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Meta, has cited hers as an important influence, as has billionaire Richard Branson. Bill Gates, one of the most important and influential figures in the world today, created the foundation that bears his and his wife's name in part because of a letter the latter received from Gates' mother, Mary Maxwell Gates, the day before their wedding. She wrote in part that "for those to whom much is given, much is expected," wisdom that would motivates the Gates' philanthropic work for decades to come. 

All I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother

On a personal note, something that I think about is the notion of gratitude (which could be a blog post by itself, and probably will be soon enough). I try to say thank you every day to those who've had a positive influence on my life, who've helped get me through troubled times. I am truly grateful, of course, but I also want to make sure that they know I am, because there's not always a guarantee of an opportunity to tell them that. If you're reading this and you're thinking that perhaps you haven't said thank you recently to your mom or your dad or anyone else, take that chance. Write them a message or a letter or a card; I'm certain that they'll appreciate it.

(The quote that headed this section of the blog is from Abraham Lincoln, whose ethos and intellect were shaped by his mother Nancy. Years later, during the Civil War, the Union officer Thomas Higginson famously quipped that he would raise a toast of water, rather than alcohol, in honor of "our mothers." The rowdy party of officers around him drank in silence, and "name of Mother touched every man's heart.") 

For the many mothers out there who support us here at Nakee, both the moms of those who work here and those who get our spreads for themselves and their little ones, thank you. We could not have done this without you, and we are so very, very grateful for you and all that you do. Thanks so much for reading, everyone, and have a wonderful weekend. This is Brendan, signing off for now!