Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Snow.
Hi Caroline, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born and raised in Bordeaux, France. After winning a green card at the lottery, I moved to Charleston in 2017 to follow my lifelong dream of living in the United States. I met my husband that same year, and here we are six years later, married with two young boys. After the birth of my first, Theodore, I experienced severe postpartum depression – this, combined with circumstances of Covid where none of my family could come, made it the most challenging time of my life. I felt utterly lost in motherhood, without purpose, or worse, like what felt like a calling to be a mother turned out to be a curse. Working through the disease was a challenge, but one that made me so much more robust and powerful! Motherhood gave me superpowers, and I took on the challenge of discovering the new me while navigating the rocky waters of matrescence. I always needed art and creativity, so creating something after creating a human life seemed like the perfect purpose. When my son was 1, and I was pregnant with my second. I visited my parents back in France and noticed all the girls had beaded phone chains on their devices. However, I couldn’t find any that were baby-resistant.
I then decided to create my brand: French Mama Grigris (grigris being the word used in France to refer to a phone chain). I sourced my beads diligently, without chemicals, all BPA-free and food-grade approved, and started creating models while promoting them on Instagram. The brand gave me a purpose outside of motherhood that was essential to the woman I was. I also donated 10% of my sales to Postpartum Support Charleston to tie my experience with this dreadful disease with this new purpose. I soon developed side accessories like pacifier clips, feeding necklaces, sensory rings and bracelets, and t-shirts. I got accepted into Charleston’s top markets, like Feminine Magic Market and the Night Bazaar. I was about three months postpartum with my second, Richard when my depression came back in full force. This time around, it left me with very little energy to keep up with the product making and markets, so after spending months recovering with the help of therapists, I decided to adapt the brand to a podcast platform: French Mama Stories, where I interview real women about their experiences of motherhood, their challenges, and their triumphs. Being a full-time mom to two very young boys who are 20 months apart (my oldest isn’t even 3 yet), I have had to adapt my business and ambitions to fit my busy schedule, all to preserve and promote maternal mental health but also to keep working for a purpose for myself and all the other mamas that feel lost in the overbearing role of motherhood.
Let’s dig deeper into the story – has it been an easy path, and if not, what challenges have you overcome?
As mentioned previously, I am dealing with two severe postpartum depressions, learning how to create a business from scratch and getting out there to promote it while taking care of two very young children.
I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am most known as the French Mama in the Charleston area – whether through my baby-resistant collection French Mama Grigris or my podcast French Mama Stories, where I talk to birth mothers about all things motherhood, unfiltered and without shame. Working at widening the platform for new mothers struggling is my ultimate goal. Apart from creating my business and making it work, I am proud of my TV interview in France this past November. Les Maternelles is the number 1 show on parenting, and I have watched it religiously for many years. They always have a segment during the live show where they sit down and interview someone about their experience, and I was lucky to be asked to participate to talk about my postpartum depression. It happened that we filmed the live show two days before my second baby’s first birthday; it felt like the loop was complete symbolically. I was also asked to have my story featured in their country-wide magazine, and to think that my story got to help so many moms thanks to their incredible level of visibility (it’d be similar to the National Morning Show in America) is beyond humbling and beautiful, and keeps fueling my deep belief that every voice matters, and so does every story. And through all our tragedies and hardships, we can make something with a much bigger purpose.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Life is 50% luck and 50% work – so luck was on my side, but it’s also because I set my mind to creating my brand with higher purposes than sheer pride. Combining both is the best: guts and determination; luck will follow if it’s meant to be.
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