thefourthtrimester

Welcome to my small corner of the world

My name is Carolyn. I am a blessed daughter, sister, wife and proud momma of two wildchild sons. I am also the co-owner of The Barefoot Momma LLC, CPD (certified postpartum Doula), CA (certified aromatherapist), ChildLight infant-adolescent family yoga instructor, Bengkung Belly Wrap Trainer, Organic Eco-Textile Artisan, and PCES (postpartum corrective exercise specialist : completing 2020).

Barefoot Mothering

Earth-conscious mother with
Ceremony
Authenticity
Honoring of your elders/teachers
Creativity
Adventure
and above all love.

I overflow with gratitude and excitement in meeting and learning from incredible individuals whom join me to walk a small portion of this path or continue as a life-long barefoot friends and mentors.

Creating Present Space
to deepen our connection to the earth, our village of support and our children.

Im honored you are here and I look forward to getting to know one another.

I walk my path through life barefoot as much as possible.

The barefoot lifestyle has great meaning to me.
I look forward to journeying together.

Where my path has journeyed thus far....

I grew up on coastal Maine where the woodlands lead down to the ocean. I am a mixture of "granola and science" being raised by two licensed holsitic pracitioners: my fatehr an accupuncturist, tai-chi master, and historic carpenter and my mother an aesthetician, textile artisan, and traditional lovers of herbs.

it is in my blood and heart to honor mother nature for all the incredible resources she provides. I apprecaite all she ofers with a full heart of gratitude. I consume no natural resource without honoring the aknwoledgement of the chain reaction in which I play a part of in consuming pieces of our natural world. For all she provides to me and my family, I am honored to help her sustain her gifts by only taking what I need and offsetting my usage to heal her and replenish.

This is how I was raised and how my sons are being raised.

In 2006 I moved to Tucson, Arizona: the home of big sky and desert flora. I initially came here for school, completing my BFA in art education through the University of Arizona.

After teaching at the elementary and middle school level for several years, my husband and I decided to begin our family.

The birth of my first son in 2015 was an awakening.

Crossing the threshold of motherhood drew my awareness to aspect of my life which had become dormant.

I was re-ignited.

My desire to deepen my knowledge and build ceremonial holding space for birth, motherhood, and sisterhood directed my barefoot soul to my new path.

Honoring Gaia

I entered the adventure of starting my own business of Natural Momma in 2015 with basic knowledge of creating sustainable earth-conscious products for mothers and babies.

I am a seeker of knowledge...
as my parents are and guided me to becoming.

After having a morning conversation over coffee (one of our favorite shared loves) with my mother, it was evident I needed to change the name of my business to The Barefoot Momma to be more inline with my philosophies.

in 2017 we decided to become a 50/50 partnership: launching our new business together as mother and daughter.

The Barefoot Momma LLC: our mother/daughter adventure

Since we are both seekers - we continue to deepen our knowledge on what it means to build a green business.
What we create is what we want to give.
What we give is a hug to the recipient and to our earth.

Finding the dirty truth about the textile/agriculture industry and how to truly source responsibly

This has been an incredible journey of taking the deep dive into research, communication, and building partnerships.

We use about 4000 yards of cotton, lots of spools of thread, a couple hundred pounds of herbs, recycled packaging, shipping labels, and 100+ colors of eco fabric dye. Our level of consumption got us thinking, evaluating, and sparked our seeker souls to learn more about exactly what we were consuming. Further - what our consumption/purchasing of these raw materials was supporting.

We were shocked and heart broken when learning what our "premium grade, natural, unbleached cotton" really had in it and the type of work environments it supported.

We felt as if we had been "stooped" by marketing and fancy words alluding to natural, safe, ethical work environments, and eco-conscious living.

We were overwhelmed with the knowledge we were learning about cotton planting, growing, harvesting, processing, refining, manufacturing, international transporting, further processing/chemical refining into a woven fabric and the work ethics/environments accosciated with each of those procedures. Needless to say it was illuminating. We began working with and seeking deeper knowledge from organizations such as Green America, GOTS (global organic textile standards), Textile Exchange, and OTA (Organic Trade Association).

We continue to learn and grow with the guidance and oversight of what truly is a green business.