Extended Breastfeeding Shot published in Business Magazine

New Zealand's leading business women's magazine, "Her Magazine", have done an article on Belly Beyond in their September issue and they have published a shot, taken during a recent photo shoot, where Louisa happens to be breastfeeding her 2 and a half year old.

So what you ask?

Well, while NZ is considered on the whole to have a fairly breastfeeding friendly society, extended breastfeeding is almost NEVER shown in mainstream media - unless of course it's in some documentary that at worst ridicules, or at best pigeon-holes, extended breastfeeders as hairy legged hippies who can't let go.

So this is the first time that we know of, that a leading main-stream publication has published a shot of a mum breastfeeding a child that is clearly well beyond the "baby" age.

What we love about the image, is that it's a great snapshot of life as business women and mothers and shows us just doing our thing.   Sure, it's not like we normally hang out in full hair and make up but as working mums we do often have to juggle laptop with children in this manner.

Big thumbs up and thank you to Her Magazine editor, Annah Stretton, for pushing the boundaries and making the call to show breast feeding as normal - even when your little one is closer to 3 years old, not 3 months old.

Here's the full size image (click to enlarge) and you can read the article by clicking on the page thumbnails below or visiting our media page.

Some interesting feedback, from mothers on our Facebook page, about how 'ick' the shot is in their opinion -  show's there is still much work to be done.

Photo:  Jo Frances Photography

Bloom Her Business Woman of the Year

Until we see the official Awards photos here are some behind the scenes shots at the Bloom Her Business Woman of the Year Awards.

Above:  Heidi and Louisa (Mr Belly Beyond's in the background at left and my big sis on the right)

With two of our favourite people at the Her Business Forum, (L-R) Heidi, Anita Newport from Parkes Automotive, Louisa, Kate Coote from the sublime online store Floozy

Another fave from the Forum, Wendy Davie from Totally Organised, Louisa, Kate from Floozy.

Probably Tweeting each other in this shot!

The Awards dinner was the midway point through a two day business Forum and while we loved the awards we definitely also thought that the Forum was such a fantastic event. Heidi and I got a huge amount out of the conference, and it was the proverbial “kick in the pants” we need to focus on getting our business to where we want it to be.

Having the opportunity to listen to the most inspirational women like Mary Devine (ex CEO of Ezibuy), Jane Hunter (Hunter Wines), Jenny Morel (No 8 Ventures) was absolutely fascinating and like a shot of pure adrenalin.  Sarah Gibbs from Trilogy was down-to-earth but came across as incredibly driven and told stories we could relate to.  

Heidi and I were chuffed to be asked to speak at the Cameo point of the day where along with lots of other women we shared our biggest blunder - not the easiest thing to do but as Annah Stretton said if you don't make mistakes you'll never learn anything and the amount of people who got up unprompted after the Cameos were done said volumes about what a great topic it was.  

I also got a chance to speak again on the second day when I did a brief Tips on Social Media.  It barely scratched the surface but hopefully encouraged people to go away and set up their Twitter accounts, get their Facebook pages up and running and to raise awareness around the strictness of Facebooks rules around promotions - no you CANNOT make someone 'like' or tag or upload a photo or do a status update or indeed anything of those things as a means of entering a competition!  (will blog on this soon).

 

The Stretton Publishing team did such an amazing job of running a tight ship, keeping us motivated, well-fueled and ensuring we networked among ourselves meaning fantastic contacts were made and after seeing the passionate Her Business Network Coordinators and members in action the Her Business Networks will definitely be something we will check out.

All in all a wonderful and productive way to spend two days and to take out the Most Inspirational Role Model Award was an absolutely highlight moment for us in business so far.

p.s.  Thanks to Kate for the images above.
p.p.s  Check out Belly Beyond's other award winning moments here

Belly Beyond Most Inspirational Role Model at Bloom!

Heidi and I won the Most Influential Role Model at the Bloom Her Business Woman of the Year Awards on Wednesday night.  It's still sinking in actually but it's fair to say we are absolutely stoked.

Looks like it's getting into the media too, we've made the front page of Infonews in the Business section no less - now that's where we want to be headlining!

PRESS RELEASE

Mums Know Best; Belly Beyond Wins Most Inspirational Role Model at the 2010 Bloom Her Business Awards

It’s been a bumper year for Belly Beyond, as the online business and its founders Louisa Currie and Heidi Riley go from strength to strength. Last year they were finalists in the Bloom Her Businesses Awards but in 2010 Louisa and Heidi have taken out one of the most highly regarded and respected categories; Most Inspirational Role Model.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony held on 23rd June at the Heritage Hotel, Auckland, organised and promoted by Her Business magazine and attended by over 120 guests.

Organisers of the Bloom Awards describe the category as seeking true role models who possess aspirational qualities and have affected others in a way that encourages them to better themselves; overcoming trials and challenges while displaying a level of commitment to business that is truly inspiring. And it was clear to the judges that Louisa and Heidi have achieved just that.

Says Louisa of the their recent Bloom award, “becoming finalists last year was amazing but to win this category in particular is the best pat on the back from our peers we could hope for. To be labelled as an inspiration and role model to others is a very high achievement and something we will continue to aim for.”

The judges viewed the Belly Beyond co-founders as having successfully blended the businesses world with having a family, inspiring others, and “proving, once again, that women really can do anything, [Louisa and Heidi] have demonstrated they can multitask at the very highest level.”

Belly Beyond’s win in this category comes after a very successful year; growing the online company internationally as well as increasing sales by over 400% and even finding the time to advocate for womens’ issues. It’s the desire to inspire and promote motherhood that has taken Louisa and Heidi to where they are today, using their extensive networks to convey topical messages and causes relating to motherhood.

One of Belly Beyond’s campaigns over the past year was an email message sent virally far and wide aiming to take the stigma out of the breast feeding in public. And another more recent and highly publicised campaign was the ‘Search for Real Mums’ model competition. This has just finished with four women chosen from around New Zealand now selected to be the Australasian faces – and bellies – of Cake Maternity Lingerie; promoting healthy pregnant bodies to the world.

Two years after its conception Belly Beyond is becoming a multi-award winning company, driven by the passion and enthusiasm of the dynamic pair behind it, and proving you can mix business with pleasure; even maintaining a close friendship along the way.

The Bloom Her Businesswoman of the Year Awards recognise outstanding New Zealand women in business; celebrating the achievements of women who run successful operations, inspire and support their peers and make extraordinary contributions to their communities and the environment.

www.bellybeyond.co.nz