Name: Charlotte Torris
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Profession: Mom entrepreneur, Noobie Box
Likes: I love to travel all around the world! Some of my favorite places: Machu Picchu / Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) / Laddakh (Himalayas – India) and of course Mount Kilimanjaro (where I met the dad of my three kids!). We had to put our travel plans on stand-by for few years but hopefully we will be able to share our love for adventure with our little ones soon.
Hometown: Lille (North of France, just next to the Belgian Border)
Current City: New York City
WHAT HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE BEEN LIKE LIVING IN THE U.S. / NYC AS A PREGNANT WOMAN AND PARENT?
In France, pregnant women are well supported with long paid maternity leaves, 3 to 5 days in the maternity ward to learn how to take care of their child, and most have some family around.
I was still working the morning I had Theodore, my first child. Sure… he was a little early (37 weeks) but still…two days later, there the three of us were in our small NY apartment, with Theodore in his car seat in the middle of the living room and the two of us looking at him and wondering what had just happened! Step by step, a day at a time we learned what to do and how to do it.
The good thing about living in NYC is that there are plenty of resources / services to help….The bad thing is that there are so many of them that it is, most of the time, overwhelming and really hard to know what to choose or who to trust (especially when coming from another country and having to deal with cultural differences on top of it all!).
TELL US MORE ABOUT THE NOOBIE BOX! WHAT IS IT? WHY DID YOU CREATE THE NOOBIE BOX?
Noobie Box was founded a year and a half ago by three European women who gave birth in the USA and missed the pregnancy box experience that is so well developed in Europe. Noobie Box is a free, home delivered gift box filled with high-quality products, great offers, and important health information for all new moms and their baby.
With Noobie box, we want to help pregnant women get the information they need, find the right brands and products for them. Through Noobie Box, we introduce these moms-to-be to the products / brands we liked or wish we had known at the time we needed them!
OUR MISSIONS HAVE SOME OVERLAP. HOW DO YOU SEE THE NOOBIE BOX AND UP-STAND HELPING PREGNANT WOMEN AND PARENTS?
Having a baby is probably the best thing that can happen to a women/a young couple but it is not always easy. It is OK to say out loud “Hey guys, I am pregnant! Really happy about it but I could use some help too!”. And you do that so well at UP-STAND.
On our side, we are trying to help new parents find their way through all the products & services available out there. It definitely takes a village to raise a child, so let’s be part of that village!
YOU’VE BEEN SO COLLABORATIVE SINCE WE’VE MET! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THOSE OF US WHO ADVOCATE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND MOTHERS WORK TOGETHER TO CHANGE SOCIAL NORMS AND IMPROVE SUPPORTS?
The hardest thing in being pregnant and becoming a mom here in the U.S. is to then find the right balance between a private and professional life. There are still so many things that can be done to improve affordable and qualitative child-care, work schedule flexibility… Acknowledging that having a baby is a life changing experience is the very first step to being open to new ways of doing things.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT IN 2017?
2016 was the first year for Noobie Box. We have had great partners who supported us in our project and thanks to whom we have been able to spoil more than 6,000 pregnant women already. In 2017 we really want to take it to the next level and reach out to 20,000 more moms-to-be on the East Coast!
LAST BUT NOT LEAST, HOW CAN WE ORDER A NOOBIE BOX?!?
Getting a Noobie Box is really easy! Just go on the Noobie Box website and use the promocode UPSTAND at check out to waive the shipping fees and make your box 100% free (you can even tell your pregnant friends about it!).
To follow Charlotte and her partners on social media, find them on Twitter and Instagram with the handles @noobiebox.