I don't think Mariona's case is the typical case of motherhood revolution. Hers is rather a revolution for love. While working as an executive at a giant multinational company surrounded by the madness of Barcelona, she fell in love with her husband and decided to change everything: Barcelona for El Esquirol (a small town nearby Vic), asphalt for farm and country and a steady job for creating her own job. That took her to create Saraus, her events company that sets up anything all around Spain, taking her to work and travel almost non-stop. And since Mariona, as far as I know, has no limits...after having her first baby, Grau, she decided that it was not enough. What about distributing the Cuski baby comforters all over Spain? She had been searching the Internet endlessly to find something that would help her baby boy to sleep calm at nights and finally came up with these comforters her son had truly fallen in love with. She found them in England, created by another crazy mum who, without almost knowing her, trusted her and turned her into the Spanish distributor as of tomorrow. And that's what took her to see us almost 4 years ago. She tried to convince us about the wonders of her Cuski cuddly toys - and she can be very persistent - so she didn't stop until she flooded our shop with cuddly toys of all colours, boxes and cases… But eventually she managed to prove that the product is the perfect companion for any baby, the perfect gift. And today, we sell Cuskis with our eyes closed, because, just like Mariona, we believe in it.
But the Cuski adventure doesn't end there. Today, Babymims - her distribution company- has a much larger range of products, all of them top sellers in many shops. She told me that the products she distributes are always a response to a need she had with her own children and that this is the criterion she follows to decide what she likes and what not. But 'I'm not a gadget mum!!!' she highlights.
I look at her and I see her passion. She tells me that things were not always easy, and that being mum and businesswoman does have some really satisfying moments 'such as when you see a baby using one of your products', but also some complicated ones. And that's how we got to the super topic: our children. And Mariona turns out to be a great mum, strong outside and very warm inside. She is moved while she talks about her kids, Grau, 5 years, and Bruna, 2 years. I think that our interview-chat provided her with a moment to stop and think about them in a different way. A minute to breathe…
She tells me that she had to get rid of the Internet connection at home because her children didn't want to see her working, and that it has become increasingly harder for her to travel for work… But although I obviously do not want to see her suffering, I can see that her children are proud of having a mum with so much initiative, who is making a career in a rather complicated environment and who knew how to put magic and excitement together in two simultaneous projects that overlap in her life creating synergies she uses at a 1000% to make the most out of her time. And these values are surely floating around at home, and will be of help someday for Grau and Bruna. Especially because she is always there when they need her. We also talked about the fact that while running your own business you end-up learning how to leave it all if necessary to spend a week holding your feverish and snotty child. And this is priceless.
And between lunch and coffee, the telephone rings. And it's right there, in the simple 'Hi, how are you?' where I discovered the icing of the cake. Who is behind this wonder-woman. Who makes her eyes sparkle and feel capable of anything. Who is her accomplice in this story about bravery…her husband. His name comes up again and again during our conversation.
Our chat-catharsis goes on and on and she explains to me how distribution and import work. She speaks with great affection about her customers and about how she said 'no' to large companies to take care of us smaller ones. I'm able to learn a lot from her years of experience. And she asks me about La Mamavaca and I continue learning from her point of view, and we even do plans, and make sketches about possible projects together, while we walk back to the shop, where she insists on buying a kaleidoscope for her son Grau, because 'I loved them when I was a child…'.
The day after our conversation, Mariona sent me an e-mail telling me that the kaleidoscope had been a huge success and that in the car, on her way back home, she had been thinking about more things to tell me...You see? Mariona has definitely no limits.
Big kiss.
I don't think Mariona's case is the typical case of motherhood revolution. Hers is rather a revolution for love. 