Redefining Motherhood

In her talk on motherhood, Andrea Newberry, a former stay-at-home parent who became a self-taught fashion entrepreneur, tells her audience that it's time they stop letting detrimental perceptions of powerful women destroy their self confidence.

When she became a mother during the economic crash, she felt her life crumble in a sense, as she found herself quickly transforming from a fun-loving woman in her twenties, to a stay-at-home mom who felt unattractive. Although she loved being a mom, she says that she had a hard time reconfiguring her personality to suit the traditional expectation that's involved with the role.

Throughout her talk on motherhood, she explores the lack of "cool" that's associated with moms, and how these ignorant ideas took a tole on her. She says that a lot of this lies on the pressure women have to always look good, as well as the shame that's wrongfully associated with public breast feeding. She says that when she accepted the beauty of her postpartum body, she was able to feel confident as a mom, which inspired her to create fashionable clothing that still allowed her to easily breastfeed.

Eventually, she developed her own company, called Leche Libre. Her main goal with this is to make women feel powerful in their clothing, by allowing them to feel like themselves and own their image.