Latham Thomas is helping women thrive during their childbearing years.
We are living in the midst of a pop culture obsession with motherhood. Famous baby bumps and celeb post-baby body reveals are hard to avoid, whether you're reading tabloids or serious news. Yet one woman, Latham Thomas, knew that what the world needed wasn't more belly watches—it was to celebrate and make life better for all mothers and moms-to-be. So she created Mama Glow, a company based on a very New Age concept that accomplishes the very hard work of uplifting women.
What is a Mama Glow? Thomas calls it "an abundant, radiant energy that comes from within." And her business is focused on harnessing it. "We have a unique methodology, combining nutrition, yoga and movement, birth doula service, maternal counseling, and inspirational content that helps women tap into what I call glow power," she says. This glow power is evident for anyone who has seen recent red carpet pictures of singer Alicia Keys, one of Thomas's celebrity fans, who is pregnant with her second child. But it is also apparent in the success stories of women who were told they could not get pregnant, but are now mothers after working with Thomas. And there are those who made her 2012 book Mama Glow: A Hip Guide to Your Fabulous Abundant Pregnancy an Amazon best seller.
While pregnant, Thomas tapped into her own mama glow and imagined the company. "I saw that there was a tremendous need for women to have a comprehensive and boutique holistic lifestyle service focused on the childbearing period," she says. So in 2006, after completing her doula training, she took the tools she already had at her disposal, including a degree in nutrition and a yoga background, and began her business.
Though Thomas was an early adopter of this idea of mainstreaming a holistic, green approach to pregnancy, her mission caught on. Today, she frequently appears on Dr. Oz. and other programs. The Mama Glow website offers everything from advice on how to shop for produce to help for getting pregnant. "This is the turkey baster of the 21st century!" one recent, enthusiastic review joked about a product. While the tone is conversational, the information is exactly what women desperate to know about fertility, work-life balance as a parent, and healthy eating are looking for.
Mama Glow, however, does not only live online. Other services include a specialized yoga program, prenatal nutrition, a detox program for women trying to conceive, and doula services. There is also Glow Guidance, private phone or group sessions where Thomas helps women establish a holistic living program. She launched the Mama Glow Film Festival in 2011 with Selita Ebanks and Christy Turlington Burns. And she recently created the Mama Glow Salon Series, where women can have honest, informative conversations around birth and motherhood over cocktails.
With a staff of five and a number of project contractors, Mama Glow is showing no signs of retreat now that a holistic approach to pregnancy is mainstream business. "I know that there is currently more attention placed on pregnancy in our culture because of celebrity and social media," she says. So there is a product line on the horizon. And, "we aren't just helping in the birth room," says Thomas. "This sense of power translates to the boardroom as well." After she realized that a number of women launch businesses during pregnancy, Mama Glow expanded to include entrepreneurial counseling, "like a doula for your business," says Thomas, who believes that all of her hard, multi-category work has one overall end goal. "We are here to help save the planet one belly at a time."