photo credit: Carley Storm Branding Co
| Kelli DeFlora is the owner and face behind Montclair B.A.B.Y. I have been watching her pivot with such grace during this unprecedented time and wanted to share with all of you more about her. Kelli was born in St Louis, Missouri, moved to Orlando Florida from age 2 - 6 and then moved to Cleveland Heights, Ohio from ages 6 -19, and then moved to NYC when she was nineteen to attend Hunter College. In a nutshell, Montclair was never part of Kelli's life until she moved here which was 22 years ago. When I asked Kelli her background that led her to opening Parent's favorite place Montclair B.A.B.Y., Kelli explained the longest part of her career has been teaching yoga and being a massage therapist (for almost 30 yrs). She started working with pregnant moms and new moms early on during her teaching career in NYC and fell in love with it. After then moving from NYC to Montclair in 1998 Kelli started teaching yoga at Starseed Yoga and the owner put me in charge of all the prenatal and postpartum yoga classes. Then, |
As a Doula, Kelli has helped with over 500 births!! |
Covid-19 hasn't stopped women from giving birth and Kelli has supported them. Kelli is providing birth support and childbirth education thru the Pandemic. "Now more than ever expectant families and new families need support as there is so much uncertainty and change throughout the US during a time in which these families are already experiencing so much change internally with pregnancy and parenthood. At this time, families are only allowed one support person in the hospital so I have not been able to physically support families in the same way that I used to but I have been able to support clients virtually. I find that prenatal support, empowering couples to educate themselves, make informed choices and helping them to trust their instincts in birth is so important during these unusual circumstances. I have been present virtually with my clients in the birth room as well as offering in-person support prior to clients going to hospital, or at the birth center & for home birth," Kelli shared. |
When I asked Kelli her favorite thing about what she does she said "one of the best parts of Montclair BABY is seeing community gather and provide each other with peer to peer support. Watching relationships that have grown among pregnant couples and new parents in our community would have to be one of the highlights of my career. I love hearing stories from parents about how the found their mom friends, their tribe and that they still hold those connections near and dear to their hearts even long after they first came to Montclair BABY. I also love seeing babies being born, mothers being born as mothers, fathers being born as fathers and families growing and evolving." Reading this response made my love our community just a little bit more than I already did. Knowing people like Kelli have been serving our community for over 20 years and won't let a Pandemic shut their doors, gives me so much hope during this great time of the unknown. |
"If you seek peace, be still. If you seek wisdom, be silent. If you seek love, be yourself." ~ Becca Lee |
If you are wondering how different businesses that rely on in-person meetings are pivoting, make sure to keep reading. "We have been hit hard by the affects of the Covid-19 virus. Like so many other businesses, we have had to temporarily close our doors for public safety. As a small business owner without extra income, taking into account our high overhead and the uncertainty about when we will be able to reopen and what that will even look like, I was terrified and worried about our community and wondered how we could continue to nurture our community without a physical space to gather in. Luckily we were able to pivot most of our classes over to virtual platform and I was blessed to have an amazing and creative social media team to really help guide that venture and keep our community connected and engaged in creative ways. I am also very grateful for the amazing group of teachers we have who were willing to make this transition with us. We have had to put a lot of time and energy into making this shift but it has definitely been worth all of the effort. We have received so much positive feedback from our students and we have been so grateful to keep our community connected. If there is a message I would like to send to the community it is that now more than ever we are being challenged to redefine what community means when we cannot gather together, hold each other and be with each other in the ways we have known. I know for myself I have had to dig deeper beyond the limitations of mind and redefine what it means to support one another and to be in community. Connection to others does not just exist in the physical realm it extends beyond that and we can hold space for one another in our minds and in our hearts. Be willing to step outside of the box ,be creative and find new ways of connecting, sharing and supporting each other."
"The essence of motherhood is not restricted to women who have given birth; it is a principle inherent in both women and men. It is an attitude of the mind. It is love -- and that love is the very breath of life. No one would say, 'I will breathe only when I am with my family and friends; I won't breathe in front of my enemies.' Similarly, for those in whom motherhood has awakened, love and compassion for everyone are as much a part of their being as breathing." ~Amma |
You can find more information on Montclair B.A.B.Y. in our previous feature
Montclair B.A.B.Y.: the best place to keep you sane and supported.
Montclair B.A.B.Y.'s virtual classes can all be found on their website here and on Macaroni Kid's calendar here. A few of my favorites right now are Virtual Mother's Support Group and Virtual Mommy and Me Yoga.
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