Welcome to 5 Questions!

In this feature, you’ll get—you guessed it—five questions and answers from an expert on the week’s topic.

This week we’re talking Healthy Body, Healthy Mind, and this week’s feature guest has dedicated her work to making women “feel whole” from childbirth on. (Her lactation cookies get insane reviews.)

Meet Erin Erenberg, of Totum Women!

5 Questions with Totum Women Founder, and Mom of Three, Erin Erenberg

Hey Erin, nice to re-meet you! Introduce us to yourself.

“I’m a mom of three, attorney, serial business builder, fund advisor and, most recently, the founder and CEO of Totum, a community-powered platform to help women feel supported in motherhood.”

Totum, which means ‘whole’ in Latin, is borne of Erin’s experience as a new mother who craved more information and resources for her as a whole woman, not just a mother.

Totum provides products like a mother’s support lactation cookie featured in Goop, an Insider Guide to postpartum wellness, a nursing-accessible, cause-supporting tee that became an instant favorite of women like Kate Hudson and Meena Harris, and community events like the monthly “Totum Talks” series that brings experts into the homes of women looking for help, connection and a place to grow. This year, Erin will take Totum to the workplace to help advocate for working parents.

1

You’re a mom, wife and busy entrepreneur. Your days must be crazy! What’s the first thing you do when you get out of bed in the morning?

Check our son’s blood sugar on an app on my phone. He was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in May, and it’s rocked our world. We have zero family history and have had to learn next-level resilience.

2

Any advice for someone considering starting a company?

Take a look at the experience you want to have first.

I think many of us who feel called to start a business are high-achievers and have high expectations of ourselves. Remember, you’re making the shift into being your own boss, so don’t default to what you already know. Feel into what you you want your work week to look like, what kinds of projects you’ll be working on each day, how you’ll be collaborating with others, how much capital you want to spend, and what business model would be simple enough to manage. Be open to reevaluating along the way.

3

What has motherhood taught you?

My children have truly been my greatest teachers, and they teach me every day. If I were to nail down one thing, I’d say a new level of empathy. I’m at my best, with my kids and with adults, when I slow down enough to look in another person’s eyes, listen to what they’re saying, and pay attention to them. We operate with a lot of mental noise that’s just about us. Kids cut through that in a beautiful way if we let them.

4

Any lessons you took from 2020?

So. Many. Lessons. Here are some. Health is truly wealth, I have everything I need when my loved ones are by my side.

This life lasts but a minute. It’s ok to say that I’m feeling overwhelmed and to take a time out from my kids. I have all the resources I need when I just trust. I have way more self-reflection to do and behavioral change to make when it comes to internalized racism. And leadership requires me to make brave choices, deliberately, just about every hour of the day.

5

What’s saving your sanity lately? (This can be a person, a routine, a book, an app, a beauty or self-care routine, a health practice… whatever!)

Moving my body outside every day. I’m truly a better person when I make it happen.

Thanks for sitting down by the virtual fireside to chat with us, Erin!

Check out Totum Women here, and Erin on Instagram here.