A New M2MPreneurship: Ceres Chill
by Lisa Myers
Lisa Myers story: Working mom, Military Spouse, Inventor, Entrepreneur
As a full-time working mom and wife of a soldier, I understand a lot about the challenges moms face, but by staying involved with the breastfeeding community I continue to learn about what so many moms must do to keep living their lives, serving their country and caring for their children.
I am lucky enough to have breastfed my kids but I definitely struggled. Part of it was all of the gear necessary to safely pump and store my milk as I commuted to work each day or when I had to travel out of town.
Military Base Lactation Saves The Day, Mom & Baby
I have been successful breastfeeding my son because I had the support and advice of Katie Dunning, a lactation consultant who has been a La Leche leader for over 20 years on various military bases all over the world. Katie consistently empowered me. She never made me feel ashamed for my lack of skill or knowledge and repeatedly told me that even one ounce of breastmilk a day would make a huge difference for any kid. Even now, her advice and caring reminds me that every epic journey begins with a single step. If I could just nurse my son in that single moment or pump one ounce that afternoon, I was doing a good job. Somehow knowing it was okay to “fail” and that trying to do my best wasn’t really failing at all, gave me exactly what I needed to successfully and exclusively breastfeed my son for a full year.
Becoming an Inventor and Entrepreneur
I am certain that it was Katie’s empowerment and the support of brilliant, strong women around me, including Ginger Hamblin, a budding marketing expert and soldier wife stationed at Fort Hood, TX, that led me to invent, patent and launch Ceres Chill.
With Ceres Chill, the first ever grab-and-go breastmilk chiller, moms are finally freed of clunky coolers, ice packs and mountains of plastic. Ceres Chill is a two-chambered, super-durable stainless steel, ice system that allows you to pump directly into the chilled container. A busy, living, working, traveling, soldiering mom can continue to pump into the Chiller all day, knowing that her milk is safely chilled for over 16 hours. As an added perk, the lid doubles as a baby bottle: so that any caregiver can safely take the milk out for the day, pour the chilled milk into the lid, warm it, and then feed the baby. And no more added sterilizing and hand-washing bottles. When moms are done for the day, they just throw it in the dishwasher.
Partnering with Mom2Mom Global and Breastfeeding in Combat Boots
Ceres Chill breezing through security with me on a work trip.
Mom2Mom Global’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and education made them the perfect fit for our launch campaign. We knew we wanted to support their mission to empower and support families stationed all over the world, and BFinCB’s servicemembers serving their country and babies. I am strongly committed to ensuring that breastfeeding is not a privilege reserved for the select few women that have access to support, wealth, education and equipment necessary to feed their babies and meet their other obligations and goals.
We launched Ceres Chill on July 25th for pre-orders and are going strong! We have been getting the word out about Mom2Mom Global and encouraging donations with almost 30 Chillers donated as I write this post! If you need a Chiller, know a mom that needs this Chiller or know of someone who would love to donate one to Mom2Mom, please share this link! We will only be successful through the continued efforts of this exceptional tribe of women and strong military families.
Bios
Lisa spent most of her childhood on a 200-acre hay and cattle farm outside Spokane, Washington, where she and her brother helped out with harvesting crops, caring for the animals and other seasonal work. She eventually worked in government and put herself through law school at night. Lisa then married Sgt Richard Warner, currently serving at Lewis-McChord Joint Base in the Air Assault Battalion. They started a family and Lisa now works in Seattle for an international law firm. Like almost every mom Lisa knows, she found breastfeeding incredibly difficult for a million reasons. For Lisa, these included working in a male-dominated sector, long work days and travel away from her son. So rather than give up on her goals as a mom, she did what so many moms and military spouses do, she rose to the challenge and created a better way to achieve her goals.
After Ginger met her husband, Sergeants Major Justin Hamblin in 2005, they have been inseparable ever since. Together, they have three children and currently live in Fort Hood, Texas. Ginger’s first son, Roy, has mild autism but was also born with a rare heart defect called Tetrology of Fallot with pulmonary atresia and VSD. Everyone was aware Roy would be born with this heart condition, but the family did not know how difficult life would be because of it. Ginger tried to breastfeed and pump but found the stress of it all too great and lost her milk supply several months after Roy was born. Maxfield, Ginger’s youngest, was able to be breastfed without complication for seven months. Having had both breastfeeding experiences has helped Ginger to appreciate the need for mothers to have options when breastfeeding or pumping. So, when she talked to Lisa about Ceres Chill, Ginger was onboard 100%. Ginger is not only heading up marketing for Ceres Chill, she’s also a part-time student, and a stay-at-home parent. She enjoys exercising, fishing, and going on bike rides with her family.
